What fish is what?

Ok guys and gals,

Another seemingly silly question from a "newbie".

I am getting more and more confused with species names and "slang" names.

Crappie: Ok I know that one, well I'd better:p

Bluegil: Know this one too.

Catfish: Only know of Channel and Wels (Caught in Europe, not sure they are over here).

What is a Bream??????? A bream in England is its own species and predomenantly a bottom feeder. These are also known as "slabs". But looking on here a "slab" is a nice sized Crappie.

Perch we have in England and from what I see they are the same as Yellow Perch, only they get a little bigger in England as do most species but I think thats because not many people take for the table anymore, its purely catch and release.

Anyway I digress, I anyone could direct me to a Picture Board kinda thing, It would make identifying fish so much easier.

Thanks again and thanks for a wonderful site.

A "Bream" (or "Brim") is a catch all name for most of our "sunfish" ...... probably a carryover nickname, from our English forefathers. Some people call all sunfish "gills" or "bluegills" ... or "bream/brim" ... or any number of other colorful/descriptive nicknames.
You are exactly correct, in that a true "Bream" is a English native fish ... and none are present in US waters. (doubt a Wels Catfish is, either)

Here's a link to a ID booklet, of some of the 242 species of fish in KY waters :

http://www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/pdf/kyf...vPath=C101C138

It's a PDF file, and fairly large ... so it may take a little while to load.

And don't feel bad about the confusing nicknames/slang names, used by our anglers .... even our beloved Crappie have a bunch of them :D .... cp :cool:

there are blue cat channel cat shovel bill cat and i think i few others that i cant remember The channel cats somtimes get pretty big and the biggest shovel bill that i know off was caught out of where i fish which is douglas lake by my grandfather it was 5 feet one inch long and weight eighty some pounds

Depending on where you are at. Just about every fish is called something else. I did not know what a Sac-alait (I think that's how you spell it) was until I started lurking around here. White perch in my area are refered to as fresh water drum.

I guess you might say "bream" is predominately used as a Southern term for the Sunfish family of fishes (including Bluegill, Shellcrackers or Redear, Stumpknockers, Pumpkinseed, Fliers, Red Breasted Sunfish, Warmouth, etc.). Sunfish is the correct name. Panfish (another erroneous term) it seems has been used to describe any of the Sunfish family of fishes that will fit into a frying pan, hence "Panfish". Its true, we don't use these names correctly but they have been used this way throughout our history, so don't expect them to change any time soon. Much of it depends on what region of the states you are from. There are many other terms also for Sunfish such as Fry Hards, Smackers, and so on.

From the Merriam Webster Dictionary:
bream\'brim. 'brem\ n, pl bream or breams : any of various small freshwater sunfishes

Specks are another story (see link below). I didn't know what a Crappie was until someone told me that was the Northern name for the fish:

http://www.floridafisheries.com/Fish...h.html#crappie

At least this is my understanding of the terms used :).

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Originally Posted by Bluegillfreak

there are blue cat channel cat shovel bill cat and i think i few others that i cant remember The channel cats somtimes get pretty big and the biggest shovel bill that i know off was caught out of where i fish which is douglas lake by my grandfather it was 5 feet one inch long and weight eighty some pounds

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( Blue Channel) is slang cause there are Blues and Channel catfish. There are several types of (mud cats) they are bullheads. The Flathead Catfish ,the slang names (yellowcat ,shovel head ). The larger ones are usually Flatheads and Blues can get over 100 lbs.. Channel cats average 5 to 10 lbs. Bullheads are mostly small under 1 lb. Some types of bull heads get to be 2- 3 lbs sometimes. There are also White cat , which are similar to small blues. But the White cats usually average under 5 lbs , max out at most 20 lbs.
There is also a prehistoric fish named Paddle fish . This not really a catfish , it's a filter feeder. It's usually snagged or netted as it does'nt bite regular baited hooks. It has skin like cats and a long paddle like bill. It's eggs are prized for caviar and it has no bones in the fish.It can reach 100 lbs +. Local names are Shovelbill Catfish and Spoonbill Catfish .

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Originally Posted by mperry

Depending on where you are at. Just about every fish is called something else. I did not know what a Sac-alait (I think that's how you spell it) was until I started lurking around here. White perch in my area are refered to as fresh water drum.

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We call them Crappie and some call them Specks in other places. The fish named Drum are called many things around the country. Red A** , Sheepheads ,and Gaspergou are a few local names for Drum. The Bowfin is called Grinnel , Cypress Trout , and Dogfish.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

( Blue Channel) is slang cause there are Blues and Channel catfish. There are several types of (mud cats) they are bullheads. The Flathead Catfish ,the slang names (yellowcat ,shovel head ). The larger ones are usually Flatheads and Blues can get over 100 lbs.. Channel cats average 5 to 10 lbs. Bullheads are mostly small under 1 lb. Some types of bull heads get to be 2- 3 lbs sometimes. There are also White cat , which are similar to small blues. But the White cats usually average under 5 lbs , max out at most 20 lbs.
There is also a prehistoric fish named Paddle fish . This not really a catfish , it's a filter feeder. It's usually snagged or netted as it does'nt bite regular baited hooks. It has skin like cats and a long paddle like bill. It's eggs are prized for caviar and it has no bones in the fish.It can reach 100 lbs +. Local names are Shovelbill Catfish and Spoonbill Catfish .

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yeah i missed a comma there hehe Was trying to say blue cat, channel, cat and so on