# Mosquito Fish I.D.



## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

Caught this bass while drifting for walleyes. Funny thing, I was in 21 foot of water where no structure or anything was and he hit. Thought it was a largemouth, but it seems to have some different colors on the head. Released to catch another day.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Looks like a largemouth to me.
Isn't a smallie, so what else could it be?


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## Guest (Apr 15, 2010)

lip-haired bucketmouth. lol. mutation in facial area, perhaps?


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## WhoolyBugger (Aug 25, 2008)

Yeah.... LMB

It does resemble a smallie a touch in the face......

Spooky thought- A hybrid....... muahh ahhh


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## jackal_727 (Feb 16, 2010)

Def a largemouth


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## quick draw mcgraw 15 (Feb 15, 2010)

def a largemouth


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## taxidermy223 (Jun 21, 2006)

You caught two nice Smallmouth bass. The lower lip and small cheek scales give it away. They will hybrid with a largemouth, but with the head it is a smallmouth.


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## FishAllNightAllDay (Jul 18, 2008)

taxidermy223 said:


> You caught two nice Smallmouth bass. The lower lip and small cheek scales give it away. They will hybrid with a largemouth, but with the head it is a smallmouth.


Um it is the same fish, it is a largemouth


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## taxidermy223 (Jun 21, 2006)

FishAllNightAllDay said:


> Um it is the same fish, it is a largemouth


Did you check the lower lip length or blow up the picture to see he cheek scale size? Color will hold no water here, I have mounted and airbrushed enough from very dark almost a black to very light with every color in between to know not to judge specie from color alone. I have raised enough L.M. bass up to 3 pounds and watched them turn from a yellow to a green in only a few minutes time. But I have never mounted a L.M. with that head, S.M. Yes. Elementary my friend.


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

I have to honestly agree with Taxidermy here. The head gives it away that something is amiss in bassville. Lip length to me is clearly a smallmouth. Even the eyes have a certain smallmouth twinkle. lol I am no expert though, just my opinion.


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## jackal_727 (Feb 16, 2010)

After looking closer at the pic and doing a little research, i believe what you caught was a spotted bass. It doesnt have the lower spots like you would normaly see but it explains the largemouth appearance with the smaller jaw. It would also explain catching it in deeper water. Spots do tend to hang in deeper water than largemouth. But its strange anyway to catch one this far away from its natural range. Just my opinion.


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## MuskieJim (Apr 11, 2007)

taxidermy223 said:


> Did you check the lower lip length or blow up the picture to see he cheek scale size? Color will hold no water here, I have mounted and airbrushed enough from very dark almost a black to very light with every color in between to know not to judge specie from color alone. I have raised enough L.M. bass up to 3 pounds and watched them turn from a yellow to a green in only a few minutes time. But I have never mounted a L.M. with that head, S.M. Yes. Elementary my friend.


Not trying to ruffle your feathers, butI find this frightening that you would say this as a professional taxadermist. This fish is without a doubt, 110% certified largemouth or spotted bass. Mosquito's largemouths never are very distinct in coloration. I understand the lip theory, but it may just be a birth defect or genetics. You have seen smallmouth bass with the exact colorations of a largemouth with a smallmouth head? This identical "Fish ID" post not to long ago also just rubbed me the wrong way. Many self proclaimed fish experts ID a redhorse sucker, that runs up the rivers every spring, as a common carp. Knowledge is power my friends, knowledge is power.


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

I don't think any of us can say with all certainty what the hell it is. When there is more than one legitimate possibility, unless we have run lab tests on this fish, we are just making our own informed estimations on the species of this fish.


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## sonar (Mar 20, 2005)

Also ,the eye is the I.D. translator for me, smallie!----------sonar...............


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## taxidermy223 (Jun 21, 2006)

Exact colorations of a largemouth bass?You can never go by color alone, 95 % of the time or where caught yes but not 100%. Look at the black or white crappie, there are times you have to go by spine count alone to know what you have. With a muskie from different lakes you can and will have different color's, that is why it is so important to have a photo for a true color for a mount but then also musky cannot be confused with any other fish. Now with it being a spotted bass that would be closer then a largemouth and the scale size on the cheeks would match but still the jaw still does not match, does skitter have spotted bass, I have never herd of it but still possible. A freak of nature I do not know without having the fish in hand but it does not match a L.M. on body characteristics, the jaw is to short and the cheek scales are to small. Enough said on my end, it still would make good sushi for me.


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## jackal_727 (Feb 16, 2010)

I still believe that it is more likely a spot, but honestly your specialty does give you an opportunity to see a lot of fish. As far as whether or not skeeter has spots, i havent heard of it, given that their range is limited to southern ohio. But theres always a suprise nature throws us from time to time. Prob one of the biggest reasons i keep fishing. Never knowing what might be on the end of your line.


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## barf (May 10, 2009)

how did he taste .......hhhhh


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## snake69 (Sep 26, 2005)

I don't see where the debate comes in....looks like many of the largemouth I've caught out of Nimi.....! But I fish for walleye so what do I know...1


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## Ursusguy (May 16, 2004)

Looks like a spotted bass. Although the coloration is not as pronounced as the fish I catch in the southern US, the identifier is the end of the upper jaw.

On the largemouth, the end of the upper jaw extends into the eye area. On a spot, the end of the upper jaw is in front of the eye.

This appears to have a jaw that ends before the eye. I can't tell from the picture, but a spot has a definite connection between the first dorsal fin and the second, while a largemouth is separate.

More info go to http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/lmb/
or http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/bkbass_diagrams.phtml
and http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/spb/.

Best Wishes.

Dan


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## MAMA'S BUOY (May 18, 2009)

I counted about 13 rays on the anal fin = largemouth bass. Additionally there are 14 rays on pectoral fin = largemouth bass. http://issuu.com/wildlife/docs/fish_number_of_each_fins


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## justinmay123 (Jul 6, 2009)

catfish...look at the whiskers definatly a catfish


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## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

Boy, I love reading the replies. When I looked closely at the eyes, I swore he looked at me and said "Hey, I am a smallie". When I laid him on the cooler lid and looked at his colors on the body, he said" hey stupid, I am a largemouth". When I looked at his lateral colors, he said " hey idiot, don't you know a spot when you see him", and then I said, hell with you, I will call you a big mutated rock bass and he smiled and said, put me on the site and ask what I am as he swam away.


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## fishnguy (Apr 14, 2004)

It's a duck billed platypus...i'm sure of it.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

White Crappie.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

or a Redhorse Sucker. . . . .. .


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

it is a large mouth... look at the jaw... when you close the mouth the jaw would go past the eye... and spots have a red orange eyes... and a small jaw like a smallie....i fish 30 and 40 feet for large mouth


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

I give up. I am going with an American Eel.


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## McMish (Mar 23, 2009)

Im sorry but your all WRONG WRONG WRONG....

This is clearly a hybrid Shad/Gar ala'Perch with a twist of Rocky Mountain pea-mouth that has successfully mated with a Rapella jigging spoon.


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

McMish said:


> Im sorry but your all WRONG WRONG WRONG....
> 
> This is clearly a hybrid Shad/Gar ala'Perch with a twist of Rocky Mountain pea-mouth that has successfully mated with a Rapella jigging spoon.


Hahaha  That explains the treble hook near the anal fin.


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## ilovetofish (Feb 5, 2010)

you guys must not fish very often--anyone can see thats a musky


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

it looks like bait to me...


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## Guest (Apr 16, 2010)

in all my years smallmouth fishing, i never caught one that looked like that, but what do i know, i have only fished for them for 35 years.

anyways, the size of the pupil gives it away........green trout.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

You caught the rare and thought to be mythical - the medium mouth bass. Almost as rare as a unicorn. Coloration a of Lg mouth and the head of a smallie. I'll go with Taxi, a smallie.


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

lmfao medium mouth bass


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## Erterbass (Jul 4, 2005)

Some funny posts here - lmao!! 

Seriously though, that is not a pure largie and is not a spotted bass either. I've caught plenty of spots in S. Ohio and throughout Tennessee and it doesn't have the body shape of a pure spot. Besides, I'd wager that would be a state record spot if it really was one.

I caught a bass that looked A LOT like this one a couple of years ago - and I talked to a fisheries biologist about it and he called it a "mean mouth bass" which is a cross between a smallmouth and a largemouth.

What gives it away to me are three things - taken together they make for some type of hybrid. These characteristics taken alone don't mean squat but put them in combination and they describe a smallie/largie hybrid.

Here's what I mean:

1. The jaw. It doesn't go past the eye so is not a largemouth

2. The eye color. Smallies have that eye color, largies do not

3. The size of the tail in proportion to the body. Smallies have large tails while largies have a tail that is a bit smalller in proportion to their body. 

Given this bass came from deep water away from traditional largemouth territory tells me that this bass doesn't behave like a Northern Ohio largemouth (assuming the depth it was caught is true) but was suspended over deep water - a typical behavior of smallmouth.

My opinion...but I'm still laughing at some of the other posts 

Bob


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## foxbites (Mar 15, 2010)

it's a spot. the mean mouth is a cross between a spot and a smallmouth. its is more brown like the smallmouth not green like the spot.


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## The Zodiac (Apr 10, 2010)

Hybrids of black bass species have been documented in the United States for some time. Early research dealt with hatchery production of a largemouth bass / smallmouth bass hybrid. This was the original &#8220;mean-mouth&#8221; bass. The largemouth / smallmouth bass hybrid is not common in nature due to differences in both habitat preferences and spawning times. However, smallmouth bass and spotted bass can overlap in habitat use and spawning times. Generally, there are subtle behavioral differences associated with spawning that prevent or minimize hybridization. Although the smallmouth bass / spotted bass hybrid is not the original &#8220;mean-mouth&#8221; bass, it has acquired this name over time.

I found the above at http://www.fishin.com/articles/meanmouth.htm


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Someone explain to me how a spotted bass got into Mosquito? Exactly. It *IS* a largemouth with a lip deformity (born that way, caught with hook) Don't think too hard on this one guys. It only makes people with a fisheries background chuckle..


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## fishin 1st (Dec 23, 2009)

the real question is what are u doing drifting for WALLEYE in 21 feet of water in April ?


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

fishin 1st said:


> the real question is what are u doing drifting for WALLEYE in 21 feet of water in April ?


He's probably doing that because it's a very effective technique for catching walleye at Mosquito this time of year. That's just a guess though.


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## BigDaddy300 (Nov 1, 2004)

What is this one then?


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## jackal_727 (Feb 16, 2010)

BigDaddy300 said:


> What is this one then?


Looks like a nice smallie!


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## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

Triton175, your guess was on the money. 

Fishin 1st, obviously you do not know Mosquito, hence, why ask a stupid question.


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## FishAllNightAllDay (Jul 18, 2008)

taxidermy223 said:


> Did you check the lower lip length or blow up the picture to see he cheek scale size? Color will hold no water here, I have mounted and airbrushed enough from very dark almost a black to very light with every color in between to know not to judge specie from color alone. I have raised enough L.M. bass up to 3 pounds and watched them turn from a yellow to a green in only a few minutes time. But I have never mounted a L.M. with that head, S.M. Yes. Elementary my friend.


I know the difference in bass, I use to fish bass tournaments all the time.

This is a small mouth bass.....










Every small mouth bass I have caught or seen has a brownish color.

Remind me to never have you mount a fish for me, I don't want to bring in a large mouth, and have it come out a crappie.


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## ilovetofish (Feb 5, 2010)

this thread is hilarious!!


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## JohnStout (Apr 21, 2008)

BigDaddy300 said:


> What is this one then?


A bigmouth fisherman thumb.lol


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## BigDaddy300 (Nov 1, 2004)

JohnStout said:


> A bigmouth fisherman thumb.lol


LOL!!! Good call on the ID!


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

Its a largemouth.........


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## sonar (Mar 20, 2005)

For sure: It's controversial!!!,it is, "the bass of the year" so far!!--------sonar...........


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## V-MAX200 (Oct 16, 2007)

I saw about 1,000 of these weighed in at Mosquito on saturday. Thats a largemouth.


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