Locations

Fish species in Montana

77 species have two or more US observation records in Montana. Explore their habitats, families, and local records.

77 species have two or more US observation records in Montana. ITIS calls 19 of them native to the United States, 55 native to part of the country and introduced elsewhere, and 3 introduced.

Species: 77
Freshwater: 77
Saltwater: 8
Survey list: 63

1state

Montana in the United States.

Two counts, two questions. 77 is the number of species observed in Montana and filed with GBIF, which includes lakes, the coast, and museum records. 63 is the number the USGS stream survey caught, which samples flowing fresh water only. Neither is the other, so the site never adds them.

The statute

The official state fish of Montana

Blackspotted cutthroat trout

Oncorhynchus clarkii subspecies lewisi · named 1977

leg.mt.gov

A state fish is a statute, not a survey. It says which fish the legislature chose, not which fish is most common. The list above links each row to the state's own record.

Record fish

Montana state records

The heaviest fish of each species certified by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, all waters. Heaviest first. Every figure is the agency’s own.

Species	Weight	Length	Water	Date	Angler
Paddlefish	142.5 lbs.	77	Missouri River Near Kipp Park	5/20/73	Larry Branstetter
White Sturgeon	96 lbs.		Kootenai River	1968	Herb Stout
Pallid Sturgeon	60 lbs.		Yellowstone River Near Sidney	5/13/79	Gene Sattler
Big Mouth Buffalo	57.75 lbs.	40.7	Nelson Reservoir	6/4/94	Craig D. Grassel
Lake Trout	42.69 lbs.	42.5	Flathead Lake	6/23/04	Ruth Barber
Common Carp	40.2 lbs.	38	Nelson Reservoir	5/24/98	Jared S. Albus
Smallmouth Buffalo	40 lbs.	42-2/8	Nelson Reservoir	5/27/23	Deborah Henry
Tiger Muskellunge	38.75 lbs.	50	Deadman's Basin Reservoir	9/2/11	Leo Cantin
Northern Pike	37.5 lbs.		Tongue River Reservoir	8/29/71	Lance Moyer
Channel Catfish	35.18 lbs.	38.75	Colstrip Surge Pond	7/7/19	John D. Smith
Rainbow Trout	33.1 lbs.	38.62	Kootenai River David Thompson Bridge	8/11/97	Jack G. Housel, Jr.
Chinook Salmon	32.65 lbs.	38	Fort Peck Reservoir	8/8/24	Jim Fauth
Brown Trout	32.42 lbs.	37	Marias River	3/3/21	Robbie Dockter
Rainbow-Cutthroat Hybrid Trout	30.25 lbs.	35.75	Ashely Lake	5/16/82	Pat Kelley
Bull Trout	25.63 lbs.	37		1916	James Hyer
Freshwater Drum	21.59 lbs.	29.5	Fort Peck- Ghost Coulee	5/3/03	Matt Washut
Walleye	18.02 lbs.	32.25	Holter Lake	5/10/21	Trevor Johnson
Burbot	17.08 lbs.	39	Missouri River Wolf Point	4/18/89	Jeff Eugene Iwen
Cutthroat Trout	16 lbs		Red Eagle Lake	1955	Wm. D. Sands
Saugeye	15.66 lbs.		Fort Peck Reservoir Squaw Creek	1/11/95	Myron Kibler
Shovelnose Sturgeon	14.125 lbs.	39.75	Missouri River	5/21/10	Chad Buck
Blue Sucker	13.29 lbs.	34.56	Marias River	4/19/19	Jason Karls
Lake Whitefish	10.46 lbs.	27	Flathead Lake	8/26/06	Swan T. McDonald V
Largemouth Bass	9.58 lbs.	22.5	Lake Elmo	4/24/21	Brandon Wright
Brook Trout	9.06 lbs.		Lower Two Medicine Lake	1940	John R. Cook
Sauger	8.805 lbs.	28.2	Fort Peck Reservoir	12/12/94	Gene Moore
Smallmouth Bass	8.4 lbs.	22.4	Fort Peck Reservoir	9/24/24	Joshua Johnson
River Carpsucker	7.915 lbs	26.1875	Yellowstone River	4/16/22	Jaxson Franklin
Northern Pikeminnow	7.88 lbs.	27.125	Noxon Rapids Reservoir	5/28/91	Darrel Torgrimson
Kokanee Salmon	7.85 lbs.	26.8	Hauser Lake	9/23/03	John Bomar
Shortnose Gar	7.41 lbs.	35	Fort Peck Dredge Cuts	5/16/13	Brandon Hansard
Largescale Sucker	6.86 lbs.	24.5	Salmon Lake	5/25/26	Todd Smitham
Golden Trout	5.43 lbs.	23.5	Cave Lake	7/16/00	Mike Malixi
White Sucker	5.33 lbs.	21.625	Nelson Reservoir	2/10/83	Fred Perry
Mountain Whitefish	5.11 lbs.	23	Hauser Reservoir	10/10/07	Walt Goodman
Coho Salmon	4.88 lbs.	25.5	Fort Peck Reservoir Face of Dam	5/29/73	Irven F. Stohl
Longnose Sucker	4.78 lbs.	22.25	Hauser Reservoir	5/10/22	Jonathan Miller
Shorthead Redhorse	4.68 lbs.	20.25	Marias River Near Loma	4/14/85	Ray Quigley
Tiger Trout	4.04 lbs.	20.6	Bear Lake	2/9/97	Joe Sobczak
White Crappie	3.68 lbs.	18.5	Tongue River	5/10/96	Gene Bassett
Arctic Grayling	3.63 lbs.	20	Washtub Lake	6/28/03	Glenn Owens
Black Crappie	3.45 lbs.	17.7	Tongue River Reservoir	1/13/26	Swayne Redinger
Goldeye	3.18 lbs.		Nelson Reservoir	7/4/00	Don Nevrivy
White Bass	2.8 lbs.	17	Missouri River South of Bainville	10/13/07	Vernon Pacovsky
Bluegill	2.64 lbs.	11	Peterson's Stock Dam	6/3/83	Brent Fladmo
Black Bullhead	2.60 lbs.	14.37	Smiley Slough	6/2/09	Birrell
Utah Chub	2.39 lbs.	15.9	Canyon Ferry Reservoir	3/7/2022	Steve Hagen
Yellow Perch	2.39 lbs.	14.375	Lower Stillwater Lake	2/19/06	Josh Emmert
Cisco	2.08 lbs.	18.2	Missouri River	6/2/14	Troy Holstein
Yellow Bullhead	1.910 lbs.	15.5	Tongue River Reservoir	12/17/20	Roberta Legge
Peamouth	1.52 lbs.	16 1/8	Clark Fork River	7/29/07	Mike Jensen
Rock Bass	1.31 lbs.	10.8	Lower Crazy Head Springs Pond	4/26/14	Karson Campbell
Pumpkinseed	1.23 lbs.	10.04	Echo Lake	6/30/26	Parker Shipman
Fathead Minnow	2.7 .01 lbs.		Dollar Lake	5/30/14	Chris Gustine
Bluegill-Green Sunfish Hybrid	0.92 lbs.	10.06	Gartside Reservoir	7/22/26	Ryan Demarais
Flathead Chub	0.59 lbs.	11.2	Thornton Pond	4/29/01	Douglas Jordan
Green Sunfish	0.56 lbs.	8.6	Castle Rock Reservoir	6/19/91	Roger Fliger
Stonecat	0.54 lbs.	10	Milk River	6/16/96	Dale Bjerga
Creek Chub	0.52 lbs.	11	Harbaugh Bass Pond	5/12/13	William Bibeau
Golden Shiner	0.39 lbs.	8.875	Lake Josephine	4/28/25	Jimmy Lee Boles III
Pygmy Whitefish	0.36 lbs.	9.84	Little Bitterroot Lake	2/13/10	Richard Geldrich
Mountain Sucker	1.60 oz.	6.2	Beaver Creek Reservoir	4/23/01	Robert Garwood
Redside Shiner	0.10 lbs.	6.5	Lost Lake	8/21/01	Josh Ahles
Rainbow Smelt	0.08 lbs.	7.1	Fort Peck Dredge Cuts	2/18/20	Nathan Cooper
Lake Chub	0.075 lbs.	5.9	Corner Lake	7/23/10	James Cashell
Rocky Mountain Sculpin	0.063 lbs.	5.0	Yellowstone Co. Canal	3/15/22	Bridger Burrows
Spottail Shiner	0.02 lbs.	3	Tiber Reservoir	8/14/10	Joe Hagengruber
Emerald Shiner	0.01 lbs.	3.43	Park Grove Bridge	6/9/06	Ike Braaten
Longnose Dace	0.01 lbs	2.1	Prickly Pear Creek	6/29/25	Carson Beckman

Source: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A row with no link is a name the site holds no species page for, which is usually a hybrid.

Most recorded

The fish of Montana

The species with the most observation records in the state. It is the closest the open data comes to naming the fish people meet.

Rainbow Trout220 records

Oncorhynchus mykissSalmonidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Brown Trout176 records

Salmo truttaSalmonidaeIntroducedFreshSaltBrackish

Brook Trout161 records

Salvelinus fontinalisSalmonidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Mountain Whitefish145 records

Prosopium williamsoniSalmonidaeNativeFresh

Longnose Dace141 records

Rhinichthys cataractaeLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFresh

Longnose Sucker112 records

Catostomus catostomusCatostomidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish

White Sucker103 records

Catostomus commersoniiCatostomidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish

Redside Shiner100 records

Richardsonius balteatusLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFresh

Cutthroat Trout91 records

Oncorhynchus clarkiiSalmonidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Northern Pikeminnow81 records

Ptychocheilus oregonensisLeuciscidaeNativeFresh

Mottled Sculpin75 records

Cottus bairdiiCottidaeNative and introducedFreshSalt

Flathead Chub73 records

Platygobio gracilisLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFresh

Groups

Types of fish in Montana

Species

All 77 species, A–Z

A

B

C

E

Emerald Shiner Notropis atherinoides

F

G

I

Iowa Darter Etheostoma exile

L

M

N

P

R

S

W

Y

One record only

13 more with a single record

One observation can be a stray, an aquarium release, or a mis-keyed locality, so these are kept out of the count above and listed here instead. The first 13 are shown.

Bigmouth Buffalo26 states

Ictiobus cyprinellusCatostomidaeNative and introducedFresh