- All sunfish hybrids
- American eel
- Black crappie
- Blue catfish
- Bluegill
- Brown trout
- Burbot
- Channel catfish
- Chinook salmon
- Cutthroat trout
- Flathead catfish
- Redfin pickerel
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:
- 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.