Identification
The lower tail lobe contains a dark band, with orange above and a pale edge below. The olive back and pale underside are less distinctive. Folded lips and a bottom-facing mouth help identify it as a sucker rather than a similarly colored minnow.
Size and Weight
The published maximum total length is about 51 cm, or 20.1 inches. A verified all-tackle angling record weighed one pound eight ounces, approximately 0.68 kg, from Alabama’s Tallapoosa River in 2005. An angling record is not proof of the greatest biological weight possible, and it does not describe the 51 cm fish.
Habitat and Natural Food
The species uses both flowing and quieter water over sand, silt, gravel and rock. Its diet includes small aquatic invertebrates as well as diatoms and organic material. Juvenile feeding records include crustaceans and insect larvae.
Seasonal Movement and Fishing
Adults may enter smaller streams during the spring spawning period and leave afterward. The verified rod-and-reel record establishes that the species can be caught by anglers, but no specific best bait was confirmed in the record consulted.
Read the Lower Tail Lobe
The black band is concentrated in the lower half of the tail, bordered by brighter and paler areas. Looking at that arrangement helps distinguish Blacktail Redhorse from other redhorses whose fins may also become orange or red in spring.
All Lakes With Blacktail Redhorse
Browse lakes and reservoirs with documented Blacktail Redhorse records, listed alphabetically. Records do not establish current abundance or public access. Check the evidence and managing authority for the water you choose.
Showing 1–24 of 58 lakes · Page 1 of 3
- Aberdeen Lake Monroe, MS
- Aliceville Lake Pickens, AL
- Amory Pool Monroe, MS
- Bankhead Lake Tuscaloosa, AL
- Belton Lake Bell, TX
- Canyon Lake Comal, TX
- Claiborne Lake Monroe, AL
- Coffeeville Lake Marengo, AL
- Columbus Lake Lowndes, MS
- Eufaula Lake McIntosh, OK
- Fort Gibson Lake Wagoner, OK
- Fulton Pool Itawamba, MS
- Gainesville Lake Greene, AL
- Goat Rock Lake Lee, AL
- Grand Lake O' The Cherokees Delaware, OK
- Guntersville Lake Jackson, AL
- H Neely Henry Lake Etowah, AL
- Holt Lake Tuscaloosa, AL
- Jordan Lake Elmore, AL
- Kaw Lake Osage, OK
- Keystone Lake Pawnee, OK
- Lady Bird Lake Travis, TX
- Lake Austin Travis, TX
- Lake Buchanan Llano, TX