Rock Bass Crappie?

My son sent me this picture of a CPR release fish from near Rice Lake. Anybody ever seen anything like this?

Looks like a plain old rock bass to me.

rockpie

Definitely a rock bass. THey look like this in darker or stained water. Catch them all the time in Polk county and they look the exact same as this one.

It does look like a hybrid. The mouth and top fin are a lot like crappie. Color is rock bass.

Tough to see on my phone, but Warmouth?

Quote:

---

Tough to see on my phone, but Warmouth?

---

Hmm, good call birthday boy!

Nice rockpie, it mouth & eye are definately different than a normal rocky….kinda cool!! probably tasty too!!!

OK, after seeing it on a computer screen and looking at some other photos, I still think it’s a warmouth.

Quote:

---

OK, after seeing it on a computer screen and looking at some other photos, I still think it’s a warmouth.

---

Does Warmouth Range extend this far North. I thought they could not live in water temps this cold.

I think it’s a Green Sunfish. Before I commit to that answer I better ask Big G.

Quote:

---

Does Warmouth Range extend this far North. I thought they could not live in water temps this cold.

---

It’s possible, I guess. From what I read, Warmouth have 3 anal fin spines while Rock Bass have 6 spines. From that pic, it sure doesn’t look like it has 6 spines unless they’re hidden by the pectoral fins.

Quote:

---

Does Warmouth Range extend this far North. I thought they could not live in water temps this cold.

---

First link I Googled.

Distribution –
Warmouth are found in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins, from western Pennsylvania to Minnesota, south to the Gulf of Mexico; and the Atlantic and Gulf drainages from the Rappahannock River in Virginia to the Rio Grande in Texas and New Mexico.

I can catch all the baby warmouth I want down at the bass ponds. When nothing else will bite, they are fun to mess with. Aggressive little buggers.

Quote:

---

I can catch all the baby warmouth I want down at the bass ponds. When nothing else will bite, they are fun to mess with. Aggressive little buggers.

---

Are you sure those are not green sunfish? Little greenies are aggressive in some of the ponds near me, and they have bigger mouths, too.

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I can catch all the baby warmouth I want down at the bass ponds. When nothing else will bite, they are fun to mess with. Aggressive little buggers.

---

Are you sure those are not green sunfish? Little greenies are aggressive in some of the ponds near me, and they have bigger mouths, too.

---

Could be. How about i just call them sunfish?

Quote:

---

How about i just call them sunfish?

---

Works for me!

Rock bass, pictures of both on this page, notice the anal spines link

Looks like a rockbass. There are green sunfish & or Warmouth in the area surrounding Rice Lake.They are generally more colorfull,which appear to be a cross between a rockbass & pumpkin seed. Beautifull fish that are very aggressive! We have found them in some of the smaller pothole lakes during summer by just throwing a twig on the surface of a pond while hiking & they will let you know if they are present.

I caught the thing and it had a red eye like a rockbass, but the body was way lighter than any rockbass that I’ve caught in northern MN it was the similar to a striped bass silver color. I was thinking crappie/rockbass as the lake we fished contains crappie, gills, pike and muskie to my knowledge and is a 13 acre 28 ft deep spring/creek fed pond 2 miles back in some public hunting land near the indian reservation…needless to say the trail to get to it is very sketchy and it is rarely fished in the winter or summer. nice relaxing place to fish except the train track nearby that runs 4-6x per day.

red eye roughy

I’ll have to take a picture of the fish I catch at the pond and post it for ID. The second picture above (I think) is what they look like.

I do believe that it’s a war-mouth. And I believe a war-mouth is a cross between a rock bass and any other pan fish, be it crappie, sunfish, bluegill or whatever.