When you visit Middleton’s Blue Cypress Rentals for fishing, you are likely to catch mostly Large Mouth Bass, Speckled Perch (Crappie), Bluegills, Shellcrackers and several varieties of Catfish.
Largemouth bass
| Largemouth bass | |
|---|---|
 |
|
Scientific classification |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Centrarchidae |
| Genus: | Micropterus |
| Species: | M. salmoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Micropterus salmoides (Lacépède, 1802)[2] |
|
The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a freshwater gamefish in the sunfish family, a species of black bass native to North America. It is known by a variety of regional names, such as the widemouth bass, bigmouth bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largies, Potter’s fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, gilsdorf bass, Oswego bass, southern largemouth and (paradoxically) northern largemouth.[3] The largemouth bass is the state fish of Georgia, Mississippi, and Indiana, the state freshwater fish of Florida and Alabama, and the state sport fish of Tennessee.
Read more about Large Mouth Bass
Crappie
| Crappies | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Black (top) and white crappie (P. nigromaculatus & P. annularis) |
|
| Scientific classification |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Centrarchidae |
| Genus: | Pomoxis Rafinesque, 1818 |
| Type species | |
| Pomoxis annularis Rafinesque, 1818 |
|
Crappies (/ˈkrɒpiː/ or /ˈkræpiː/)[1][2] are a genus, Pomoxis, of North American fresh water fish in the sunfish family Centrarchidae. Both species in this genus are popular pan fish.
Bluegill
| Bluegill | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Centrarchidae |
| Genus: | Lepomis |
| Species: | L. macrochirus |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, 1810 |
|
The bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish familyCentrarchidae of the order Perciformes. It is native to North America and lives in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. It is commonly found east of the Rockies. It usually hides around, and inside, old tree stumps and other underwater structures. It can live in either deep or very shallow water, and will often move back and forth, depending on the time of day or season. Bluegills also like to find shelter among water plants and in the shade of trees along banks.
Bluegills can grow up to 12 inches (30 cm) long and about 4 1⁄2 pounds. They have very distinctive coloring, with deep blue and purple on the face and gill cover, dark olive-colored bands down the side, and a fiery orange to yellow belly. The fish are omnivores and will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. They mostly feed on small aquatic insects and fish. The fish play a key role in the food chain, and are prey for muskies, walleye, trout, bass, herons, kingfishers, snapping turtles, and otters.
The bluegill is the state fish of Illinois.[1]
Shellcrackers:
Redear sunfish
| Redear sunfish Temporal range: Middle Miocene to Recent |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Centrarchidae |
| Genus: | Lepomis |
| Species: | L. microlophus |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepomis microlophus (Günther, 1859) |
|
The redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus, also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish and sun perch) is a freshwater fish native to the southeastern United States. Since it is a popular sport fish, it has been introduced to bodies of water all over North America. It is known for its diet of mollusks and snails.
Large shellcracker before preparation for consumption
Catfish
| Catfish Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – present 100–0 Ma |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Black bullhead | |
| Scientific classification |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Superorder: | Ostariophysi |
| Order: | Siluriformes G. Cuvier, 1817 |
| Families[2] | |
| – Extant families – Ailiidae[1] Akysidae Amblycipitidae Amphiliidae Anchariidae Ariidae Aspredinidae Astroblepidae Auchenipteridae Austroglanididae Bagridae Callichthyidae Cetopsidae Chacidae Clariidae Claroteidae Cranoglanididae Diplomystidae Doradidae Erethistidae Heptapteridae Heteropneustidae Horabagridae [1] Ictaluridae Kryptoglanidae Lacantuniidae Loricariidae Malapteruridae Mochokidae Nematogenyiidae Pangasiidae Pimelodidae Plotosidae Pseudopimelodidae Schilbeidae Scoloplacidae Siluridae Sisoridae Trichomycteridaeincertae sedis Conorhynchos– Extinct family – Andinichthyidae † |
|
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat‘s whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia and the piraíbaof South America, to detritivores (species that eat dead material on the bottom), and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. There are armour-plated types and there are also naked types, neither having scales. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbel. Members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Many catfish are nocturnal,[3][4] but others (many Auchenipteridae) are crepuscular or diurnal (most Loricariidae or Callichthyidae for example).
Yes, there are Armored Catfish (aka Hasa or Cascadoo) in Blue Cypress Lake!
This non-Florida-native species of catfish is a delicacy in elements of southern US and Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. Come get some!
