There is a creek that is my favorite place to go this time of year. My friends and I have caught these bass that look like smallmouth but they are a little different. We think they might be shoal bass. It favors a smallmouth but has a bigger mouth and has orange eyes. What do you think?
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There is a creek that is my favorite place to go this time of year. My friends and I have caught these bass that look like smal
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Bama,
Could be either Coosa Bass or Shoal Bass. Both have similar markings with one exception, the shoal bass has a dark patch at the base of its tail. Both like "shoal" water and are pretty frisky on the end of the line. Check out the links below.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/bassblack/redeye/
http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/bassblack/shoal/
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Sharkfin,
A Shoal Bass and a Redeye or Coosa Bass are not the same thing. Both can have red eyes, but are distinguished from each other by white margins on the tail and fins along with a tooth patch on the tongue of the Redeye or Coosa. The Shoal Bass does not have a toothpatch on the tongue and in most cases has a dark "blotch" at the base of the tail.
The natural range of both fish do not overlap, though Shoal bass have been transplanted widely. I find that smaller streams typically are the haunts of the Redeye aka Coosa bass. I've seen specimens from small streams with eye color that ranged from "nuclear" orange to blood red.
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Bama,
With that bit of info I'd say you are probably dealing with the genuine article, a smallmouth bass. There are small regional differences in the fish and they do hybridize with Spotted Bass and the Redeye.
We lost our best Smallmouth fishery in GA due to butt heads transplanting Spots from Lanier into Lake Chategue. The resulting hybridization turned out an oddly colored fish some locals have taken to calling a spotmouth. Full blood smallies are rare in the lake now.
North Alabama has some good smallmouth in the Tennessee and as I understand it the Elk River is pretty cold so I would say smallie. Next time you catch one check out these ID points:
The cheeks should have from twelve to seventeen rows of scales. The dorsal fins are joined with ten spines and thirteen or fourteen soft rays.
Happy fishing!
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