Field Guide to Stafford County Game Fish
Bowfin
Amia calva
Bowfin are the lone survivors of an earlier primitive family of fish known mostly through fossils. The bowfin's olive colored body is stout and slightly elongated. They grow to 24".
Blueback Herring
Alosa aestivalis
The blueback herring spends its life in salt water and returns to fresh water to spawn. Young fish move to sea when about l month old and 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. Bluebacks grow to about 10 inches.
Hickory Shad
Alosa mediocris
The Hickory Shad is gray-green in color along its back, silvery with a dusky shoulder spot followed by several faint spots along its sides. They grow to about 18 inches. Spawns in freshwater in the spring.
American Shad
Alosa sapidissima
The American Shad is a silvery fish with a row of dark spots along its side and sharp saw-like scales along its belly. Spawns in freshwater in the spring. They grow to about 22 inches.
Muskellunge
Esox masquinogy
Muskies prefer habitat with clear, quiet water. Submerged weed beds interspersed with sunken stumps and logs are all components of ideal muskie habitat. They grow to about 48 inches in length. They have been stocked locally.
Northern Pike
Esox lucius
These fish prefer large rivers and medium to large lakes. In lakes they stay in bays and straits, avoiding deep offshore water. The 30 inch pike are loners, hunting in weedy or log strewn shallows.
Chain Pickerel
Esox niger
Chain pickerel may exceed 20 inches in length and weigh several pounds Pickerel feed primarily on other fish, although frogs and mice are consumed on occasion.
Channel Catfish
Ictalurus punctatus
The channel catfish  fish is found in lakes and streams with gravely or stony bottoms. Small channel cats are steel gray and peppered with dark spots; older fish are darker and lack spots. They have a deeply forked tail. They grow to about 28 inches.
Yellow Bullhead
Ameiurus natalis
They are olive-brown fading to yellow on the belly with a rounded tail fin. The barbels are light colored. They grow to about 12 inches. Found in soft bottom ponds  and rivers.
Brown Bullhead
Ameiurus nebulosus
They are gray-brown and slightly patterned with light belly. The barbels are black. They grow to about 13 inches and are found in soft bottom ponds and rivers.
White Perch
Morone americana
Its two dorsal fins are deeply notched. Ventral fins each are armed with one stout spine. A white perch usually lacks stripes; its back is dark and sides are pale silvery green, fading to a pale silvery white belly. They grow to about 10 inches.
Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis
A streamline steel gray bass with dark stripes. They grow to about 3 feet in length. They are found in rivers and stocked reservoirs.
Green Sunfish
Lepomis cyanellus
They have iridescent pale blue stripes alternating with brassy to brown stripes. Their head is olive with light blue on the lips. They grow to about 7 inches. They are found in streams, ponds, lakes and rivers.
Redbreast Sunfish
Lepomis auritus
They are olive with light blue marks and dark bars. The belly is bright red-orange in color. They grow to about 7 inches. They are found in streams, ponds, lakes, and rivers.
Bluegill
Lepomis macrochirus
Bluegill average 8 1/2 inches in length. They are just under half as deep as they are long, and they are very narrow, with even the largest of the species under an inch thick.
Pumpkinseed
Lepomis gibbosus
The pumpkinseed has a bright orange spot at the tip of the ear flap and the lack of a dark blotch on the soft portion of the dorsal. They grow from 6-7 inches in length.
Black Crappie
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
The black crappie is generally darker overall and has seven or eight spines in its dorsal fin. The black crappie prefers deep, cool, clear water . They grow to about 15 inches.
Rock Bass
Ambloplites rupestris
Rock bass  prefer large lakes with rocky bottoms and streams with sluggish or moderate currents. They often are found in the same habitats as smallmouth bass. Rock bass are usually 8 inches in length.
Smallmouth Bass
Micropterus dolomieu
They have a brassy brown hue, the smallmouth differs from its cousin in several ways. The markings consist of irregular vertical bars or a continuous shading of dark brown above to a gray or cream below.
Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides
Dark green on top with silvery green to yellow green flanks and a cream belly, the largemouth bass is marked by a dark, irregular stripe along its side. The upper jaw, extends rear ward of the eye. Size: 20 inches.
Yellow Perch
Perca flavescens
Yellow perch are golden or brassy yellow with six to nine dark vertical bars on their sides. Favored habitat of yellow perch is a weedy, warm water lake. They grow to 10 inches.
Walleye
Stizostedion vitreum
Walleyes are the largest members of the perch family reaching a length over 2 feet. Walleyes prefer large lakes with considerable areas of deep water and large rivers, with cold to moderately warm water. As the surface water approaches 72°F, they slowly retreat to deeper and cooler waters.