Hey ya'll, greetings from Iraq.

I'm a soldier and I am stationed at Fort Hood. I have fallen in love with Texas namely because of the great fishing opportunities and the outdoors in general.

Not being from the great Republic of Texas I am slightly confused on some names for certain fish.

I see folks say "perch" quite a bit. The only native North American perch species is the yellow perch which is a cold water fish. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perch) What do ya'll mean by "Perch"?

Also I see some folks say "Bream" which is a fish (fresh and saltwater) which are native to Eurasia, not anywhere in North American freshwater. Perhaps "Bream" refers to panfish of the Lepomis genus?

By "Bullhead" do you mean Bullhead Catfish? In Mississippi we called them yellow cats (as opposed to Flathead, Blue or Channel) and did not eat them and rather considered them a pest.

Thanks and great site!!

First of all---welcome to Texas and a huge thanks to you and your comrades in arms for your service to and love of this country. Those of us in here know better than almost anyone else that our freedoms including our freedom to hunt and fish and enjoy boating and the outdoors came at a heavy price from men and women like you who put it all on the line in defense of our liberty.

Welcome to the site and stay safe.

Here is something that may help
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/aquaticspecies/inland.phtml
What we call "bream" down here are the sunfish. I call the bullheads "mudcats". They are small and not good to eat-you are correct.

The "largemouth bass" are actually not true bass but members of the sunfish family

The "bream" are sometimes called bluegills and chinquapins(the redears)

Wait till you see the women

perch is crappie
bream or brim is any member of the sunfish family (blue gills etc)
Bull head are the bottom of the line catfish. (chanell, blue, flathead)

Here are my definitions
Perch all members of the sunfish family except Black Bass
(largemoutn, smallmouth, spotted, and quadalupe) Not actually
Perch as in perch or walleye.
Bream, Bluegill, sometimes lumped in with perch.
Bullheads, a bottom dweller smallest of the catfish.
Crappie, sometimes called white perch
Sand bass, actually white bass
Yellow bass, member of white bass family
Striped Bass Saltlwater fish survies in the right freshwater
lakes, and spawns in some, such as lake Texhoma, in Tex/Okla
Hybrid Striped bass cross between Striped Bass and White Bass
can handle same waters as White Bass, but grows larger, man
made fish, not supposed to reproduce but a lot of people
believe that they do on occassion. I am sure everyone has their
own names for some of these fish families, but that is mine.
If you get 10 answers, probably most of em will be different
Welcome to the Best fishing forum anywhere.

Brim or Bream are sunfish and can be lumped together as "Bluegill", although there are many different similar species.

My current fishing partner, from Louisiana, calls White Crappie "White Perch", but this is a Louisiana thing. Another name is Sac-a-let or something like that (excuse my mispelling) Black Crappie are easily distinguished from White Crappie by their big black spots or splotches.

Then there are the Gaspergoo (freshwater drum) and some other native fishes. Grinnel, Alligator Gar, Needlenose gar, Spotted Gar. And more. Carp, of course. Even some Tilapia have been introduced here and there.

I think Bullheads are more of a northern species, and they are nasty. Yellow cat is the same as Opalusas or Flathead, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong on that), and Blue Cats and Channel Cats are plentiful.

And farm ponds are called "tanks".

One more thing: Different regions of Texas are called by natives "North Texas, East Texas, South Texas, West Texas, and the Panhandle". Not "Northern Texas", "Eastern Texas", etc., as some weather forecasters say! It hurts my ears when they say that! Just a little extra information!

Thanks for your service!

Ok...here ya go, I'll try to list out what you're likely to find when you're out fishing, what family it truly falls in, and common names both for the group and for individual species.

Centrarchidae (Sunfish family)
The below fishes are often called perch, bream, or sunnies:
Bluegill-aka coppernose bluegill (actually a subspecies of bluegill I believe)
Redear-aka shellcracker
Redbreast-name may be confused with longear sunfish, Redbreast actually has a longer earflap than does longear sunfish
Longear sunfish-may be confused namewise with redbreast

The below are often collectively called "black basses"; they are not true bass, but are members of the sunfish family
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
Guadalupe bass
Spotted bass

There are also white and black crappie in this same family (sunfish). They may be called white perch (which is another fish entirely that isn't found in TX and is actually in the true bass family), sac-a-lait, slabs, and who knows what else.

Ictaluridae (Catfishes)
Channel catfish
Blue catfish-aka humpback blue
Flathead catfish-aka mudcat, yellow cat, appaloosa, oppoloosa, opp
There are also Black and Yellow bullheads, both known also as polliwogs or mudcat

Moronidae (True basses)
Striped bass-aka striper-actually a saltwater fish, stocked in many freshwater lakes and is known to spawn with success in some lakes, particularly those with a long stretch of river for spawning runs
White bass-aka sandies, sandbass - common in MANY freshwater reservoirs, naturally occurring in the rivers of the state, but not necessarily to all of the lakes in TX
Yellow bass-aka ???-found in many east TX lakes

Lepisosteidae (Gar)
Alligator gar-aka gator gar
Shortnose gar
Longnose gar-aka needlenose
Spotted gar

Various carp, minnows, buffalo, etc. that you may run across as well.

I hope none of ya'll are using your "perch" (read: Crappie) or brim/bream (Bluegill) for bait as that is illegal:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/fish/definitions/
See "Bait".

See I am thinking of going after some flatheads while I am on leave and I am thinking up some bait. I know a little pond with a ton of yellow cats but they seem big, like 9-10 inches long or so. Maybe I should get a net, I haven't thrown one in years since I was a pup in the Mississippi bayous but I reckon I could relearn real quick. Maybe some store bought goldfish?

Just getting a handle on the local names for fish. To me a perch is Yellow Perch, Northern coldwater fish closely related to Walleye (both, for my money, are some of the best tasting freshwater fish). Bream to me are small Saltwater fish not too dissimilar to Bluegill in general shape but a completely different fish otherwise.

Oh yes, as for Texas women I already gots me a wife:



Her very first catfish was a huge 28 pound Channel Cat she caught in a little pond on Fort Hood. I was so proud. That thing about pulled my little Korean wife in.

Thanks.

In central Texas we have what we call Goggleye Perch, which,I think, are Warmmouth and Sunperch. I don't know what the correct name for them is. Gaspergoo are known as Ghouls or chromefish. Flatheads are mostly called Yellowcat.

and Thank You
I think they have have just about covered it. I often hear perch and bream used loosely around my neck of the woods at times. Alittle confusing sometimes
Once Again Thank You and All Others Serving.

For the record, we have dozens of true perch in North America, and a few here in Texas.

Granted, for some reason people in the south (not just Texas) call our sunfish either perch or bream (even more confusing as there aren't even any bream in the Americas).

The folks over at txfishes have taken on the impossible task of using the correct names only, talk about tough.

I find it most amusing that some of the colloquial names are used above like "gaspergoo are sometimes called XXXXXXXX"

How about Freshwater Drum are sometimes called Gaspergoo.

Crappie = illegal bait
bluegill + all other small sunfish = legal bait, see the list
of game fish on your link. Live " perch " make wonderful catfish bait, especially for
flatheads.

If you think you love Texas now , come on up to East Texas , you will think you are in
Heaven.
If you make it up to the Tyler area , Let me know, I'll take you fishing.

thanks for your service

Mo

When ya make it back look me up. I can show ya the different "perch" to use as bait to catch a Texas "yella cat"

Heck, we might even use some "mud cat" to catch yella cat.