Mammoth cave small mouths?

[coombro]

I haven't floated it in better than a year but you are right in that the Green is a nice river for a summer float and that stretch down through Mammoth cave is exceptionaly nice. I have fished it sparsely on the handful of trips I have taken (mostly family / scout trips) and I can tell you most likely you are catching spotted bass. Green has all three - LM, SM, and spots but it is full of spots. Every time I have fished I have caught many spots with an occasional LM or SM. From what little information I have gathered on Green the SM are maybe more selective in the areas of the river they are found. The only place I caught more than one here and there was the area called 300 falls above 31E where on a family trip we pulled up on a rock bar for lunch and I caught several small SMs on a tube jig. Any how look up a picture of a spotted bass and I bet that is what you caught. I can tell the difference between the three just seeing them in the water as they all have their own distinctive look but the easiest way to tell a spot from the other two is they have a "tooth patch" on their tongue which LM and SM do not have. Also the other anglers could be mistaking spots for SM which I think is a common mistake by novice stream bass anglers too...

kc

All right I think you and I are on the same page hear. Now you not referencing the spot with the Ky. bass? As these fish really didn't resemble lg. mouth or the Ky. bass as I've been raised to call them. look in their mouth for the spot.

[kc]

I am refering to a KY bass aka spotted bass and it sounds like you know what they look like tooth patch and all. LM, SM, and KY spotted bass all have the same, long body shape which I can't think of any other fish specie that may be in Green with that kind of body shape. As MLTSPCS noted if you start talking about rock bass or warmouth they have a different body shape than bass -- taller and broader and rarely get over 10". Both rock bass and warmouth have body shapes more like a Redear aka shell cracker if you know your panfish. If you caught a 14" rock bass or warmouth you had a stud - maybe record material. But a rock bass is more of a brown color with broken almost dotted looking stripes on its side and they have red eyes like some KY bass do. I don't remember catching any rock bass on the Green but I am sure there are plenty there. Very common stream fish...

kc