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Fish Identification Guide
These fishes listed below are stocked in our City-operated fishing spots.
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Bluegill The bluegill is perhaps the most common panfish in Kansas, and it provides many youngsters with their first fishing thrill. Although it doesn't grow to enormous weight, the tenacious, saucer-shaped fish makes up for its size with a scrappy fight. Common in most farm ponds and smaller community and state fishing lakes, bluegills are most easily caught when they move into shallow water and begin dishing out spawning beds. The state record bluegill weighed 2 pounds, 5 ounces. The world record is 4 pounds, 12 ounces. |
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Redear Sunfish The redear sunfish has been stocked into a select few lakes and reservoirs. It prefers deeper water than the bluegill, which it resembles in appearance, and is more difficult to catch. The redear has a narrow band of red on the gill cover lobe and usually shows vertical barring. They are popular with anglers because of the challenge they provide. The state record weighed 1 pound, 11 ounces. The world record tipped the scales at 5 pounds, 4 ounces. |
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Green Sunfish 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. The Kansas record weighed 2 pounds, 5.76 ounces. The world record green sunfish weighed 2 pounds, 7 ounces. |
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Channel Catfish 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. State lakes are also popular places to catch channel cats. Department hatcheries produce millions of channel cats each year. The state record channel cat weighed 34 pounds, 11 ounces. The world record is 58 pounds. |
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Largemouth Bass Part of a group known as the black basses, including the smallmouth and spotted bass, the largemouth is the largest. Common in farm ponds, the largemouth like 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 left in the basin also provide good largemouth fishing. Of the black basses, the largemouth is the only one with a mouth which extends back beyond the eye. The world record weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces. The Kansas record is 11 pounds, 12 ounces. |
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Black Crappie The black crappie is not as widespread in Kansas as the white crappie. The black is more suited for clearwater, small impoundments. Large farm ponds are generally stocked with black crappie. Black crappie are distinguished by a uniform dark flecking, with no visible barring as seen on the white crappie. The world record black crappie weighed 6 pounds. The Kansas record is 4 pounds, 10 ounces. |
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White Crappie The white crappie is abundant across Kansas, and is ideally suited to the large federal reservoirs. Known for its prolific numbers and delicious white meat, the white crappie is one of the most popular sport fish in the state. The world record white weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces. The Kansas record tipped the scales at 4 pounds, 1/4 ounce. |
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Grass Carp The pair of barbels at each corner of the mouth and the sawtoothed spine at the leading edge of the dorsal fin are key identification marks of the carp. The carp was introduced to Kansas in 1880. Its hog-like feeding habits increase turbidity in the streams, lakes, and marshes in which it is found, and it tends to root out aquatic vegetation that would otherwise be attractive to waterfowl. Carp can be caught on a variety of baits, and those anglers who overcome the widely accepted prejudice against the fish report that they are powerful fighters and tasty when prepared properly. The state record carp weighed 47 pounds, 1.6 ounces. The world record weighed 57 pounds, 13 ounces. |
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Walleye 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. To help maintain these fisheries, millions of young walleye are hatched, raised and stocked each spring by department biologists and culturists. The state record weighed 13 pounds, 2.56 ounces. The world record is 25 pounds. |
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Wiper Perhaps the meanest fish in Kansas waters, the wiper is a cross between a white bass and a striped bass. Wipers grow fast, aggressively hit lures and fight like no other fish. It's no wonder Kansas anglers love them. The wiper, like its striper parent, has two rows of teeth near the rear of the tongue. The white bass has a single tooth patch on its tongue. The state record wiper weighed 22 pounds. The world record wiper is listed at 23 pounds, 2 ounces. |
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Rainbow Trout The rainbow can be identified by its unique coloration and small fatty fin behind the dorsal fin. Rainbows have a pink stripe down the middle of the body and dark spots. The rainbow is stocked and fished for in fall and spring when water temperatures are cooler. Rainbows are great fighting fish and excellent table fare. The current state record rainbow is 9 pounds, 5 ounces. The world record rainbow is 31 pounds, 6 ounces. |
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