I have been following this topic for some time and can offer some first hand knowledge. Many locals will simply refer to this as the common name Redeye Bass. I have attached a picture from 2012 of a 15" fish that was caught and released in Lake Hartwell near these coordinates 34.477599, -82.986752. Note the banded black vertical bars or blotches, which are not connected pattern on the side. In the water they are very colorful and look almost like a tiger stripe. Most of these fish we sample are ten inches long but occasionally you find a nicer sized one. Even the smaller ones show this black vertical bar coloration pattern.
An old article from The Augusta Chronicle is found here - http://chronicle.aug...av_525106.shtml
Attached is the picture I spoke of Hartwell Redeye Apr2012.jpg 35.23KB 1 downloads and a Species of Conservation Concern information sheet from the State of South Carolina bartramsredeyebass2015.pdf 182.17KB 5 downloads.
So for a lively discussion topic I offer the query where are we on the Bartram's Bass issue and what will it take to make this a true Coosa Bass sub species?