A variety of fish inhabit the Potomac, including bass, muskellunge, pike, walleye.
The northern snakehead, an invasive species resembling the native bowfin, lamprey, and American eel, was first seen in 2004.
 Many types of sunfish are also present in the Potomac and its headwaters.
Although rare, bull sharks can be found.

After having been depressed for many decades, the river's population of American Shad is currently re-bounding as a result of the ICPRB's successful "American Shad Restoration Project" that was begun in 1995.
In addition to stocking the river with more than 22 million shad fry, the Project supervised construction of a fishway that was built to facilitate the passage of adults around the Little Falls Dam on the way to their traditional spawning grounds upstream.

Freshwater fish of the Potomac River
A variety of fish inhabit the Potomac, including bass, muskellunge, pike, walleye. The northern snakehead, an invasive species resembling the native bowfin, lamprey, and American eel, was first seen in 2004.  Many types of sunfish are also present in the Potomac and its headwaters. Although rare, bull sharks can be found.
After having been depressed for many decades, the river's population of American Shad is currently re-bounding as a result of the ICPRB's successful "American Shad Restoration Project" that was begun in 1995. In addition to stocking the river with more than 22 million shad fry, the Project supervised construction of a fishway that was built to facilitate the passage of adults around the Little Falls Dam on the way to their traditional spawning grounds upstream.
Freshwater fish of the Potomac River
Potomac River