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Hatches › Baitfish
Cottus · genus
Bottom-hugging freshwater sculpins are a year-round baitfish meal worth imitating tight to the rocks.
Category
Baitfish
Category
The insect or forage category for this profile.
Size
Usually small; most species are under about 6 inches, though a few can grow notably larger.
Size
Typical size range anglers imitate on the water.
Key stages
Egg Mass, Fry, Juvenile, Adult, Spawning Adults
Key stages
Life stages most relevant to fly fishing this hatch or forage.
Water types
freestone rivers, tailwaters, streams, cool lakeshore margins
Water types
Water types where this bug or forage is commonly found.
Cottus is a genus of freshwater sculpins in the family Cottidae, a group of mainly freshwater ray-finned fishes native to the Nearctic and Palearctic. For anglers, “sculpin” means a small, bottom-dwelling baitfish that trout, bass, and larger predators key on whenever they can pin it to the substrate.
Sculpin eggs are laid in protected clusters, typically under rocks, where they develop until hatching.
After hatching, the young sculpins, known as fry, stay near the streambed, beginning their growth.
Juvenile sculpins settle onto the river bottom and continue to grow, developing into miniature versions of the adult fish.
Adult sculpins are bottom-dwelling predators, hiding among rocks and preying on aquatic insects, small fish, and other available food sources.
During spring, adult sculpins reproduce, laying their eggs in protected areas beneath rocks within flowing water.
Sculpin
One species, multiple rivers.
