Mean Mouth Bass

[MagikSmallie]

I know this has been discussed in the past. I am just now getting caught up with the times. A friend of mine showed me this pic:

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

Which is supposed to be a 6 pound meanmouth out of Lake Linville in 2006. I was just curious to hear of other mean mouths that have been caught in the bluegrass. What is the position of the KDFW on recognizing the meanmouth? I know the fish in the picture looks green but honestly I don't see anything that defines it as anything other than a SM, thats just the way it looks to me, but I can also see some resemblance to a KY. Thoughts?

[mhall]

Looks like the couple of others I have saw, I believe it is one. Beautiful fish to By the way.

[Bassky]

Nice fish!! To me it looks more like a huge spot. But it looks like a sm bass too. No matter what it is, it is a good'n! Never caught a meanmouth. My buddy caught one down at Watts Bar lake last year.
Bassky

[Astrobass]

I've caught a couple of fish like that in Green River Lake. They look like a spot, then you look again and it looks sort of like a smallmouth... I never knew exactly what they were.

[Duayne]

Cumberland had some a few years back. Caught several myself. Haven't seen them in a while. I think the spawns have to line up just right. Everything I've read says mean mouths in KY are to be treated as smallies.

I'd have to say that I would disagree with this. It's going to be a hybrid that can not reproduce. A 17" hybrid mean mouth would be a trophy worth mounting. The one's I caught were in the 15" range so they, of course, were released.

[Brandon__]

i got to reading about these earlier. Just makes me wonder where the are. i guess it is possible where ever they co-exist but i wouldnt mind hooking into a couple just to see what its like.

[Rudypoo4444]

Is it a shoal bass?

[MagikSmallie]

Is it a shoal bass?

Naw, I don't think it's a Shoalie, they are a little different ( how? I'm not exactly sure). But they are also only found in Florida and Georgia.

http://www.bassmaster.com/sites/defa...es20110412.pdf

[Fishin is life]

Had a friend catch one on Cumberland in the spring in a tournament....After some discussion with the officials it was weighed as a spot as it wouldn't have been a keeper smallmouth...Gonna be interesting how the tournament guys treat them if they start to become more prevalant

[Les Young]

I caught a bunch of them in Cumberland before the draw down & the spots seemed to all but dissapear. Usually 15 or 16" but a buddy caught a 19 & 1/2 " one night shallow when water was high & we were fishing the wood washed up against the banks. It pulled like a freight train.

[GamblerRex]

Had a friend catch one on Cumberland in the spring in a tournament....After some discussion with the officials it was weighed as a spot as it wouldn't have been a keeper smallmouth...Gonna be interesting how the tournament guys treat them if they start to become more prevalant

They are not recognized by the state so they fall in the biggest species for the lake limit. Therefore they must be weighed as a smallmouth as explained to me by the state fish and wildlife comm. Therefore on Cumberland it would have to be 18"

[Dave Clark]

My boat see's several every year on Dale...