I caught my second bass ever last week, and it was a small one that I immediately wrote off as a smallmouth.  Then my son, @FishingforFish, saw the pic and said, "Dad, is that a largemouth since it has that dark line down the side?"  I said no, but tonight I was looking at the pics again myself and I'm wondering if he was right.  What say ye?

 

 

Without seeing the hinge I'm gonna say largemouth just by coloring. Not a small but possibly rock or shoal.

Definitely not a smallmouth. Smallies are brown colored, do not have the dark horizontal lines, and usually have some vertical markings. 

It's a spotted bass. The spots below the lateral line are a dead giveaway. You can tell from the first picture where the mouth is almost closed that the jaw isn't going to extend past the eye. I bet the fish felt rough too. Something about spots, their scales feel much rougher than a largemouth, just a personal observation. Both spots and largemouth have a dark stripe down the side (not actually their lateral line but often called that), whereas smallmouth do not. 

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's a spotted bass.

Great!  Thanks!  I haven't even heard anyone talk about catching spotted bass there.  Usually just hear about smallies or hybrids.  The rough scales didn't stick out to me as much as the smell.  This fish had a much stronger smell than the smallmouth I caught at the same place.

Its a red-eye, did you pull it out of a river?

Bob.  It's name is Bob.

2 hours ago, INeedANewName091316 said:

Its a red-eye, did you pull it out of a river?

Yes.  Hannibal tailwater on the Ohio River.  What do you mean?

10 hours ago, BankBassing said:

Yes.  Hannibal tailwater on the Ohio River.  What do you mean?

Redeye are river bass, but do not reside where you caught that fish.

Spotted bass do live there and are commonly found in rivers and streams though.

 

More than likely a hybrid LMB-Spotted bass. If you look at the 3 pictures with the spotted bass in the middle notice the "spot" at the base of the tail. Spotted bass are named for that spot at the base of the tail. Can't tell if the dorsal fin is connected or where the eye vs jaw hinge is located, we only have coloration with rows of dark scales below the lateral line, not enough to make a definately ID, definately not a smallmouth. Red bass could be transplanted anywhere, we have them in California!

Tom

Interesting. Is the attached a spotted bass or red eye? My Dad and I were debating this a few months back.

Definately has a red eye so does smallmouth. One of the chacteristics of a Red Eye bass is fins and tail coloration that are normally orange tinted and over barred pattern like a smallmouth, however coloration alone doesn't give a positive ID. The fish in the above photo looks like Spotted bass, it has the classic spot at the base of the tail.

Tom

On 12 de septiembre de 2016 at 8:16 PM, BankBassing said:

I caught my second bass ever last week, and it was a small one that I immediately wrote off as a smallmouth.  Then my son, @FishingforFish, saw the pic and said, "Dad, is that a largemouth since it has that dark line down the side?"  I said no, but tonight I was looking at the pics again myself and I'm wondering if he was right.  What say ye?

 

 

I've caught thousands of largemouths like that.

On 9/13/2016 at 9:29 AM, Ratherbfishing said:

Bob.  It's name is Bob.

Darn...I was gonna say "Bruce".

25 minutes ago, Further North said:

Darn...I was gonna say "Bruce".

His name is Steve.  I asked.