Buffalo? Smallmouth or Largemouth.

[PierBridge]

Hey guys I need your input on this a friend of mine caught this Buffalo fish last weekend on Big Sandy Lake it weighed 25lbs and was released, we are wondering if its a Smallmouth or Largemouth Buffalo if its a Smallmouth it was a State record which also was caught in Big Sandy Lake in 03 and weighed 20lbs.

What do you guys think?

The DNR wasn't much help....he sent the picture to them and they responded "Yes it is a buffalo fish".

Thanks Pier.

Big Fish!

Release!

[sparcebag]

According to my book ( Sport Fish Of Fresh Water) and the annal fin its a Black Buffalo.The smallmouth has a point on leading edge of annal fin & a hump behind its head.

[hanson]

Guess its Fish ID week this week at FM.

According to my roughfish reference, Roughfish (Contact Us Please) com, it really looks like a Bigmouth Buffalo to me. Hard to tell by the way the fish is being held but it sure looks like this buffalo has a forward pointing mouth vs a downward, sucker type mouth, which is one of the distinctions between a bigmouth and smallmouth.

Here's a photo of a Bigmouth that 'Dtro' caught earlier this year for comparison.

I understand Black Buffalo to be extremely rare, so the likelihood that this is indeed a Black is slim, although possible.

Regardless of the species, that is one heck of a roughie!! Congrats!!

[mncarphntr]

Nice, fat Bigmouth.

[Tyler Holm]

That's a monster Bigmouth Buffalo. Nice fish.