Mean Mouth Bass?

Thekid

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Sep 18, 2014
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Land of corn
No offense, but the circled area has nothing to do with it.
Here is how to measure:

View attachment 1140359
So is there a reason you didn't post a picture guide for a hybrid?
And yes the jaw will go back farther but it still wouldn't break the plane dropped from the back of they eye.
 
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snookman

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 16, 2005
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Fairhope, AL
If I were to try and use deductive reasoning (all I can do without genetic testing) I would say that the overall body shape does not appear to be like the football shape associated with the smallmouth so cannot be 100% smallie. Since the the jaw clearly does not extend past the eye I can say it is at least not 100% LMB. Typically a spotted bass has a dark spot at the caudal peduncle. This is evident even in hybrids meaning I don't think this fish has and spotted bass in it. This leaves my guess as a smb X lmb. The only problem with this is how rare that cross is. The spotted bass is the #1 culprit for hybridizing. It often crosses with smallie a and guadalupes. However it does cross with lmb's more often than smallie's do. All that to say "dunno". Lol. This is a confusing fish. Honestly it looks a whole lot like the shoal bass at the Alabama/Georgia line. But it can't be.
 

wcgunns

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2010
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DFW, Texas
All I know is I've fished and kept natives for over 30 years and I've never caught one like that one. I fish bass tournaments and the regulations are different for different species. The tournament officials said that if I would have caught that fish in a tournament I would've been fine because of the length but they didn't have an answer for the species either. Game Warden is saying it's a hybrid bass and most likely a spot x smallie cross. Thanks for all the discussion on my weird bass.
 
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