Meanmouth Bass

[dan hufferd]

Those are some dandies, I love creek fishing for smallmouth !

[Al Agnew]

Here are some hybrid photos from eastern Ozark streams...

Typical hybrid about 14-15 inches long from Big River

Hybrid that is more spotted bass than smallmouth, but lacks the dark horizontal band of a typical spot.

This one is more smallmouth than spot.

Here are three fish from the same creek, a small direct tributary to the Mississippi south of the St. Louis.  First is a typical smallie, middle is a hybrid, bottom is a typical spot:

And finally, one of the uniquely colored little hybrids that seem almost like a cross between a smallie and some kind of sunfish:

[straw hat]

Nice fish!! Thanks for the pics. As far as the eye color is concerned I don't know if that shows anything or not. I am color blind.  lol  All I can tell is they all have eyes!!  lol

And now you know why I don't have an opinion on this subject!!!

[Walcrabass]

All - Righty !!!!,

Just what I wanted to see. The Red Eye thing, the truth about the cross breeds/ meanmouth thing. The fact that the Kentuckies were STOCKED !!!! Some of the actual pictures of hybrids. The fact that the lakes are NOT a natural thing and that they distort natural fish populations/percentages. We have seen that the cross breeds are a detriment to either parent species and grow slower than either parent species. ( read all the literature that is out there)

So I stand very firmly behind what I have been saying for years......... you know... all my "  Kentucky Stuff".

Al, Straw Hat, Wrench, ...... to you guys in particular....... thanks for the great and truthful information. You are intelligent  guys !!!!

[snagged in outlet 3]

11 hours ago, Walcrabass said:

You are intelligent  guys !!!!

Are you sure you wanted to incluse Wrench in this??

[Al Agnew]

12 hours ago, Walcrabass said:

All - Righty !!!!,

Just what I wanted to see. The Red Eye thing, the truth about the cross breeds/ meanmouth thing. The fact that the Kentuckies were STOCKED !!!! Some of the actual pictures of hybrids. The fact that the lakes are NOT a natural thing and that they distort natural fish populations/percentages. We have seen that the cross breeds are a detriment to either parent species and grow slower than either parent species. ( read all the literature that is out there)

So I stand very firmly behind what I have been saying for years......... you know... all my "  Kentucky Stuff".

Al, Straw Hat, Wrench, ...... to you guys in particular....... thanks for the great and truthful information. You are intelligent  guys !!!!

The cross-breeding between spots and smallies does seem to be far more likely to happen in "unnatural" situations.  In Missouri it happens in the lakes (unnatural habitat) and in the streams where spotted bass were not originally native but have invaded the smallmouth territory.  In the south flowing streams where spots were native, they apparently co-exist with smallmouth with very little hybridization.  I've never caught a hybrid in the St. Francis River, where the spots and smallmouth occupy the same habitat and spots probably outnumber smallies, but both species are native to the St. Francis.  Cross over the divide to Big River, about ten miles away but flowing northward, and the spots were not native but are now common over most of the river after first showing up at the lower end in the 1980s.  There hybrids are fairly common.

[straw hat]

Good points Al. And to throw this in the mix....The stream habitats have changed drastically in the last 60 to 70 years. Stream volumes are way down, gravel has collected and choked a lot more streams and in some areas the increase in phosphorus and nitrogen has markedly decreased oxygen levels, esp in late spring and summer. Much of this helps the spots better compete with the smallies.