Red Eye Bass
April 20, 2009 by Steve@316
Filed under Bass Fishing, Featured Articles
JD over at Fish with JD had a contest at guessing a type of fish from a picture. I did a little research and submitted my guess. As it turned out, during my research for my guess, I learned some cool information about other Bass species besides Large Mouth, Small Mouth and Spotted Bass.
According to JD, I guessed correct and the fish in JD’s picture was in fact a Red Eye Bass, but that’s not the end of of the story…
Although I’m not sure, I believe JD’s picture was taken somewhere in the California Delta… And just last week I was fishing Folsom Lake with Al and we caught one 2.5lber, and a smaller one, both fish had red eyes. (Read that article here)
Nice chunky 2.5lb., 17" Spotted Bass
During my research I learned that the Red Eye Bass “is native to only a few rivers in western South Carolina, southwestern North Carolina, and portions of Georgia and Alabama, and is uncommon compared to the other species.” also, additional photos I have found online, show fish with other characteristics such as; Dark bars on the side of the face, which fade to lighter color in the center, notice the horizontal stripes that run along the belly? I did notice those characteristics on the fish in JD’s pic, but spotted bass have also been known to have the horizontal stripes along the belly as well,… but the fish we caught at Folsom had none of those characteristics except red eyes.
I’ve also learned that both Spotted Bass and Small Mouth Bass get red eyes when spawning.
This talks about how male spots get red eyes when spawning
So, what is it with the Red Eye Bass that are obviously in our local area? Did somebody introduce them at some point? Were already here native to the rivers and creeks here in the foothills before Folsom Lake was a lake? Are they even truly “Red Eye Bass” or some sort of hybrid, or just spawners?
Not totally sure about JD’s fish, probably as I guessed, a Red Eye Bass. My guess is the fish we caught at Folsom, were just spawners.
Good information Steve.
I was fishing on Lake Notama last summer and caught a nice sized bass. When I got it to the shore I noticed that it had red eyes. I thought that pesticedes or chemicals had messed with its DNA, but I later found out that it was a Red Eye Bass. It looked just like a large mouth for the most part, just with devil eyes. It was later in the summer, so it wouldn’t have been a large mouth that was spawning. I havn’t caught one on Folsom yet… I think that the DFG needs to stop introducing different invasive species – who knows what you might pull up next!
Hey Dan, nice to meet ya and thanks for your comment. Ya, I would not be surprised if we do have some Red Eyed Bass in some of our waters… But I’m sure the one’s I caught at Folsom, were just spawners.
On the subject of fishing Lake Natoma,.. I have yet to fish it. Do you fish it regularly? Catch Bass regularly? Size? Spotted, Samllies, or Large Mouth?
Steve,
Thanks for the welcome. I have been fly fishing for trout for the last 10 years, but when gas hit $4.00 a gallon last summer I started fishing closer to home. I caught some nice bass fishing from my kayak. I thought they were Large Mouth, but now I think they may have been Spotted Bass.
Lake Natoma is a great lake for kayaking, but boats have a 5mph speed limit, and only using electric motors with about half way down the lake to the dam. I think that keeps some of the better fisherman off the lake? Most boats are trolling for trout at the upper end of the lake.
I caught them by fishing with single tail grubs off the steep drop offs. I was really surprised by how many fish are in there. I did see a HUGE Large Mouth that I’d love to hook into this year.
Dan
Very cool. Well I guess I’ll have to give Lake Natoma a try sometime. I have heard some of the area’s near the dam on the north side that hold some good bass as well. I will probably start over there.
Sorry for the late reply guys but I just found the article…that is not a redeye bass. Both fish are actually spotted bass. There are seven recognized species and we have six of those here in Georgia. It is not uncommon for other species to have red eyes at some point during the spawning process and probably serves as a signal function.
Hey Jason, I’m wondering if you read my complete article and the other articles referenced. I learned some great stuff during my research. Thanks for commenting.
doesnt mean anything a red eyed bass can be either a small mouth or a spotted bass just another characteristic sometimes they have red eyes its actually common in fact in the spring it seems many of the smallmouth i catch have red eyes just how they are sometimes and that 2.5 is for sure 999% a spotted bass
I just caught one of these red eyed bass tues 4/13/2010 near Fort Gibson, just off the Arkansas River. It does not look like a spotted bass, I have been fishing here for forty years and never seen this before.
Thanks to everyone who has posted a comment, may I suggest everyone re-read my last paragraph.
We have these in a lake in East Texas.(Houston County Lake) Been catching them for years.(1970′s) And for their size they fight twice as hard as any other bass of equal size.