FISH:  Generally these are the animals that live in the water, breathe through gills and swim around using fins (see below for a more scientific explanation).  In Florida's fresh waters there are more than 30 types of gamefishes that people actively try to catch and over 200 different Florida freshwater fish species in all.  The most sought after is the Florida largemouth bass, but for beginners and people who like to catch more fish various bream (bluegill, redear sunfish, redbreast sunfish), crappie and catfish are great fish to catch.
 

The Florida largemouth black bass.  Use a variety of artificial lures or live bait (golden shiners) and heavier line like 8-12 pounds and a 3/0 or larger hook.  Fish near the edges of vegetation or around structure like piers or trees that fell in the water.	The bluegill is found just about everywhere in Florida. It is also called a bream or panfish.  It has a small mouth, so use small baits, a small hook, like a #8 (smaller than a dime) and light line (2-4 pounds).  These fish can sometimes be found near the shore so are good if you are bank fishing.
The channel catfish is another great starter fish and great eating fish.  Fish down near the bottom so use a sinker and the smellier the bait the better.	Crappie are another common fish to go after, trolling behind a boat is a super way to catch these fish, but techniques described for bluegill also work.

More literally, fish are vertebrates (animal with a backbone) that have gills and live in water, but the term is sometimes used more broadly to include any animal living in water with fins and gills. Fishes refers to more than one type of fish (not more than one fish of the same type).  Finfish refers to sharks, some rays and bony fishes.  Scalefish refers to fish bearing scales (note freshwater catfishes don't have scales).   Bonyfish, like bass and catfish, belong to the scientific classification Osteichthyes and have bony skeletons; as opposed to cartilaginous fish like sharks and rays that belong to the classification Chondrichthyes.

For a PDF file with images of 30 common freshwater fishes click here.