Appearance: A deep body with nearly symmetrical dorsal and anal fins and a speckled pattern on the body and fins identify the black crappie.  Habitat: Unlike most other panfish, crappie spend much of their time offshore feeding on small fish in lakes or in large slow-moving clear water rivers.  Behavior: They nest in colonies from …

Appearance: Bluegill have the deep-bodied look of “bream,” with a long dorsal fin and slightly forked tail. A dark ear covering and a blotch at the dorsal fin’s back bottom edge set them apart.  Habitat: Bluegill are common throughout Florida but are best known in lakes and ponds.   Behavior: Bluegill eat mostly insects and their …

They are primarily bottom feeders, feeding mostly at night. Highly sensitive barbels enable them to smell a wide variety of food such as insects, plant material, carrion, small fish, snails, crayfish, worms and leeches.

Spotted sunfish are olive-green to brown in color, with black or reddish spots on the base of each scale forming rows of dots on its sides.

Appearance: The largemouth bass is the best known and most popular game fish in North America. It is distinguished from other black bass because the upper jaw extends beyond the rear edge of the eye, and the first and second dorsal (back) fins are separated by an obvious deep dip.  Habitat: The Florida largemouth bass …

A heavy-bodied black bass that seldom exceeds 12 inches long. Originally restricted to the Suwannee and Ochlockonee rivers, they now are in the Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, St. Marks, Aucilla and Wacissa systems.

Tarpon are primarily an inshore fish, preferring shallow estuaries around mangrove forests, salt marshes or the hard-bottom/seagrass communities of the Keys. Live shrimp or pinfish make good baits, but plastics and Keys-style streamers work too.

Seatrout are found inshore and nearshore in and around seagrass meadows, mangrove-fringed shorelines, deep holes and channels and above oyster bars.

Spanish mackerel are prevalent throughout Florida waters: inshore, offshore and nearshore. Spanish mackerel are a schooling fish that migrates northward in spring, returning to southerly waters when water temperature drops below 70 degrees F.