Atlanta, GA

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

Ambush predators of warm, weedy water. Bass reward anglers who fish cover precisely and slow down when the sun is high.

Red Drum

Sciaenops ocellatus

The signature inshore fish of the Gulf Coast, also called redfish. Slot-size reds tail and push wakes on shallow flats, while big bull reds gather at passes and beaches in the fall.

Spotted Seatrout

Cynoscion nebulosus

A soft-mouthed, speckled inshore predator of grass flats from Texas to Florida — not a true trout at all, but a member of the drum family. Trout ambush shrimp and baitfish over grass and strike soft plastics readily.

Black Crappie

Pomoxis nigromaculatus

A speckled, paper-mouthed panfish that suspends over brush and timber in clear lakes and sloughs. Crappie bite small jigs and minnows delicately — the strike is often just a slight heaviness.

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

The classic beginner's panfish: abundant, willing and surprisingly strong on light tackle. Bluegill nest in colonies on shallow flats in spring and guard the beds aggressively.

Channel Catfish

Ictalurus punctatus

The most widespread catfish in North America, at home in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Channel cats find bait by scent and taste, bite readily after dark, and are the backbone of pay-lake and river catfishing.

Flathead Catfish

Pylodictis olivaris

A solitary, big-river predator that ignores stink baits and eats live fish instead. Flatheads hide in log jams and deep holes by day and hunt sunfish and bullheads at night.

Sheepshead

Archosargus probatocephalus

The convict fish — barred, big-toothed and glued to barnacled structure from Texas to Virginia. A bait thief of genius and one of the finest fish on the plate.

Blue Catfish

Ictalurus furcatus

North America's biggest catfish — a slate-blue, open-water hunter of big rivers and reservoirs, from Chesapeake trophy holes to Texas winter flats.

White Crappie

Pomoxis annularis

The crappie of warm, fertile reservoirs — a schooling, minnow-eating panfish that swarms brush piles each spring from Texas to the Midwest.

Chain Pickerel

Esox niger

The chain-mailed ambush predator of eastern weed beds — small, fearless and always ready to smash a flashy lure from the pads.

Bowfin

Amia calva

A living fossil of the swamps — a long-finned, air-breathing brawler that guards its nest like a pit bull and thrives where nothing else can.

Landlocked Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis

The coastal striper gone inland — stocked giants that herd shad across big reservoirs from Texoma to Santee-Cooper and Mead, and America's favourite landlocked big fish.

Tripletail

Lobotes surinamensis

The master of disguise — tripletail drift sideways under buoys and floating junk pretending to be debris, then crush a live shrimp floated into range. A sight-caster's favourite from Florida to Texas.

Redear Sunfish

Lepomis microlophus

The 'shellcracker' — a bottom-grinding sunfish that crushes snails over shell beds, grows heavier than any other panfish, and fills spring stringers from Florida to Lake Havasu.

Redbreast Sunfish

Lepomis auritus

The river runner of the sunfish family — redbreast live in flowing water from Virginia to New Brunswick, flash turquoise and orange over the riffles, and hit tiny lures like fish twice their size.

White Catfish

Ameiurus catus

The bulldog of the tidal rivers — white catfish rule the brackish creeks and estuaries of the Atlantic coast, hit baits day or night, and out-scrap channel cats their size.

Spotted Bass

Micropterus punctulatus

The largemouth's river-loving cousin — spotted bass school on rocky points and current seams from Georgia to the Ozarks, hit small baits with total commitment, and pull like smallmouth.

Longnose Gar

Lepisosteus osseus

A living fossil with a needle beak — longnose gar hang like sticks in warm weedy shallows from the Great Lakes to Texas, gulp air at the surface, and ambush anything that drifts past.

Greater Amberjack

Seriola dumerili

The reef donkey of the Atlantic and Gulf — greater amberjack hold over deep structure and pull harder, pound for pound, than almost anything on the reef. Live baits and fast jigs draw brutal strikes, and the first run decides the fight.