Bronze Largemouth

[sprestwood]

Maybe this is the time of the year where they turn yellow. Maybe this is the last time I kick my self for not bringing my camera. But it is possible I caught a smallmouth-largemouth hybrid. To call it a medium mouth would make it confusing because the larger jaw that extends past the eye-line was a dominant trait. There was no lateral choppy stripe or any vertical bars, just a bronze tint on the side. The dorsal fin looked like it had two notches with the foward/spinny part being short in height. I thought the fin could have been diseased but it did not currently look so. The eye was red and the profile of the fish was much like a spot, largemouth or smallmouth. There was not a tooth patch. It had to be released because there was no reasonable ground to be harvestable, it was 13 in long. Has anyone seen one of these bronze largemouths?

 

[crod]

Maybe you caught a largemouth with liver problems. LOL. May be drinking too much polluted water. Anyway, sounds interesting to say the least.

 

[craazyboutbass]

I have caught bass that look normal, then have 'em go into the livewell for a few minutes and sometimes they'll turn into a bronze color... no black spots, or vertical bars...

 

[sprestwood]

craazyboutbass if that fish was a yellowish-bronze down the side with the white belly and dark green top you would have it. Ive seen the pale stressed look during the cold water months but this fish wasn't pale, it was dark enough to make me think it was a smallie when it first hit the surface of the water.

 

[Buoy-Master]

Its a Hybrd... Bass and Gizzard Shad breeding! Better call TWRA. LOL!

 

[SPOON]

Do a google search on (MEAN MOUTH) and see if that looks like it.

 

[sprestwood]

http://www.tablerockguideservice.com/Bill_McCurry.JPG
The color of this fish was like mine, but this one was has some thin vertical bars. The closed jaw bone was just past the eyeline.

This site has made me suspisous of the fish I caught:
http://www.fishin.com/articles/meanmouth.htm

If it is that rare maybe the hatchery here is experimenting. I might as well caught nessy because without a clear picture with all its details all I got is this story. But a picture still isn't enough to some because of photo editing. I definatly will be bringing the camera anyways.