City of Hawkinsville

American Eel – The elongated yellow-brown body of an eel, with its long dorsal fin and anal fin the length of their body, is very snake-like. One can often find an eel hiding in very small spaces. Instead of big scales, like a fish, an eel has tiny scales that give the eel a smooth feeling.

Black Crappie – Often referred to as a Perch, Black Crappies are silvery-green with black blotches along their sides, and black caudal, dorsal and anal fins. Black Crappies have compressed bodies, small heads, and a large mouth which extends under the eyes when closed.

Bluegill – Bluegills, also known as Bream, have small mouths and oval-shaped bodies, almost to the point of being rounded. Body color can vary depending on size, sex, spawning, river-bottoms, and water color. The majority of males are sliver-breasted with a slight blue tint and change to slightly orange or yellow during spawning season. Females tend to be lighter in color. The most distinctive features are the prominent black spot on the gill-cover and the black spot located at the base of the dorsal fin.

Bowfin – Bowfins are the only living representative of an ancient family of fishes. This ancient fish has an air-bladder that functions like a lung and are often seen floating around near the surface of the water, gulping air. They have a flat head, long body, a large mouth filled with small, sharp teeth, and a rounded tail. The body of the bowfin is two colors: olive-green on its back and a cream color on its belly. There are also several dark brown, horizontal stripes along the cheeks of the fish.

Lake chubsucker – This is a dark bronze, brown, or olive-green fish with the undersides of the body a lighter color. Lake chubsuckers have chubby, heavy-bodies that look compressed when viewed from side-to-side. Once can distinguish this fish by its mouth found under the head.

Sturgeon – Sturgeon have bony plates on their body, a v-shaped snout, and whiskers on their chin. These fish are among the oldest living species of fish and have retained many of their primitive characteristics. In the rivers you often see Sturgeon jumping out of the water. They typically have a blue-ish back and white belly.

Sunfish – Sunfish come in different colors, i.e. red, green, yellow, and rainbow, and with different names, i.e. Redbelly, Stumpknocker, Shellcracker, and Bream. But one thing these fish all have is the similarity in shape to the bluegill, the main difference being that the Sunfis does not have a dark spot at the base of the dorsal fin. Some sunfish have vertical stripes on their sides.