Rockbass record...state shutdown

[nate larson]

Looks to me like 1/3 warmouth 1/3 SMB 1/6 LMB and 1/6 drum.

[eyeguy 54]

If you think it's a rockbass you need to catch and release a few thousand more. ;>)

[RumRiverRat]

More propaganda from the liberal media about the state shutdown is all this article is.

[mainbutter]

is there a hybrid bass???

In short, answering your question as you probably intended, meaning a hybrid between any of the fish with "bass" in the name that live in MN, no.

Answering your question fully, yes.

Longer answer:

The only MN hybrid gamefish I'm aware of are sunfish hybrids (typically some mix of bluegill, green sunfish, and/or pumpkinseed), tiger muskies, white/black crappie hybrids, saugeyes, and brown/brook trout(aka tiger trout). Different bullhead species may be able to hybridize, sure wouldn't surprise me one bit but I've never heard of it.

The term "Rock Bass" refers to two different closely related species (that MAY be able to hybridize, again have not heard of it personally), Ambloplites rupestris and Ambloplites constellatus. They belong to a completely different genus than LMB and SMB (which both belong to the genus Micropterus. Rupestris is the larger of the two rock basses, with a world record ~17 inches and ~3lbs. Either way, dollars to donuts I say that the rock basses are definitely genetically incompatible with any of the black basses (LMB, SMB, et. al)

Now that we've got that out of the way, I can get on to "hybrid bass". This is a tricky subject, because the term "hybrid" is so much dependent upon genetics and scientifically correct nomenclature, while the term "bass" is extremely generic and has been used with complete disregard for any kind of taxonomy.

There are the previously mentioned black bass of the genus Micropterus and the rock basses of the genus Ambloplites, all of which are in the family Centrarchidae, aka the family of sunfishes (another name used too generically, just google "mola mola" or "ocean sunfish").

There are also probably a dozen or more other species with "bass" in the name. The term "sea bass" spans something like four or five different genii, and I don't even know if those are all in the same family or not.

There is one genus of bass, Morone, to which both the freshwater white bass Morone chrysops and the typically saltwater striped bass Morone saxatilis belong. These species have been successfully hybridized in fish farms for stocking as a game fish in many lakes. They are the only hybrid I know of that has been successful between any two different species of fish with 'bass' in the name. This hybrid is often called 'hybrid bass', 'wiper', or 'white rock bass'.

I've gone fishing for 'em once, it was a blast. We were on a lake not too far outside of Dallas, TX where my grandpa lives. He follows birds to find schools of these hybrids. The bass will school and hunt together, chasing minnows up the water column and busting them at the surface, also providing birds with an opportunity to hunt. By following flocks of circling birds, we found HUGE schools of bass feeding at the top of the water. We would cast little poppers, and catch a fish on every cast until the school finally moved. Fun stuff.

Sigh.. naming conventions other than scientific names... argh!!!

[reinhard1]

you forgot "bottle bass" . good luck.

[eyeguy 54]

you forgot "bottle bass" . good luck.

here's the like button?

[mn_bowhunter]

I'm not sure why he cares about the rock bass record. I caught a 15" close to 3# rocky and ate it about 10 years ago. My buddy thought it was walleye I fed him.

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

Here's a link to a story about a gut who thinks he has the new state record for rock bass but can't prove it til the DNR is up and running again. What do you think?

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collect...overnment.shtml

So does anyone know if this story has an absolute ending yet?

[mrklean]

I'm sure nothing happened after they find out its not a rockbass

[RumRiverRat]

Looks to me like 1/3 warmouth 1/3 SMB 1/6 LMB and 1/6 drum.

I agree!

[pikestabber]

Hours after getting his rock bass certified as the new state record, the same angler submitted this photo clearly portraying the new state record yellow perch:

[scott b]

That could just be a better picture of the original Rockbass!

[mrklean]

he probably ate it before he could try and register it

[Knoc]

It has some weird markings thats for sure. The 2nd pic the eye almost looks rock bass-ish, but I still think its a smallie. Just a dirty one.

[cylinder]

Google 'peacock bass'

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQaE2FaSP4K5rFCQdz7gtk8fbEeOXlV6fcsTnKseKW8Pqevsj3C