# warmouth bass: anyone fish for them?



## jonnythfisherteen2

im afraid that i may be the only person that knows what they are, and actively fish for them. the only places ive seen them are the ohio-erie canal in coventry, and the tuscarawas river across the street.
the warmouth are short, MEATY, have war paint like markings, and often have a red dot near the dorsal fin in the back. rock bass are silver/bronze and have nothing else. in the ohio erie canal, i have caught 2 7 1/2 inch warmouth, and they fight like a bass!!


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## boonecreek

i catch a lot of them on the little miami. i just call them war mouth.


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## jonnythfisherteen2

ive never been there, where is it?
also, when i saw your screen name, i thought it said "bonercreek" LOL


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## fishinnick

Youre not the only one. They like to hang out under rocks and will usually eat anything you throw at it, them and green sunfish, usually more greens.


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## JimmyMac

They are actually a sunfish, not a bass. The actual name for the fish is just "Warmouth". 

I've found them all over the place, a great deal of places I go to catch bluegill, also have them. Catch a lot of them at Acton lake in the creeks. 








http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/spe...Index/warmouthsunfish/tabid/6782/Default.aspx

I kept a few of them in a 90gallon aquarium before, with some bullheads. They have a lot of personality, sort of like Cichlids, really cool lookin little fish in my opinion.


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## jonnythfisherteen2

i know, but largemouth are not bass either, but every body calls them largemouth bass. i just like to call them bass, because their mouth is huge for a sunfish.
i heard the record for one in ohio was 9 1/2 inches.


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## BigDaddy300

Record is 1.32 ponds and 10 3/4 inches. It goes by weight. I do know where there are some big ones


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## PolymerStew

I catch them when I'm fishing for other panfish, and I also seem to catch quite a few when fishing for bass. They'll attack anything that fits into their mouth it seems, and sometimes they get a little overambitious like this one I got at Mogadore. Actually, they seem to like that firetiger colored spinnerbait I made because I've caught quite a few on it.


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## buckzye11

Heres my biggest warmouth it was 10". I caught that on a in line spinner. They are acctually in almost any body of water ive fished, but it seems ive caught most at Long lake and Nimisila.


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## JIMS SVT

PolymerStew said:


> I catch them when I'm fishing for other panfish, and I also seem to catch quite a few when fishing for bass. They'll attack anything that fits into their mouth it seems, and sometimes they get a little overambitious like this one I got at Mogadore. Actually, they seem to like that firetiger colored spinnerbait I made because I've caught quite a few on it.


THats funny...I have actually caught one on a buzzbait.


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## Intimidator

They have a Major "Napolean Complex"! They'll hit a swimbait or lure twice their size.


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## Mutley

I'll eat 'em if I get one big enough. Drives me nuts that most people when they catch them think they are rock bass. I try to explain to them "no, that's a warmouth," usually to blank stares.


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## jonnythfisherteen2

Mutley said:


> I'll eat 'em if I get one big enough. Drives me nuts that most people when they catch them think they are rock bass. I try to explain to them "no, that's a warmouth," usually to blank stares.


me too!!
i have tried to explain NUMEROUS times that it's a warmouth bass, but usally it falls on deaf ears....
adult always feel like they have to make me look like i dont know what im talking about, so next time i go out that way, im bringing pics of both.


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## Intimidator

jonnythfisherteen2 said:


> me too!!
> i have tried to explain NUMEROUS times that it's a warmouth bass, but usally it falls on deaf ears....
> adult always feel like they have to make me look like i dont know what im talking about, so next time i go out that way, im bringing pics of both.


They are Warmouth Sunfish! 
If you doubt me, because I am older and just trying to help you, please go to the ONDR website!


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## PolymerStew

Yeah, they refer to them on the ODNR website as 'warmouth sunfish'. I've heard them called warmouth bass too. 

They're a member of the lepomis genus, along with the other sunfish like bluegill, pumpkinseed, redear, etc. The black bass (largemouth, smallmouth, etc) are the micropterus genus. So it's probably more accurate to refer to lepomis gulosus (warmouth) as a sunfish. I think it's even possible for them to hybridize with the other members of the lepomis genus.


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## Mutley

I wonder if they cross with green sunfish? 

My 80 something year old grandfather refers to them as warmouth bass. Maybe it's akin to calling a redear a shellcracker or something like that.


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## boonecreek

great shuvel head bait


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## fishinnick

Mutley said:


> I wonder if they cross with green sunfish?


Ive never seen a warmouth cross with anything, but i have seen green sunfish cross with bluegills and pumpkinseeds.

I think the hybrid sunfish that people stock in ponds are crosses between bluegills and green sunfish.


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## jonnythfisherteen2

i know, i know, but refer to one of my comments, because i said that i just like to call them warmouth bass.
anyway, i think they bite the best when the water is very hot (85-90 degrees) other than that, they just sit there.


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## buckzye11

JFT2, don't mistake older people trying to help you as them trying to make it look like you don't know whats up. the older you get, the more you realize those adults were more right then you thought. Be a sponge, absorb all of this adult knowlege when your a teen, and you wont have to learn everything the hard way when you are an adult. Hey, i'm just glad you are out there enjoying the waters and fishing! You can learn alot about everything when you are fishing.


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## PolymerStew

fishinnick said:


> Ive never seen a warmouth cross with anything, but i have seen green sunfish cross with bluegills and pumpkinseeds.
> 
> I think the hybrid sunfish that people stock in ponds are crosses between bluegills and green sunfish.



On the ODNR page it says the following "Both bluegill and green sunfish readily hybridize with other species of sunfish, most often each other. Hybrids between two other sunfish species are relatively rare."
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/bluegill/tabid/6561/Default.aspx

The bluegill x green sunfish hybrid is supposed to get the big mouth and aggressiveness of the green sunfish with the growth potential of the bluegill. I think a large portion of the fish obtained from that hybridization are supposed to be sterile also, meaning they won't overpopulate a water body.


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## JimmyC

JimmyMac said:


> They are actually a sunfish, not a bass.


Just so you know....The largemouth bass is a sunfish.


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## keith_r

PolymerStew said:


> On the ODNR page it says the following "Both bluegill and green sunfish readily hybridize with other species of sunfish, most often each other. Hybrids between two other sunfish species are relatively rare."
> http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/bluegill/tabid/6561/Default.aspx
> 
> The bluegill x green sunfish hybrid is supposed to get the big mouth and aggressiveness of the green sunfish with the growth potential of the bluegill. I think a large portion of the fish obtained from that hybridization are supposed to be sterile also, meaning they won't overpopulate a water body.


not sterile, just a higher percentage of males, over 90% i believe


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## Mule

catch them all the time in the big walnut.


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## jonnythfisherteen2

i caught the first one of the season today on a black w/ chartuse dot flutter fry. he was too small, so i let him go. at first he just sat there and looked like he was confused, then once he figured out that he was in water agian, he dashed off.
they are real aggresive, they attack anything. my fist one was caught on a mepps size 3 black fury


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## Intimidator

JimmyC said:


> Just so you know....The largemouth bass is a sunfish.


Crappie too, but all have different genus!


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## catfishnut

Catfish are my favorite fish to fish for. But I got to amit that when I get a scrapy warmouth on my line it always beings the kid out of me and puts a smile on my face!!! If they got to 2-3lb they'd be my favorite!!!


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## Flathead King 06

they make great cat bait ... CJ is full of them and green sunfish...


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## Pole Squeezer

In the south, they're either called goggle eyes, or stumpknockers because of where they hide. They also can get to be over a pound. I've caught many in the 1-1.5 pound range in Florida. Heck of a fight on light line, and good flaky fillets too.


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## Mutley

Rock bass are google eyes up here.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/rockbass/tabid/6744/Default.aspx


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