# Richard Gene The Fishing Machine



## dsgbqc (Aug 28, 2017)

Wanted to shared a new fishing channel I stumble upon to ya'll. He's down to earth, country, funny and best part not commercialize like the rest of the fishing channels I have seen.


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## TripleXBullies (Aug 28, 2017)

It is commercialized..


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## EJC (Aug 28, 2017)

Been following his channel for a while, one of my favorites on the tube!


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## Papa Bear (Aug 28, 2017)

I like watching him also.   Been watching his channel for a few months.  Crazy old guy but he can catch fish.


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## riprap (Aug 30, 2017)

TripleXBullies said:


> It is commercialized..





Been a subscriber for a while. I like it that he fishes a lot of places I do.


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## PopPop (Sep 11, 2018)

I really enjoy this channel. It is refreshing to see a fishing show that is not an infomercial.


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## Shawn Holcombe (Sep 11, 2018)

Love the Machine! He gets pumped up about some fishing!!


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## Bowyer29 (Sep 11, 2018)

Excellent channel he runs.


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## DSGB (Sep 11, 2018)

I enjoy it, as well, especially the creek fishing videos.


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## martinc (Sep 13, 2018)

The wife and I met him about 2 months back. Just as good a guy in person as he seems to be on his channel. We've been looking at a weekend/vacation lot up on Weiss Lake where he does a lot of his videos. He was at one of the boat ramps close to the lot we were looking at. He was kind enough to tell me that they next time I came up to fish to let him know and he'd show me a few spots on the lake.


Martin


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## PappyHoel (Sep 13, 2018)

Good video, i liked the video.


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## dixiecutter (Sep 13, 2018)

Long time subscriber. He makes me mad though. The guy could find crappie on dry land.


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## JohnK (Sep 14, 2018)

I have watched hours if his videos and never thought them to be "commercialized", not that I would have cared about a 5 second blip anyway. Great entertainment on utube. I also watch Kayak catfishing....Man catches fish.


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## Rhodes (Sep 14, 2018)

He's the real deal.....truly a fishing machine! I've gleaned some good info from him that I have put into practice that has really helped me to catch more fish.


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## RamblinWreck (Sep 14, 2018)

He sure made me want to go crappie fishing. I've been bass-obsessed lately, but I don't like to eat them - just catch them. I think its high time I targeted a species that goes good with cornmeal and hot grease.


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## KyDawg (Sep 15, 2018)

I enjoyed the Video. That guy enjoys fishing.


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## BigGreenGoblin (Sep 15, 2018)

One of my favorite fishing channels on YouTube.


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## GA BASS ODYSSEY (Sep 17, 2018)

Been watching him for a while. Very good fishing vlog. Love his creek fishing vids.


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## ShoalBandit (Sep 18, 2018)

I found this channel back in January and noticed he catches a lot of hybrid black bass from Town Creek (Geraldine, Alabama). Town Creek flows into Lake Guntersville and is part of the Tennessee River drainage. Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted Bass are the only black bass native to the Tennessee drainage. After watching all of the Town Creek videos I noticed several hybrids had traits unique to Redeye Bass. True Redeye Bass (_Micropterus coosae_) are native only to the Coosa River drainage which is part of the Mobile Basin. While hybridization between native Smallmouth and Spotted Bass does happen (meanmouth) it's kind of rare compared to what happens when nonnative species are illegally introduced. Not only is widespread hybridization common the end result will be the local extinction of native species—in this case Smallmouth and Spotted Bass in Town Creek.

The fish at 10:55 in this video appears to be a Smallmouth x Redeye or a Smallmouth x Spotted x Redeye hybrid but without genetic confirmation that's just a guess. The fish at 19:30 also appears to be an intermediate version of the same three species although the end result this time looks more like a Spotted x Smallmouth hybrid. The fish at 24:40 looks like a Smallmouth x Redeye hybrid and the one at 26:00 could be another Smallmouth x Redeye or a Smallmouth x Spotted x Redeye hybrid. The last fish in this video looks like it could be a real Smallmouth.






In this video I see what appears to be a Smallmouth x Spotted x Redeye and/or Smallmouth x Redeye hybrids around 15:00, 18:00 and 22:00. The fish around 20:00 appears to be a Spotted x Redeye hybrid but again that's just a guess.






The fish at 17:50 and 22:00 in this video look like straight-up Redeye Bass (_M. coosae_). Smallmouth x Spotted x Redeye or Smallmouth x Redeye hybrid at 21:00






So how and why would anyone illegally introduce smaller nonnative Redeye Bass? And who really cares about one small creek in Alabama? Well the same thing is happening right now to South Chickamauga Creek near Ringgold, GA. Redeye Bass from the Coosa River drainage (most likely the Conasauga River) were illegally introduced at some point and are wiping out native Smallmouth and Spotted Bass via introgressive hybridization.

This video shot on Little Wills Creek shows how Redeye Bass most likely got into Town Creek (and South Chickamauga Creek). Little Wills Creek is in Collinsville, AL and is part of the Coosa River drainage. Redeye Bass are caught at 15:00 and 18.21 and while he does mention it's illegal to 'use them' at 15:00 you wonder what happens off camera and how many others using live bait have done the same thing? Little Wills Creek (Coosa drainage) is only 12 miles from Town Creek (Tennessee  drainage).


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## ShoalBandit (Sep 18, 2018)

Hybrid with Redeye Bass traits from Town Creek (Tennessee drainage)


Smallmouth x Redeye from Town Creek (Tennessee drainage)


Spotted x Redeye hybrid from South Chickamauga Creek (Tennessee drainage) with white caudal fin margins and silver/white crescent behind the eye.


Spotted x Redeye hybrid from South Chickamauga Creek (Tennessee drainage) with white caudal fin margins and silver/white crescent behind the eye


Spotted x Redeye hybrid from South Chickamauga Creek (Tennessee drainage) with white caudal fin margins and silver/white crescent behind the eye


Same Spotted x Redeye hybrid from South Chickamauga Creek (Tennessee drainage) with white caudal fin margins and silver/white crescent behind the eye


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## GA BASS ODYSSEY (Sep 23, 2018)

I ask some time back ago if someone could identify some of his creek catches. Especially the ones he calls Smallmouths. Some of those fish look like Shoal bass too. But I believe they are Meanmouths. He mentioned in his last video today that he knows the Meanmouths are there.


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## GA BASS ODYSSEY (Sep 23, 2018)

Are these hybrids Kentucky Spotted Bass or Alabama Spotted Bass. I pretty sure you use the right terminology but I want everyone here to know what your talking about. I wish GDNR would use the right terminology. I'm assuming you mean Ketucky Spotted Bass

Alabama Bass
Kentucky Spotted Bass


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## ShoalBandit (Sep 24, 2018)

GA BASS ODYSSEY said:


> I ask some time back ago if someone could identify some of his creek catches. Especially the ones he calls Smallmouths. Some of those fish look like Shoal bass too. But I believe they are Meanmouths. He mentioned in his last video today that he knows the Meanmouths are there.


Unfortunately a lot of those hybrids have traits unique to Redeye Bass—like the silver/white crescent behind the eye and the white caudal fin margins. Even the fish that outwardly resemble one species are probably combinations of three (or more) species that's why some resemble Shoal Bass. You see widespread hybridization and extreme levels of introgression in other places where nonnative species are illegally introduced so it becomes almost impossible to ID hybrids without genetic analysis.  

BTW the term 'meanmouth' is a nickname sometimes applied to Smallmouth x Spotted bass hybrids in case anyone is trying to figure that out. Most biologists don't like the name because it implies hybrid black bass are more aggressive or somehow better which is never the case long-term. Also for the record hybrid black bass aren't recognized by science so they aren't something you need to put on your bucket list and you definitely don't want them in your lake or river. I also feel like by giving hybrid black bass a name we minimize the impact they're having which is the local extinction of native species.


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## ShoalBandit (Sep 24, 2018)

GA BASS ODYSSEY said:


> Are these hybrids Kentucky Spotted Bass or Alabama Spotted Bass. I pretty sure you use the right terminology but I want everyone here to know what your talking about. I wish GDNR would use the right terminology. I'm assuming you mean Ketucky Spotted Bass
> 
> Alabama Bass
> Kentucky Spotted Bass



The fish I caught in South Chickamauga Creek were Spotted x Redeye hybrids. Spotted Bass (_Micropterus punctulatus_) are native to the Mississippi/Tennessee drainage (Town Creek, South Chickamauga Creek, etc...) along with Smallmouth and Largemouth. Yes true Spotted Bass are informally known as 'northern' or 'Kentucky' spotted bass to many anglers however because the Spotted Bass was first described from the Ohio River (1819) that species retained the "Spotted Bass" name when the Alabama Bass was described in 2008. 

I can't speak for the GADNR but we probably don't have enough pure Spotted Bass to justify separate records and/or maybe they're worried about ID in the field with so many Spotted x Alabama hybrids in the middle Chattahoochee and Flint? That's the sad future we're headed for if people don't stop moving fish around—No records for hybrid black bass. So far Tennessee is the only state with separate records for Alabama Bass and Spotted Bass but they have a lot more native Spotted Bass than we do. BTW the IGFA just added the Alabama Bass this year so they now have separate records for Spotted Bass and Alabama Bass.


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## GA BASS ODYSSEY (Sep 27, 2018)

I just hope some how we are lucky enough to keep all them pure blooded guys around. Recognizing a species brings problems to the government especially when your #1 job is species protection. I agree giving a name to a hybrid is bad news. That means exception to the normal rule.
The black bass fascinates me for some reason. It has all my life. I have fished for them as a child and adult. But most of my life I never knew they were so many different kinds. After finding out that, I have been researching them for the past for 2 years. Now I have a challenge to catch them all. But not only that but I have a internal drive that makes me want to protect them all. I just don't know how to do it. My dad was a big conservationist and a Federal Game Agent. He taught me so much and I remember him one day telling me to catch a Largemouth in the Okefenokee Swamp was a big deal. He never caught one there although he had been assigned there as refuge manager. When I was young I watched him make a million cast and never catch one. But they are there. That is a big challenge to me to get a large mouth there. Also to get a Suwanee on The Alapaha River in Georgia. I also want to complete the the GA Bass Slam next year then move on from there to get the rest through out the USA.
Thanks* ShoalBandit*. I know how you feel about these special fish. I love all you do for us and the information you provide. Your pictures along with the other members at iNaturalist are amazing and I reference them always in my research.


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## ShoalBandit (Sep 28, 2018)

Thanks I sometimes feel like the ultimate thread hijacker so it's good to know some find the info useful. 

It is incredibly frustrating (for me) as an angler to target a species a few hours away only to find a stream full of hybrids all because some careless and/or misguided human(s) illegally introduced a nonnative fish at some point. We don't have too many streams left in this state with native Smallmouth and Spotted Bass. Hybridization with nonnative species is so common I think we may only have two left off the top of my head. Anyway moving black bass around where native species already occur is never a good idea. Local extinction of native species is the inevitable end result.   

BTW I'm not sure my first post was clear enough but those rare natural Spotted x Smallmouth hybrids ("meanmouth") appear to be sterile most of the time according to biologists. Apparently black bass that share a common ancestor within a drainage develop some kind of genetic and/or biological barrier to reproduction. When nonnative black bass are introduced those barriers to reproduction that develop over long periods of time no longer exist so widespread hybridization with native species is common. 

As far as conservation goes I just try to make the info available so it can be passed on to others. That is my hope anyway...I'm not trying to be the resident biologist because I'm not a biologist. It's just really frustrating to see this same problem in so many different places all across the south from Texas to Virginia yet you hardly ever see or read anything about it. 

I've fished the Okefenokee several times but I've never caught a Largemouth there. The general consensus is that the water there in the swamp is just too acidic but you probably already know that. That tells me reproduction in the swamp is probably at or near zero so I'd fish near one of the streams that flow into the swamp after a big rain.


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