Fish can be found swimming in deep pools or in shallow riffle areas in rivers. They eat insects, crawfish, and smaller fish. Some fish eat material off of the bottom of the river.

There are eighty-nine species of fish that have been found living in the Sac River Basin. Over the years, the number of species of fish in the Sac River Basin has decreased.  Small fish such as the bluestripe darter, gilt darter, and ghost shiner have not been seen in the Sac River Basin since 1966.  Other small fish, the least darter and the blacknose shiner, have not been seen in the Sac River Basin since 1977.  Biologists believe that these fish species are now absent from the basin.

Sport fish, or those fish that anglers try to catch, in the Sac River Basin include smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, spotted bass, white crappie, black crappie, rock bass, and channel catfish.  Other fish that are usually not found in most Ozark streams are found in parts of the Sac River because they are near Stockton Lake and Truman Reservoir. These fish include drum, carp, buffalo, flathead catfish, and white bass. Most fish in the Sac River Basin are safe to eat. However, large-mouth bass longer than 12 inches may have high levels of mercury in their bodies.  These fish should not be eaten by children or expectant mothers.

Some fish are stocked in the lakes in the Sac River Basin. At Stockton Lake, northern pike, walleye, inland silversides, threadfin shad, hybrid muskellunge, channel catfish, and bluegill have been stocked throughout the history of the lake.  At Fellows Lake, walleye, channel catfish, and muskellunge have been stocked.

Fish species found in the Sac River Basin

Northern pike were stocked in Stockton Lake in the 1970s and muskellunge were stocked in Fellows Lake in 1996 and 1999.

Source: “Sac River Watershed Inventory and Assessment”, Missouri Department of Conservation, available at http://www.conservation.mo.gov/fish/watershed.

If the water in a river is too hot or if there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water, large numbers of fish can die. See this page for a record of large mortality events known as “fish kills” that have occurred in the Sac River Basin

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Missouri Department
of Natural Resources

Missouri Watershed Information Network (MoWIN)
Send comments to: mowin1@missouri.edu
205 Agricultural Engineering
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: (573) 882-0085
Toll Free: (MO only): 1-877-H20-shed (426-7433)
Fax: (573) 884-5650

Page last updated August 26, 2008