Unit XIII Kansas Fishes Information

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Unit XIII Kansas Fishes Information
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Black Bullhead
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Black Bullhead

• Family Ictaluridae (Catfish Family)
• Smaller than the other, more sought-after
  catfishes, the bullhead is brown/green in color
  and doesn't have the forked tail like the channel
  cat.
• Common in nearly all streams, lakes and ponds,
  the bullhead readily bites worms and stink bait
  and delights youngsters learning to fish.
• Omnivorous eats aquatic insects, some
  vegetation, and other fishes.
• This is the common bullhead most frequently
  caught on hook and line in Kansas.
• Usually less than 12, but can grow up to 24 in
  length.
• The state record is 7 pounds, 5 ounces. The world
  record is 8 pounds, 15 ounces.

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Walleye
Taxidermy mount from Prairie Park Nature Center
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Walleye

• Family Percidae (Perch Family)
• The walleye has become a highly-sought game fish
  for Kansas anglers and has been stocked in most
  federal reservoirs and some larger state and
  community lakes since 1960.
• Newly hatched Walleye eat small crustaceans, but
  soon begin feeding on small fishes thereafter.
• INTRODUCED SPECIES Recorded from Kansas as early
  as 1865, but soon after disappeared. Did not
  return until restocking in 1960.
• Grow up to 31.5 in length.
• The state record weighed 13 pounds, 3 ounce.
• The world record is 22 pounds, 11 ounces.

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Largemouth Bass
Taxidermy mount from Prairie Park Nature Center
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Largemouth Bass

• Family Centrarchidae (Sunfish Family)
• Part of a group known as the black basses,
  including the smallmouth and spotted basses, the
  largemouth grows the biggest.
• Common in farm ponds, the largemouth likes
  shallow, murky water and usually associates with
  structure such as weeds or submerged timber.
• Some of the newer reservoirs and smaller lakes
  with standing timber also provide good largemouth
  fishing.
• Of the black basses, the largemouth is the only
  one with a mouth that extends behind the eye.
• Eats almost anything that moves- minnows, Gizzard
  Shad, small suckers, catfish, other sunfish,
  insects, and crayfishes.
• The 31 year old record was broken in 2008 by a
  14-year-old. The new Kansas record is 11 pounds,
  12.8 ounces and 25 in length.
• The world record weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces.

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White Crappie
Taxidermy mount from Prairie Park Nature Center
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White Crappie

• Family Centrarchidae (Sunfish Family)
• The white crappie is abundant across Kansas and
  ideally suited to the large reservoirs.
• Known for its prolific numbers and delicious
  white meat, the white crappie is one of the most
  popular sportfish in the state.
• The rich waters of northeastern Kansas reservoirs
  produce some of the finest fishing for slab-sided
  white crappie found anywhere in the U.S.
• Adults eat small fishes, especially minnows and
  young Gizzard Shad.
• The Kansas record tipped the scales at 4 pounds,
  1/4 ounce and 17.5 in length.
• The world record white weighed 5 pounds, 3
  ounces.

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Black Crappie
Taxidermy mount from Prairie Park Nature Center
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Black Crappie

• Family Centrarchidae (Sunfish Family)
• The black crappie is not as widespread in Kansas
  as the white crappie.
• The black is more suited to clear-water and small
  impoundments such as farm ponds.
• Black crappies are distinguished by a uniform
  dark flecking with no visible barring as seen on
  the white crappie.
• INTRODUCED SPECIES Introduced prior to 1895.
• Eats insects, small crustaceans, and other fish.
• The Kansas record is 4 pounds, 10 ounces and 22
  in length.
• The world record black crappie weighed 6 pounds.

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Blue Catfish
Blue Catfish (50 lbs)
French Mastiff (120 lbs)
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Blue Catfish

• Family Ictaluridae (Catfish Family)
• The blue catfish looks much like the channel cat,
  except the blue has a humped back, a longer anal
  fin, and grows bigger.
• Blues are native to several rivers in
  northeastern Kansas including the Kansas and
  Missouri.
• Blues are seldom caught on the concoctions used
  for channel cats, preferring cut or live bait.
• Eats crayfishes, aquatic insects and their
  larvae, freshwater clams, worms, other fishes,
  and frogs.
• The Kansas record weighed 94 pounds and was 57
  in length, but in the past, in Kansas they could
  reach over 150 pounds.

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Bluegill
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Bluegill

• Family Centrarchidae (Sunfish Family)
• The bluegill is one of the most common panfish in
  Kansas, and it provides many youngsters with
  their first fishing thrill.
• Although it doesn't grow to enormous weights, the
  tenacious, saucer-shaped fish makes up for size
  with a scrappy fight.
• Common in most farm ponds and smaller community
  and state fishing lakes, bluegill are most easily
  caught when they move into shallow water and
  begin dishing out spawning beds.
• Eats small crustaceans and insects.
• The state record bluegill weighed 2 pounds, 5
  ounces and was 11 in length.
• The world record is 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

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Grass Carp
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Grass Carp

• Family Cyprinidae (Minnow Family)
• Lives in rivers and impoundments.
• Spawn in the channels of large rivers, where many
  thousands of eggs are released to be carried on
  strong currents.
• Eat aquatic vegetation, especially moss and
  weeds.
• INTRODUCED SPECIES Brought to US in 1963 to
  control aquatic vegetation in ponds and lakes,
  but we now know that elimination of aquatic
  plants destroys habitat for native animals and
  alters food chains.
• State record was 48 in length and 60 pounds.

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American Eel
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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American Eel

• Family Anguillidae (Freshwater Eel Family)
• Begin life 3000 miles from Kansas, in cold, black
  water more than half a mile deep in the Atlantic
  Ocean, where parents go to spawn and die. Adult
  females are only ones that travel far inland.
• Much more common 100 years ago.
• In Kansas, eat crayfishes and other fishes.
• Longest eel in Kansas was 35.25 and over 4
  pounds.

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Golden Shiner
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Golden Shiner

• Family Cyprinidae (Minnow Family)
• Prefers deep pools and lakes with aquatic
  vegetation.
• Produced in ponds for sale as bait minnows in
  Kansas and elsewhere.
• Use as fishing bait has established it in many
  bodies of water in Kansas.
• Probably distributed more widely than any other
  fish in KS, except for Largemouth Bass, Bluegill,
  crappies, and Channel Catfish, which are stocked
  by the state as game fishes.
• Eats microscopic animals (zooplankton) and some
  aquatic insects.
• Grows to maximum length of 12.

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Fathead Minnow
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Fathead Minnow

• Family Cyprinidae (Minnow Family)
• One of most widespread fishes in Kansas.
• Greatest abundance in pools of intermittent
  creeks that have bottoms of mud or firm clay.
• Hardy pioneer- among first fishes to invade
  intermittent drainages after rains. Flourishes
  where other fishes perish.
• Omnivorous, consuming small animals, plants, and
  organic detritus.
• Widely cultivated in ponds as bait fish.
• Maximum length is 4.

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Smallmouth Buffalo
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Smallmouth Buffalo

• Family Catostomidae (Sucker Family)
• Occurs in all large streams of eastern KS.
• Larval insects make up much of their diet, plus
  smaller organisms living on stones and log
  drifts.
• Taken commercially in lower Kansas River until
  1920s. A few caught on hook and line. Now most
  abundant in Neosho River.
• Largest in Kansas was 51 pounds and 41 in
  length.

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River Carpsucker
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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River Carpsucker

• Family Catostomidae (Sucker Family)
• Most common sucker in Kansas, occuring in streams
  in all parts of the state, and many reservoirs as
  well.
• Feed entirely on tiny organisms sorted from the
  bottom ooze- mainly diatoms, desmids, filamentous
  algae, along with some insect larvae (mostly
  bloodworms.)
• Seldom caught on hook and line, mostly caught
  accidentally by snagging.
• Mostly less than 16, but can attain 20 in
  Kansas.

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Flathead Catfish
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Flathead Catfish

• Family Ictaluridae (Catfish Family)
• Common in pools of the larger streams in Kansas.
  
• The Flathead is caught with live bait and
  occasionally lures, usually at night.
• Carnivorous Eats crayfishes and other fishes.
• The Kansas state record is also the world record.
  It was caught in 1998 from Elk City Reservoir and
  weighed 123 pounds and 61 in length.

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Channel Catfish
Eric Engbretson image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Channel Catfish

• Family Ictaluridae (Catfish Family)
• The channel catfish is the bread and butter of
  Kansas fishing.
• Found in nearly all waters from large rivers and
  reservoirs to small prairie streams, good channel
  cat fishing is never far away.
• Department hatcheries produce millions of channel
  cats each year.
• Eat mainly insects, crayfish, molluscs, and other
  fishes. Are scavengers, in part. Will eat dead
  and living animals/plants, which they locate by
  taste and odor.
• The state record channel cat weighed 36 pounds, 8
  ounces, and was 38 in length.
• The world record is 58 pounds.

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Green Sunfish
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Green Sunfish

• Family Centarchidae (Sunfish Family)
• Although it has a larger mouth and more elongated
  body than the bluegill, the green sunfish has the
  blue tab on the gill cover and is often confused
  with the bluegill.
• Commonly referred to as perch, green sunfish are
  aggressive and easy to catch. However, they can
  easily overpopulate and become stunted in small
  waters.
• The Kansas record weighed 2 pounds, 6 ounces and
  was 11.5 in length.
• The world record greenie is listed at 2 pounds, 7
  ounces.

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Orangespotted Sunfish
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Orangespotted Sunfish

• Family Centrarchidae (Sunfish Family)
• Occurs throughout Kansas, rivaling Green Sunfish
  in abundance.
• Prefers sandy streams, but tolerates muddy water
  and excessive water level fluctuation.
• Eats mainly insects, and some smaller fishes.
• Maximum length 6.

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Orangethroat Darter
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Orangethroat Darter

• Family Percidae (Perch Family)
• Lives mainly in small streams, on shallow riffles
  having bottoms of fine gravel or mixed gravel and
  sand.
• One of most widespread of Kansas darters.
• Feed on blackfly larvae, bloodworms, caddisfly
  larvae, insects, and fish eggs.
• Attractive aquarium fish who keep their color if
  water remains 70 degrees or less. Can be fed
  frozen brine shrimp, living brine shrimp or small
  worms.
• Maximum length 2.5

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Paddlefish
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Paddlefish

• Family Polyodontidae (Paddlefish Family)
• The paddlefish is a plankton eater that resembles
  prehistoric fishes.
• Common only in two Kansas rivers the Marais des
  Cygnes and the Neosho the paddlefish is taken
  by fishermen during the spring spawning runs, and
  then only during the special snagging season.
• Stocking paddlefish in Oklahomas Kaw Reservoir
  and in Tuttle Creek Reservoir may bring the
  paddle-snouted fish back to some of its former
  range. T
• The largest paddlefish in Kansas was 144 pounds,
  54.25 in length, and was caught in 2004.

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Longnose Gar
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Longnose Gar

• Family Lepisosteidae (Gar Family)
• Inhabits most rivers and creeks in eastern half
  of state. Most abundant of 3 gar species in KS.
  
• Feed almost entirely on other fishes.
• Young prey on minnows, but change to Gizzard Shad
  or small suckers as adults.
• One of largest and most widespread predatory
  fishes in KS. Helps keep abundance of prey
  species within desirable limits.
• Unique due to gas bladder that function as lungs,
  in addition to gills.
• Maximum length is 72 and over 30 pounds.

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Pallid Sturgeon
US Fish and Wildlife Service image from USFWS
Digital Library System
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Pallid Sturgeon

• Family Acipenseridae (Sturgeon Family)
• Endangered in Kansas
• This is a fish from an ancient lineage found in
  the Missouri River along the Kansas-Missouri
  border.
• The pallid sturgeon is a long-lived fish and is
  known to reach 41 years of age. The female will
  not spawn until she is 15-20 years old and then
  only sporadically.
• The future of the pallid sturgeon is questionable
  due to hydrology and habitat changes that have
  occurred as rivers became regulated and
  engineered.
• FEDERALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES IN KANSAS
• Longest one in Kansas was 30, but can reach 66
  in other states.

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Mosquitofish
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Mosquitofish

• Family Poeciliidae (Livebearers Family)
• Prefers calm, shallow pools and backwaters of
  streams.
• Limited tolerance to cold, so only a few
  individuals survive over winter.
• Feeds on many kinds of aquatic insect larvae and
  small crustaceans, mostly at the surface.
• Widely introduced into bodies of water for
  mosquito control.
• INTRODUCED SPECIES Introduced in Ninnescah River
  in Kansas, probably during 1930s. Has since
  spread gradually throughout much of KS.
• Maximum length for adults are 2.5.

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Freshwater Drum
Duane Raver image from USFWS Digital Library
System
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Freshwater Drum

• Family Sciaenidae (Drum Family)
• The freshwater drum is common in most Kansas
  rivers and reservoirs.
• Commonly considered an undesirable rough fish,
  the drum is predatory and will readily strike
  lures and baits.
• It is a good fighter and the white meat is fine
  table fare.
• The drum can make strange drumming or grunting
  noises with muscles vibrated against the swim
  bladder.
• The Kansas state record drum weighed 31 pounds, 4
  ounces and was 37.5 in length.
• The world record drum weighed 54 pounds, 8
  ounces.

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Gizzard Shad
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Gizzard Shad

• Family Clupeidae (Herring Family)
• Occupies most large streams and lakes throughout
  the state.
• Introductions into reservoirs have greatly
  increased range and abundance since 1950.
• As adults, comb-like filtering structure catches
  micro-organisms strained from the water.
• Now one of most abundant Kansas fishes. Shallow
  bays in reservoirs may have as much as 1000
  pounds per acre important prey of game fish.
• Maximum length for adults are 20.5.

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References

• State Record information from
• http//www.landbigfish.com/staterecords/records.cf
  m?stateKansas
• Some species information from Kansas Department
  of Wildlife and Parks Fish ID Gallery
• http//www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/fishing/fish_id_g
  allery
• Most species information from Fishes in Kansas,
  by Frank B. Cross and Joseph T. Collins.

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Image Citations

• US Fish and Wildlife Service public domain images
  accessed on July 10, 2008 from
• http//images.fws.gov/default.cfm?CFID1664488CFT
  OKEN78820620