Smallie or meanmouth??

[Doecrusher]

Curious if you think this is a smallmouth or meanmouth??

 

[clwg97]

Smallmouth is my guess.

 

[smalljawbasser]

Meanmouth

 

[bowhunterfanatic]

Meanmouth is mine

 

[Setterman]

Not a smallmouth

 

[larry ipock]

Seen some like that in Norris. We always thought Spotted bass Smallmouth cross.

 

[Doecrusher]

Appreciate the responses guys. When I caught it yesterday I thought just another smallie but after getting home and looking at pics it didn't look like one.

 

[WTM]

looks like a spot.

 

[younggun308]

I think spotted bass. Do they change color during the year?

 

[Doecrusher]

Here's another picture. In this pic I think smallmouth but the other hes got alot of green.

 

[SES]

Mean mouth look more like a smallmouth than a spotted bass. The bars on that fish leads me to believe it's a spot.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

I'm gonna have to go with a Spot as well. It's just getting into it's wintertime colors.

 

[TN Larry]

Looks definitely like a mean mouth to me. I have seen several over the years out of Center Hill.

 

[Uncle Jesse]

How do the regulations work on that fish?

 

[NumberOne]

Looks like a spot to me.

 

[UCStandSitter]

Too green to be a smallie. Smallies look like footballs and about the same color.

 

[Pilchard]

What is a meanmouth? I guess I could google it....

 

[XCR-2]

Need to look at where the jawline stops. Can't tell from the pics, it needs to be laying flat with mouth closed

 

[Big Pop]

Did it have a toothpatch? Smallmouth usually don't.

 

[Doecrusher]

I don't know about the toothpatch. I've only caught one spot and it was the day before but it had the black spots making lateral rows along belly. Do spots not always have the black spots making rows on the belly???

 

[Big Pop]

Sometimes the stripes are very faint or nonexistent below the lateral line. Lining up the jaw joint with eye and toothpatch are two of the most prevalent traits.

 

[Big Pop]

In East Tennessee I've caught many spotted bass that had very faint or no lines below the lateral line.

 

[rsimms]

Curious if you think this is a smallmouth or meanmouth??

Impossible to say definitively without DNA testing. As for regulations, you better ALWAYS consider them a smallmouth or you may find yourself in trouble with the GW.

 

[recurve60#]

What is a meanmouth? I guess I could google it....

Im curious too.

 

[rsimms]

Im curious too.

On some occasions, spotted bass (Kentucky bass) and smallmouth bass will crossbreed. Folks routinely call these hybrids "meanmouth." Coloration might be a clue, but it is no way definitive. As mentioned above, the only way to know for sure is via a DNA analysis.

 

[WTM]

i wouldnt go specifically by tooth patches. lmb and smb sometimes will have toothpatches. they were supposed to take that out of the regs 10 years ago but they added that lmb sometimes have toothpatches and smb often have toothpatches. some folks were keeping undersized smallmouths. when in doubt, treat it like a smallmouth.

i keep a few of spotted bass to eat and i always go by the jawline. past the eye, lmb. back of the eye, spot. middle of the eye, smb. of course if its brown its a smb.

 

[DC219]

Curious if you think this is a smallmouth or meanmouth??

Mean mouth or spot