Nebraska Fish
Nebraska is in the center of the Great Plains of North America. With its cold winters, hot summers and variable rainfall, it is a harsh place to be a fish. Yet, Nebraska is home to more than 100 species of fish, 78 of which are presumed to be native. Get acquainted with Nebraska’s fish species and, if you’re an angler, learn to identify them as rules about each species, such as what and how many you can keep, is different.
Categories of fish
Find a list of each category of fish in Nebraska.
The following sport fish can be found in Nebraska:
All sunfish hybrids
American eel
Black crappie
Blue catfish
Bluegill
Brown trout
Burbot
Channel catfish
Chinook salmon
Cutthroat trout
Flathead catfish
Redfin pickerel
Goldeye
Green sunfish
Largemouth bass
Muskellunge
Northern pike
Orangespotted sunfish
Paddlefish
Pumpkinseed
Rainbow trout
Redear sunfish
Rock bass
Sauger
Saugeye
Shovelnose sturgeon
Skipjack herring
Smallmouth bass
Spotted bass
Striped bass
Stripped bass hybrid (wiper)
Tiger muskellunge
Walleye
White bass
White crappie
Use the fish identification information below to learn more about each species.
The following panfish can be found in Nebraska:
All sunfish hybrids
Black crappie
Bluegill
Green sunfish
Orangespotted sunfish
Pumpkinseed
Redear sunfish
Rock bass
White crappie
Yellow perch
Use the fish identification information below to learn more about each species.
The following sunfish can be found in Nebraska:
All sunfish hybrids
Bluegill
Green sunfish
Orangespotted sunfish
Pumpkinseed
Redear sunfish
Use the fish identification information below to learn more about each species.
The following commercial fish can be found in Nebraska:
Black bullhead
Freshwater drum
Yellow bullhead
Yellow perch
Use the fish identification information below to learn more about each species.
The following baitfish can be found in Nebraska:
Alewife
Bigmouth shiner
Brassy minnow
Creek chub
Devil crayfish*
Emerald shiner
Fathead minnow
Gizzard shad
Golden shiner
Goldfish
Longnose dace
Northern crayfish*
Northern leopard
Frog*
Papershell crayfish*
Plains killfish
Plains leopard frog*
Red shiner
Ringed crayfish*
River shiner
Sand shiner
Stoneroller
Suckermouth minnow
Tiger salamander*
White sucker
* Amphibians and crustaceans covered under baitfish regulations
Use the fish identification information below to learn more about each species.
The following non-game fish can be found in Nebraska:
Longnose gar
Shortnose gar
Common carp
Mirror carp
Flathead chub
Grass carp
Big buffalo
Small mouth buffalo
Black buffalo
Blue sucker
Shorthead redhorse
River carpsucker
Quillback
Longnose sucker
White perch
Use the fish identification information below to learn more about each species.
Fish identification
Learn key characteristics of subsets of fish in Nebraska and how to identify them. You also can download our Fish Key publication, a guide to identifying the most commonly caught fish in the state.
Download the guide.
At-risk species
Seven species of fishes are at greatest risk of extirpation in Nebraska. These include three big river fishes: the pallid sturgeon, lake sturgeon and sturgeon chub; and four small-stream fishes: the northern redbelly dace, finescale dace, blacknose shiner and Topeka shiner. The big river fishes are found in the Missouri River, where species are at risk due to habitat changes. The small stream fishes are at risk because their specialized habitats have been altered or are at risk of disappearing.
Aquatic invasive species
Aquatic Invasive Species are exotic or non-native aquatic organisms that pose a significant threat to the aquatic resources, water supplies or water infrastructure of this state. These organisms can be plants, fish, mussels, crayfish, invertebrates or pathogens.
Related Content
Fishing Permits
Purchase stamps, resident and non-resident fishing permits here.