i know its been a long time and my memory isnt the greatest, but here i go. while on a trip to "spring creek" in NE oklahoma when i was in highschool i took a rod along and attempted to catch a few fish. it didnt take long and i did infact catch a few. what caught my atention was the fact that the bass like fish i was catching didntlook like a largemouth. the body was the same generally but i didnt take a real good look at the mouth to see any size or tooth patch difference. what amazed me was the color. it was almost a brown with spots along its side. i knew what a smallmouth was and looked like and it wasnt a smallie. it reminded me of a trout in color but i know it wasnt a trout either.I have looked at some subspecies of bass but none really compare to what i remember seeing that day. i would love to go back and catch one just to take a pic.does anyone have any ideas on what it was and has anyone ever stocked a pond with a subspecies of bass. one more thing, it had no green on it and the spots on a half pound fish were the size of a BB and had maybe a dozen on each side

that may have been a hybrid known as a Meanmouth which is a cross between a spotted bass and a smallmouth. Did it have red eyes?

i dont remember the eyes at all. it looked like a brown trout but with fewer spots and a mouth like a bass. i cant find any pics of a bass that comes even close to what i saw, its been 15 years or more so idk but i was a big fisherman back then and i know it caught my eye as being different than anything id ever seen

it may have been the oklahoma water makin me see things

Just thinking from the other thread next to this one, was there a chance of that mystery fish being a Rock Bass/Warmouth?

maybe, i remember the body being slinder tho, one more thing. i just got back from catching a few greenies and some had spots,black spots, some didnt. could the spots im remembering be another type of parisite or worm? the water in the creek was clear but each end of the spot where we were fishing/swimming was blocked off

anyway back to the other half of my question, has anyone ever stocked a pond with shoal , redeye, or any other sub

Forgive me, I'm a d... yankee and don't know regional fish names. What's a shoal or a redeye?

shoal , redeye, guadalupe, and i think there is another subspecies that i cant remember. i guess they just have enouph different about them that they give them the title of a subspecies, they may even be a sub of a spotted bass not the largemouth. im not sure how they r all related

If I am not mistaken a red eye is a Kentucky Bass or at least thats what this d... yankee used to call them anyway. Never heard of a shoal, or a guadalupe???

Guadalupe's inhabit the Guadalupe River in Texas. They look sorta different in coloration than Northern LMB and don't grow as large. They are sometimes called spotted bass but I'm not sure that's correct.

Species from the Family Centrarchidae that look "bass" like...

Genus Micropterus
M. salmoides - largemouth bass
M. salmoides floridanus - Florida largemouth bass
M. dolomieu - smallmouth bass
M. dolomieu velox - Ozark smallmouth bass
M. punctulatus - spotted bass
M. punctulatus henshalli - unnamed subspecies of spotted bass
M. punctulatus wichitae - unnamed subspecies of spotted bass
M. cataractae - shoal bass
M. coosae - redeye bass
M. notius - Suwannee bass
M. treculii - Guadalupe bass

Genus Ambloplites
A. rupestris - Rock bass
A. ariommus - Shadow bass
A. cavifrons - Roanoke bass
A. constellatus - Ozark bass

Genus Archoplites
A. interruptus - Sacramento Perch

Genus Lepomis
L. gulosus - warmouth
L. cyanellus - green sunfish

Long list of fish there, but when trying to ID a fish, usually the quickest way to narrow it down is by seeing geographically where you were and then second, look at the habitat.

There is also a long list or natural and man made hybrids. With it being a "spring creek" the likelihood of any man made hybrids is nil. Spring creeks also tend to not be polluted nor turbid which makes a natural hybrid unlikely as well.


When considering these factors the list of possibilities is quickly cut down to:

Largemouth bass
smallmouth bass
spotted bass
rock bass
green sunfish

None of these species match the description:


There are no trout found in OK, except for seasonally stocked fish so that removes any species of trout from the running.

Perhaps it is a yet undescribed species... However, it's been a long time since a new freshwater species from North America of that size has been found.

My best guess is it is an unusually colored smallmouth bass with a lot of freshwater mussel glochidia parasitizing it causing the black spots. Or perhaps an unusually colored rock bass...



As far ss this question... Shoal, redeye, Suwanee and Guadalupe bass are all stream dwelling species. Shoal bass are uncommon because of their strict habitat requirements. The redeye bass is the biggest of the species topping out at just a hair over 18" or so... I have no personal experience with any of these species as they are not found where I live so I have never tried to collect them from the wild and see if they would live in a pond. But with their natural habitat being rocky riffles and pools I doubt they would do well in ponds and certainly could not compete with LMB if they were present.

I have stocked rock bass into ponds. They survived but never spawned. However the ponds I stocked them in, were not really conducive to them spawning. If one had a pond with large areas of rocky habitat with cooler temperatures, I suspect they may spawn. However, like smallmouth, I doubt they would compete well with LMB.

Probably big greenies with black spot. Memories can get distorted over time.

A Guadalupe is a type of large perch with a greenish-color and a peculiar brow knot over its eyes. I've had the opportunity to catch and fry up these fish and they make fine table fare. They definitely can't be confused with a bass.

Guadalupe Bass are closely related to largemouth bass they are both from the same genus, Micropterus.

i know this whole topic seems wierd at face value but u must understand this has bothered me for over 15 years wondering what it was. if i ever go back to spring creek i will try again and take a pic this time

The fish I was referring to is the Rio Grande Perch - Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum
It is a beautiful fish and and also a good eater. The locals call it "Guadeloupe Perch."

Ah... Common names are tricky. I have always known them as Rio Grande Cichlids. The only native cichlid to the US.