Meanmouth Bass?

[BassBest]

I remember a little while back reading about a meanmouth someone from this board caught, I could not remember what lake or who caught it, was hoping someone could fill me in, basically I need to know if it was caught here in Ky, and what the Ky lake record is or at least how big was the one that was posted, I remember it being around 7 lbs maybe, would like to see the pic again.
Thanks

[BassBest]

OK I believe the member's name on here was "meanmouth", haven't seen him around I don't think, wasn't that fish a Largemouth-Spot cross?, most other search results are smallmouth-spot cross, but I don't remember his being that.

[R19]

It has been a while since that topic was discussed here. I might be wrong but if my memory is correct the fish was a Smallmouth/Spotted bass cross. I "think" the fish was caught at Lake Linvell cant remember if that was the name of the lake or not? I was also thinking that it came from a lake located close to I-75 and yes the guy that posted on here had a user name of meanmouth. In order for a fish to be identified as a true meanmouth a scale from the fish has to be removed and sent off for a DNA test. Like I said earlier it has been a while since this topic came up so I dont remember if the info I gave is %100 correct.

R19

[easy_13]

My partner caught the fish, but I did all the hard work ... I netted her!

As others have said, the fish was caught at Lake Linville. It was a smallmouth-spotted bass hybrid, and weighed exactly 6.0 pounds.

When we first landed the fish, we thought it was a big smally. Later, under the light, we thought it was a Kentucky. This ticked me off, because I had caught a 4.75 pound Kentucky in a tournament at the lake about a week before, and I didn't want my partner to one-up me so soon.

We laughed about not being able to ID the fish, and I mentioned a small piece I'd seen recently in Bassmaster Magazine about a Missouri angler who had caught a large meanmouth. When we looked at the fish under much better light as we weighed it at the dock, we became convinced that's what we had. It was shaped like a smally but marked like a Kentucky.

A meeting was set up with a Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officer. He took one look at her and quickly dismissed the fish as 100% smallmouth. We showed the fish to Corbin taxidermist Johnny Farmer, and he agreed with us he thought it was a hybrid. Eventually, DNA samples were sent to state biologists in Missouri; they confirmed the fish was a meanmouth.

Although it is the largest fish of its kind to be recorded, Kentucky does not recognize the meanmouth as a species so it is not even a state record. Info was also sent to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), but they do not have records for black bass hybrids, either.

Here is a link to a pic of the fish:

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/4...anmouthif0.jpg

Another interesting note about the night we caught that fish. We hadn't been planning on fishing very long that night, so I only brought one rod. I had been throwing a jig all night and hadn't even gotten a smell. About 10 minutes before the meanmouth was caught, my partner had landed twin 5 pound largemouths on back to back casts with a spinnerbait. Naturally, I got rid of the jig and tied on a blade. You guessed it ... the meanmouth came on a jig just like the one I'd been throwing.

[SlopFishin]

Helluva story. It seems like you have the same kind of luck I have. LOL

[CTFSHWHISKER]

my uncle fished the fishers of men tournament at beaver lake in arkansas i believe, they are pretty common there.

[dcbasser]

Good looking fish , would make a pretty replica. Used to catch a few like that when we fished down at Linville years ago nothing that big.
Always wondered what they were and nobody could seem to tell us. Meanmouth seems to be about right, if I remember correctly it was some of the meanest fish I have ever caught.

[easy_13]

I don't know if they can/do reproduce in Linville or not. I've done a lot of fishing up there the last 10 years and that's the only one I've seen. There used to be a lot of guys that would catch smallmouth at Cumberland (where meanmouth are more common) and release them at Linville.

[300ZX]

Has anybody caught any of these on Ky. Lake? I caught a couple small ones last year?

[mertens357]

I caught one last summer on Barkley at Bumpus Mills, it would go around 3 lb.

[Duayne]

I have landed a few on Lake Cumberland. It was two years ago. I haven't seen any since. My guess is, they would not be able to reproduce, and it is a fluke when the conditions are favorable to such cross breading.