After looking into this further and seeing the lake it was caught in (overlooked it the first time not realizing there was 2 pages to this thread already) it is not a Guadalupe bass as they are only found in the river systems leading into the gulf.
he link below shows that there are only 3 species of black bass residing in Ray Roberts Lake.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/action/waterecords.php?WB_code=0622
2 features of the fish should be deciding factor as coloration can vary greatly depending on gene pool and local conditions, where the back edge of the jaw lines up with the eye and the primary and secondary dorsal fins are attached or separated. If the jaw extends past the eye there is only LMB. It has already been said that it does not. The next question should be of the dorsal notch.
Notched between dorsals is LMB like this pic:
Dorsals are connected in this pic of a spotted bass:
Dorsals on the SMB are connected as well:
The next thing to look for would be the tooth patch on the tongue. If present it would be a spotted bass, if not then it would be a smallie.
One thing to mention is that in almost every instance that spotted bass have been introduced to bodies of water not in it's native range, it has hybridized with the local bass species due to overlapping spawning grounds/habits. The spotted has hybridized with Largemouth, redeye, guadalupe, shoal, and the most popular hybrid being with the smallmouth. The Spot x SMB is known to most as the meanmouth. The meanmouth is not a distinct species.
Meanmouths typically look like this one:
This is believed to be a spot x LMB
And the big fish in the middle of this pic is the very rare SMB x LMB:
No other possibilities exist for this lake.
