The iridescent blue and orange stripes on it’s face and the red margin on the black spot just behind the gills, differentiate the Pumpkinseed from it’s close cousins in the Sunfish Family. It’s not unusual to see them as large as your hand. When you find a large one you’ll understand why they are referred to as slabs. They tend to hang close to grasses and structure in less than 20 feet of water.

The Bluegill has the same dark spot just behind the gills, but no red margin or spot. You’ll often see a black spot on it’s back near the tail.  It prefers the weedy areas, often in less than 10 feet of water.

The Rock Bass, or Ol’ Red Eyes, likes slightly deeper water than it’s cousins mentioned above, not as dependent on weeds for cover, preferring structure and shadows for protection. The chronic red eye, is a good clue to identifying the Rock Bass.

Smallmouth Bass, also called Smallies or Bronze Backs are probably the number one game fish in the 1000 Islands. The distinguishing feature is the jaw line, if it is inline with the eye, than it’s a Smallmouth Bass, if it extends beyond the eye then it is a Largemouth Bass.  If you see stripes on a Smallie they will be vertical (usually 8-11), on a Largemouth it will be a pronounced horizontal line.

Largemouth Bass, also known as Bucketmouth, is the largest in the sunfish family found in the 1000 Island Region, can be easily identified by the horizontal stripe and the jaw extends beyond the eye.

The Yellow Perch is another shallow water, weed lover.  Their colorful stripes help them to blend in with the grasses. Not quite sure how the bright orange pectoral fins help them blend in, but they are there as well.  In the St. Lawrence they are a primary forage fish and don’t often get large, but when they do, they are referred to as Jack Perch.

The Walleye Pike, aka Toothy Ol’ Marble Eyes, larger than a Perch, and smaller than a Northern Pike. Actually more closely related to the Perch than the Northern Pike. The highly reflective eyes that can shine like beacons, and white tips on the lower lobs of the fins make them easy to identify. Prefers the shadows and will avoid the bright sunlight.

The Northern Pike and it’s larger cousin the Muskellunge prowl the weed beds for anything they choose to eat. At the top of the food chain, Northerns grow to over 40 inches, and Muskies in excess of 60 inches.  How do you tell a big Northern from a small Muskie? Few divers ever get close enough to determine that Muskellunge have scales only on the upper half of both the cheeks and gill covers, and 12 to 18 sensory pores on the undersurface of the lower jaw whereas Northerns don’t. The more common method to identify them is that Northerns have patterns of light colored stripes and spots on a dark background, while Muskies are the reverse, a dark pattern on a light background.  They are close enough to interbreed, the result is the Tiger Muskie, which cannot reproduce.  Pictured to the right is the Northern Pike.

The American Eel is often found to be 3-4 feet long, hiding amongst the rocks as well as swimming along in the open.

The Goby is a prolific, exotic species.

The Bullhead is smaller than the Channel Catfish and is distinguished by the rounder tail.  There are several types of Bullheads found in the 1000 Island Region.

Channel Catfish is larger than the bullhead and has a distinctive pointed V tail.

Long Nose Carp is a native species.

Common Carp is an exotic species that is well established throughout North America.

Common Sucker is a native species.

The Sheepshead, or Freshwater Drum is among the more rare large species fish found in the 1000 Islands.  They tend to like the open spaces

The Long Nose Gar

The Bowfin

The Lake Sturgeon

The Zebra Mussel

The Quaggamussel are now the bigger problem for invasive bivalves in the region. They are more prolific and larger than the zebra mussel.  The Quaggamussel is rounder and lack the stripes of the Zebramussel.  Each Quaggamussel filters about a liter of water per day, creating the diver’s paradise that is the 1000 Islands.

The Freshwater Clams.

Freshwater Lobsters, better known as Crayfish, are the culinary preference for bass.  As a matter of fact, if you want to entertain a bass, just scratch the bottom like you are looking for a crayfish and the bass will move in closer to see what you are doing.

Snails

More shells.

Turtles

Freshwater Sponges