Bridgelip Sucker

Bridgelip Suckers are brown sucker fish that can be between five and 17 inches long. They can be found in freshwater in the Columbia River system. They inhabit deep water during the day and shallow water at night. Adults eat periphyton, and juveniles eat aquatic invertebrates and zooplankton. The females will release between 9,955 and 21,040 eggs when spawning.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/96860-Catostomus-columbianus

Brook Trout

Brook Trout are olive green with an orange stripe towards the bottom and covered in yellow spots, giving them another common name- “Speckled Trout”. They are usually nine to 10 inches long. These fish are active at dawn or dusk and can be found in cool, clean mountain streams. They will be in deeper waters during the day and shallower waters at night. Brook Trout will eat a variety of aquatic insects and small fish. Unlike the other members of their family, Salmonidae, they do not have teeth on the roof of their mouth. They are preyed upon by predatory waterfowl, otters, snapping turtles, and water snakes. They spawn in the fall, hatch in January, and live for two to three years.

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Fish/Brook-Trout

Brown Trout

Brown Trout are large, brown salmonids with brown and black mottling. They can weigh up to 55 pounds and are between seven and 39 inches long. The males and females have similar coloration, but the males' heads are slightly larger. They are found hiding under aquatic vegetation in deep, cold streams or lakes, giving them another common name- “Lake Trout”. Some populations can be found in the oceans as adults after they travel. They can be anadromous breeders, meaning they will live in the ocean as adults and return to freshwater to spawn before dying. Some populations will live their entire lives in freshwater rather than traveling to the ocean, but they will all still migrate. The Brown Trout is not native and was introduced to North America, South America, Australia, and parts of Africa as a popular sport fish for fishermen. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat aquatic insects, plankton, fish eggs, small fish, and crustaceans. These fish will return to the same location where they were hatched to spawn. The females will make a nest in the substrate, called a redd, and release a few hundred eggs. The males will come and fertilize the eggs. After hatching, the juveniles will establish their territories.

https://animals.net/brown-trout/

Bull Trout

Bull Trout are olive green or brown with yellow or crimson mottling. They can be found in cold water streams with cobble or gravel substrates. Juveniles will be found at the stream bottom and eat terrestrial and aquatic insects. The adults will prey on fish, such as sculpin, whitefish, and other trout species. The eggs require a four to five month incubation period, which is longer than most salmonids. They reach maturity between four and seven years and will live up to 12 years. Some Bull Trout will live in the streams where they hatched their whole lives, while others will migrate to larger water sources, which is important for healthy populations. Bull Trout are listed as threatened in the Endangered Species Act due to dams harming migration, poor water quality, introduced trout outcompeting, and human development.

https://www.tu.org/magazine/fishing/everything-you-wanted-to-know-bull-trout/

Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass are brassy-green to silvery-white with a dark stripe and mottling. They are 38 inches long and have a large mouth that extends past their eyeball, giving them their name. They can be found in large lakes, rivers, swamps, or ponds, usually with clean water as they feed by sight. They are the dominant predator in their ecosystem and prey upon anything they can fit in their mouth, but mainly on other fish species. Largemouth Bass are native to parts of the Midwest and Southern United States but have been introduced to all 50 states as sporting fish. The introduction has caused the decline and potential extinction of some fish and frog species, such as Minnows, various Dace species, and Trout-Perch. When spawning, the males will make a nest that is 6 inches wide and 20 inches deep of sand or gravel substrate near the shoreline. Then, he will circle it until a female comes. She will release a few hundred eggs into the nest, and he will fertilize them and guard the nest until the fry reach one inch in length. Even with guarding, entire nests are often lost to predation. 

https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=401

https://fisheries.tamu.edu/pond-management/species/largemouth-bass/

Longnose Dace

Longnose Dace are brown minnows with dark mottling and orange or red fins and chins. Juveniles have a dark stripe that will fade with age. They have a long snout which resembles sucker fish, but they lack the papillae that sucker fish have. They are small and can reach up to a length of seven inches but are usually under four inches. Longnose Dace can be found in fast, cool water streams, rivers, or lakes along rock or gravel substrate. They are nocturnal. During the day, they hide under rocks to avoid predation. They are a main food source for predatory fish and eat algae and aquatic insects. The males will mate with multiple females, and they can live up to five years.

https://animalia.bio/index.php/longnose-dace

Mottled Sculpin

Mottled Sculpin are brown with dark mottling, or spots, giving them their name. They can change the color of their body, usually to the color of the substrate, to avoid predation. When the males are ready to mate, they will have dark bodies and a black dorsal fin with an orange or yellow band. Mottled Sculpin have stout bodies and large heads. The males are larger than the females. They can be found in cold water streams, creeks, rivers, or lakes. They feed on aquatic insects, small fish, and even other Mottled Sculpin. To spawn, males will build a nest under rocks and females will release eggs on the roof of the nest. Multiple females may release eggs in the same nest. The male will guard the nest until the fry leave. 

https://dnr.illinois.gov/education/wildaboutpages/wildaboutfishes/wafsculpin/wafmottledsculpin.html

Mountain Whitefish

Mountain Whitefish are silvery white salmonids. They are cylindrical, five pounds, between 10 and 16 inches, and have a forked tail. They have a pointed snout and round mouth that they use to “vacuum” the substrate floor after disturbing it. They feed on aquatic invertebrates, fish eggs, and zooplankton. Mountain Whitefish can be found in clear, cold rivers, lakes, or streams near mountains, giving them their name. They will congregate in large schools during their spawn runs and spawn along course gravel or cobble substrate near the shoreline. Females can release 4,000 eggs every year. These fish become sexually mature in three years and will live between seven to nine years.

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AFCHA03060

https://animalia.bio/index.php/mountain-whitefish

Northern Pikeminnow

Northern Pikeminnows are large, dark green and white minnows with translucent, orange fins. They are 15 pounds, 35 inches long, and have long snouts and large mouths extending to the back of their eye. They were known as the “Northern Squawfish” until the name was changed to the Northern Pikeminnow in 1998 due to “squaw” being used as a slur for Native American women. They are also called the Columbia River Dace. They are impressive predators, feeding mostly on salmon fry. They are estimated to consume 650,000 salmon fry each year. The implementation of dams has significantly helped these predators by allowing them to wait and ambush salmon during their spawn runs at dams. Northern Pikeminnows are encouraged to be hunted to help the salmon populations. Females release 30,000 eggs a year and reach maturity at six years old. The males reach maturity at three to five years old. These fish can live up to 11 years.

https://www.pikeminnow.org/resources/identification/

https://animalia.bio/index.php/northern-pikeminnow

Rainbow Trout

Rainbow Trout are olive green with dark mottling and have a red line from eye to tail. Freshwater fish are between one and five pounds and anadromous fish can be up to 20 pounds. They are found in cold water tributaries, streams, and the ocean. Steelhead are the adult anadromous Rainbow Trout that will live in the ocean for a few years before returning to fresh water. These fish are opportunistic feeders. In freshwater, they will eat fish, aquatic invertebrates, terrestrial insects, fish eggs, and algae. In the ocean, Steelhead will eat fish, amphipods, and squid.  Rainbow Trout are not native to Idaho and were introduced in the 1800s. They have been introduced around the world for sport and food and are on the top 100 globally invasive species list. They harm native fishes by preying upon them, outcompeting them, hybridizing with them, and introducing diseases. While Rainbow Trout are invasive in many areas, they have become threatened or endangered in their native areas due to overharvesting, habit loss, and other invasive species. Both forms will spawn in spring and can live for 11 years.

https://animalia.bio/rainbow-trout

https://trickyfish.co/are-rainbow-trout-native-to-idaho/

Red Sided Shiner

Redside Shiners are dark olive or brown with a dark band across their body and clear fins. They are seven inches long. During the breeding season, they will develop red stripes under their dark-colored band, giving them their name. The male will have more vibrant colors than the female. They are found in cold, clear lakes, ponds, or slow-moving streams, often in schools near aquatic vegetation. The juveniles feed on plankton while the adults feed on snails and aquatic insects. They are preyed upon by salmonids. Redside Shiners mature in two to three years and will spawn in schools. To spawn, a female and one or two males will thrash violently next to each other and release the eggs and sperm simultaneously.  The fertilized eggs will attach to the substrate or vegetation along the bottom. 

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AFCJB39010

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Richardsonius-balteatus.html

Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth Bass are olive green and yellow fusiform-shaped fish. Their mouths do not extend to the back of their eyes like Largemouth Bass. They are also found in clearer, faster-moving water. The males are smaller than the females at about two pounds, while the females are three to six pounds. Their fusiform shape makes them highly effective predators for ambushing prey. They eat fish, tadpoles, and aquatic invertebrates. They will migrate to deeper pools when the weather becomes colder. The females can release up to 21,000 eggs a year over rock, gravel, or stone nests. After the eggs are fertilized, the males will guard the nest until they hatch. They can live up to 26 years.

https://animalia.bio/smallmouth-bass