I caught what appears to be a smallmouth/spotted bass hybrid the other day. Did I catch a rare meanmouth bass??
Link to Imgur album with more pictures: https://imgur.com/a/CW9Fh
This bass was caught on the Catawba River in Fort Mill, SC. I’ve caught hundreds of spots, largies, and smallies but I’ve never had to question what species of bass I was catching until this fish. Reasons why I don’t think it’s a spotted bass: there is no rough tongue patch; the mouth was smaller than a spotted bass’ mouth; there weren’t distinct rows of dark spots below the lateral line; the lateral line isn’t as pronounced as a normal spotted bass; there are small dark splotches near the belly similar to a smallmouth; the color is more bronze than green. In the pictures where I’m holding it up in front of my body you can really see the bronze coloration.
There’s still a part of me that thinks this is just a spotted bass, but it just looks nothing like the spotted bass around here. Another thing working against me is that there aren’t smallmouth on that stretch of the Catawba for 60 miles. I’m stumped, please help!
it’s 100% just a spotted bass. that’s most of what i catch bass fishing the lakes near me
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