Fish Identification Guide
Identify Your Fish
Common fish species found in Loveland Reservoir and surrounding Colorado Front Range waters.
Always check current Colorado fishing regulations before keeping your catch. A valid Colorado fishing license is required.
Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
The most commonly stocked trout in Colorado. Recognized by its vivid pink-to-red lateral stripe and black spots covering the body and fins.
Key Features
Brown Trout
Salmo trutta
A wary and sought-after sport fish. Brown trout have golden-brown flanks with distinctive red and black spots, often ringed with pale halos.
Key Features
Channel Catfish
Ictalurus punctatus
The most abundant catfish species in Colorado. Identified by its deeply forked tail, slender body, and scattered dark spots on younger fish.
Key Features
Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides
A popular sport fish recognizable by its large mouth extending past the eye and a dark lateral stripe running the length of the body.
Key Features
Smallmouth Bass
Micropterus dolomieu
Similar to largemouth but with vertical bars instead of a lateral stripe, and a mouth that does not extend past the eye. Bronze-green in color.
Key Features
Yellow Perch
Perca flavescens
Easy to identify with vivid yellow-green flanks and six to eight dark vertical bars. A schooling fish popular with ice anglers.
Key Features
Walleye
Sander vitreus
Named for their large, glassy eyes adapted to low-light conditions. Olive-gold coloring with a distinctive white-tipped lower tail lobe.
Key Features
Wiper (Hybrid Striped Bass)
Morone chrysops × M. saxatilis
A stocked hybrid of white bass and striped bass. Aggressive fighters with broken horizontal stripes across silver flanks.
Key Features
Black Crappie
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
A pan-shaped sunfish with irregular black splotches scattered across silver-green sides. Dorsal spines lengthen progressively toward the tail.
Key Features
Bluegill
Lepomis macrochirus
A short, deep-bodied sunfish with parallel vertical bars on its sides and long, pointed pectoral fins. Breeding males display blue-tinted fins and a red-orange belly.
Key Features
Need More Help?
Colorado Parks & Wildlife maintains a comprehensive online fish identification tool covering all species found in Colorado waters.
Colorado Fish Species Guide →