Freshwater Fish of Georgia Field Guide

by Dave Bosanko

Overview

Go Fishing with Georgia’s Famous Identification Guide!

Fishing is a perfect outdoors activity for all ages and skill levels, and the Peach State is an angler’s paradise. Reel in fish, and make identifying your catches a snap. The Freshwater Fish of Georgia Field Guide by Dave Bosanko features detailed information about 87 species of Georgia fish. When you’re not sure what you caught, grab the handy guide and narrow your choices by family. Then identify your prize with the intricately detailed fish illustrations. Further verify the type of fish using the “Similar Species” comparisons.

Book Features:

• Detailed information about 87 freshwater species
• Professional-quality illustrations—perfect for fish identification
• Fascinating facts on spawning behavior, feeding habits, and more
• Fishing tips and inside information for easily locating fishing hotspots
• Bonus resources such as state fishing records and answers to frequently asked questions

Grab the Freshwater Fish of Georgia Field Guide for your next angling adventure. It’s essential for every tackle box, beach bag, RV, and cabin. Plus, its convenient size makes it perfect for the dock or boat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591932635
Publisher:	Adventure Publications, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/07/2010
Series:	Fish Identification Guides
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	4.40(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Dave Bosanko was born in Kansas and studied engineering before following his love of nature to degrees in biology and chemistry from Emporia State University. He spent thirty years as staff biologist at two of the University of Minnesota’s field stations. Though his training was in mammal physiology, Dave worked on a wide range of research projects ranging from fish, bird, and mammal population studies to experiments with biodiversity and prairie restoration. An avid fisherman and naturalist, he has long enjoyed applying the fruits of his extensive field research to patterning fish location and behavior, and observing how these fascinating species interact with one another in the underwater web of life.

Read an Excerpt

Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides

Family: Sunfish family (Centrarchidae)

Other Names: black, bayou, green or slough bass, green trout

Description: dark green back, greenish sides often with dark lateral band; large, forward-facing mouth; lower jaw extends to rear margin of eye

Habitat: shallow, fertile, weedy lakes and river backwaters; weedy bays and extensive weedbeds of large lakes

Range: southern Canada through the United States into Mexico, extensively introduced worldwide; Georgia—common throughout state

Food: small fish, frogs, crayfish, insects

Reproduction: spawns when water temperatures reach 60 degrees; male builds nest in small clearings in weedbeds 2 to 8 feet deep; male guards nest and fry until the “brood swarm” disperses

Average Size: 12 to 20 inches, 1 to 5 pounds

Records: State—22 pounds, 4 ounces, Montgomery Lake, Georgia, 1932; North American—22 pounds, 4 ounces, Montgomery Lake, Georgia, 1932

Notes: The Largemouth Bass is the most sought after game fish in North America. This denizen of the weedbeds is a voracious carnivore, eating anything that is alive and will fit into its mouth. Largemouths are common in lakes and wide streams with weedbeds less than 20 feet deep. Largemouths are often 1 to 3 pounds, but 8 and 9 pound fish are not uncommon. They are fine table fare when small and taken from clear water, but are not known for table quality when large are taken from muddy water.

Similar Species: Smallmouth Bass (pg. 150), Spotted Bass (pg. 152)

• Largemouth Bass: mouth extends well beyond brown eye
• Smallmouth Bass: mouth does not extend beyond red eye
• Spotted Bass: mouth does not extend beyond orange eye

Table of Contents

How To Use This Book

Fish Identification

Fish Anatomy

Fish Names

About Fish of Georgia

Frequently Asked Questions

Fish Diseases

Invasive Species

Fun With Fish

Catch-And-Release Fishing

Fish Measurement

Fish Consumption Advisories

Georgia State Record Fish

Sample Page

Bowfin Family

Catfish Family

Cavefish Family

Drum Family

Eel Family

Gar Family

Herring Family

Killifish Family

Lamprey Family

Left-eye Flounder Family

Livebearer Family

Minnow Family

Mudminnow Family

Perch Family

Pike Family

Pirate Perch Family

Pupfish Family

Pygmy Sunfish Family

Salmon Family

Sculpin Family

Silverside Family

Snakehead Family

Sole Family

Sturgeon Family

Sucker Family

Sunfish Family

Temperate Bass Family

Glossary

Index

Primary References

About the Author