4 replies to this topic

[mattknepley]

Was dipnetting the headwater-ish area of a stream slightly outside downtown Greenwood, SC. It was a section of very shallow riffles, each of which emptied neatly into a quiet, shallow to medium depth pool. The riffle - pool pattern repeated, with an occasional chute undercutting a bank. Bottom was gravel, although rains had exposed clay banks which were slightly coloring the water. Cover consisted of rocks, mostly cobble size, but some larger; sticks and branches, and some concrete supporting a sanitary sewer pipe.

This juvenile bass was the result of a halfhearted swipe in the first pool pictured. It was hanging out beneath the pipe. For the life of me I can't settle on what it might be, nothing seems just right. This has me leaning toward a Micropterus coosae x M. punctulatus hybrid. What say you?

The habitat:
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 P6190932.JPG   204.12KB   0 downloads

The bass:
These are all pictures of the same fish.
 P6190964.JPG   37.99KB   1 downloads  P6190965.JPG   37.46KB   2 downloads  P6190967.JPG   39.15KB   1 downloads  P6190968.JPG   39.78KB   1 downloads  P6190969.JPG   39.09KB   1 downloads

And the obligatory juvenile sunfish. Taken downstream from a bank-undercutting chute. Lepomis auritus?
 P6190955.JPG   58.47KB   1 downloads

Thanks for looking!

[mattknepley]

I wouldn't doubt it to be a largemouth. I just can't recall ever seeing a little one that didn't strike me as looking a lot like an adult. There's a good chance that biased me.

I won't tell Dustin if it turns out not to be a redbreast...