# Rock bass or Warmouth... or...?



## Tmpr111 (Jun 16, 2014)

What is this? Caught in a N. GA small pond on a plastic worm.


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## the HEED! (Jun 16, 2014)

a gog is what we called them,its looks warmouthy though hybrid of both?


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## Scrapy (Jun 16, 2014)

We don't have rocks so I know nothing of rock bass. But we have stump knockers and mollies and warmouth and they are all the same fish . A stump knocker is two fingers and will bite a empty gold hook. A Molly is hand size and a warmouth is a tittiebream size but not a copperhead bream.


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## RUGERWARRIOR (Jun 16, 2014)

I would call it a war mouth. Some may look down on this but I was always taught to toss them out. Even if we weren't keeping fish we threw them in the woods. Only wanting bass and crappie to eat bait fish. Not large mouth brim was the thinking.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 16, 2014)

rock bass, north Georgia?


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## NCHillbilly (Jun 17, 2014)

That is definitely 100% rock bass. They are one of the most common creek/river/small lake fish around here.


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## WPrich (Jun 17, 2014)

*Rock bass*

Looks like a rock bass to me


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## critterslayer (Jun 17, 2014)

Rock bass. I catch em when trout fishing....


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## Wander (Jun 17, 2014)

For discussion purposes I think you may have a form of Green Sunfish/Bluegill hybrid...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92482#Post92482


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## NCHillbilly (Jun 17, 2014)

Wander said:


> For discussion purposes I think you may have a form of Green Sunfish/Bluegill hybrid...
> 
> http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92482#Post92482



That certainly makes more sense than the idea that he caught a rock bass, (Ambloplites rupestris,) which is a very common fish in northern GA and western NC, and they look exactly like his pic.


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## Basslife (Jun 17, 2014)

Rock bass up until a couple years ago I thought they was the same fish just called a different name because of where they are caught like yellow perch:american perch,striped perch,lake perch,coontail,racoon perch,and probably others for the same fish


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## Old Dead River (Jun 18, 2014)

my cousin has a cabin on blue water creek in nw Alabama before it's confluence with the tenn river. the creek is full of rock bass in addition to smallies  etc. they call the rock bass, black perch there


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## Bpruitt (Jun 18, 2014)

Goggle eye?...thats a crazy statement,NCHillbilly knows what a goggle eye is,they are usually 30ft deep in fontana and nantahala at least.That fish is a Rock Bass all day no question.If you dont believe it you better take your lawyer fishin' cause you don't really know what you caught.


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## Bpruitt (Jun 18, 2014)

Wander said:


> For discussion purposes I think you may have a form of Green Sunfish/Bluegill hybrid...
> 
> http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92482#Post92482



^This would be incorrect if ya care.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 18, 2014)

Bpruitt said:


> Goggle eye?...thats a crazy statement,NCHillbilly knows what a goggle eye is,they are usually 30ft deep in fontana and nantahala at least.That fish is a Rock Bass all day no question.If you dont believe it you better take your lawyer fishin' cause you don't really know what you caught.



ppl in ne Mississippi call a warmouth a goggleeye. you never hear them called a warmouth over there


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## The mtn man (Jun 18, 2014)

Most of us call them rock bass, I know some that call them war mouth, I don't know the difference, they look the same to me, I know if they are good sized, I just fillet them out with the shell crackers, they seem to taste the same. If their too small I throw them back.


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## brianj (Jun 18, 2014)

in louisana we'd call that a googleeye - not sure what the official name is, but fun to catch...


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## coachdoug87 (Jun 18, 2014)

Looks like a Rock Bass. I catch them in streams in North Georgia
And in North Carolina. Never caught one in a pond, but I am not 
Surprised.


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## Tmpr111 (Jun 18, 2014)

The pond is actually a very small reservoir and is also fed by runoff and two creeks.  I concur with, Rock Bass.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 19, 2014)

as a child, I caught one in the main stream beside the road in the smoky mountain national park


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## Geffellz18 (Jun 19, 2014)

Old Dead River said:


> ppl in ne Mississippi call a warmouth a goggleeye. you never hear them called a warmouth over there



That's what we call them back home on the FL panhandle too. Used to tear em' up in flooded cypress root stumps with grandpa. He always called them warmouth goggle eyes.


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## zane29 (Jun 20, 2014)

its a warmouth...but i never noticed how much it looks like a oscar.


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## StriperrHunterr (Jun 20, 2014)

I always called em rock bass, which is interesting trying to explain to a guy from the NE who's used to calling a striper a rock bass.


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## NCHillbilly (Jun 20, 2014)

Rock bass and warmouth are two different fish. They look somewhat similar, and are related, but are totally different species. We don't have warmouth here in the mountains, but rock bass are common. Folks around here call them rock bass or redeyes. They are in almost every creek and river of any size that isn't ice-cold, and also in most of the smaller lakes. They will hit almost anything, including crankbaits twice their size, and they taste good.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 20, 2014)

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> I always called em rock bass, which is interesting trying to explain to a guy from the NE who's used to calling a striper a rock bass.



"rockfish", that's different. you'll find some publications list a striper as a rockfish, esp. in Chesapeake Bay area.... they're serious about it too. I've visited that area and heard people refer to them as such.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 20, 2014)

if you've ever caught a rock bass you know that they really look quite a bit different than a warmouth/goggleye.  something about the black specs on the side, red eye just make them a different beast to me, and they inhabit different flows too. I've caught my rockbass in rocky streams and generally higher latitudes than warmouths.

the green sunfish is more confusable with the warmouth than the rock bass imho.


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## across the river (Jun 20, 2014)

NCHillbilly said:


> Rock bass and warmouth are two different fish. They look somewhat similar, and are related, but are totally different species. We don't have warmouth here in the mountains, but rock bass are common. Folks around here call them rock bass or redeyes. They are in almost every creek and river of any size that isn't ice-cold, and also in most of the smaller lakes. They will hit almost anything, including crankbaits twice their size, and they taste good.



I agree it is a rock bass.  A rock bass will have the black dots like you see in this fish.  You can't see it well in the picture, but the rock bass will have six rays (spines) on the anal fin.  Most sunfish have three.  A war mouth will also have a more tiger stripe look on the body and lines running back from the eye.   The other fish people always confuse with a war mouth is a green sunfish.  If it has iridescent blue or green color on the head or body it is a green sunfish and not a war mouth.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 20, 2014)

couple of rock bass from blue water creek while I was smallmouth bass fishing. as you can see they look very little like a warmouth






and another


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## StriperrHunterr (Jun 20, 2014)

Are rock bass cool water only, and wars warmer water?


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## blink (Jun 20, 2014)

Here is one i caught in Middle TN.


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## Old Dead River (Jun 20, 2014)

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Are rock bass cool water only, and wars warmer water?




as far as I know in cool flowing rocky streams, blue water runs into the tenn river near Wilson, the other one I caught was in the smoky mountains in Tennessee, nchillbilly catches them in smallmouth infested waters in north Carolina. they are a cool fish indeed, and very aggressive to bite a bit texas rigged bait


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## Tmpr111 (Jun 20, 2014)

across the river said:


> A war mouth will also have a more tiger stripe look on the body and lines running back from the eye.   The other fish people always confuse with a war mouth is a green sunfish.  If it has iridescent blue or green color on the head or body it is a green sunfish and not a war mouth.



This ^

I also think the rock bass in general has a more stout frame (thicker) than a true warmouth.  And the warmouth are naturally a bit darker and have the very distinct tiger-like stripes on the cheeks/face.


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## across the river (Jun 21, 2014)

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Are rock bass cool water only, and wars warmer water?




Rock bass and war mouth both live in many of the same states and bodies of water, so it isn't solely a temperature issue.  Rockbass live in clear water with rocky and gravel bottoms, which is why you find them in a lot of the mountainous areas with the rocky bottom streams.  Warmouth typically live in ponds, rivers, and swamps  with muddy bottoms.  They just live in different types of habitats.


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## Tmpr111 (Jul 12, 2014)

*....*

...


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## BCAPES (Jul 12, 2014)

Here is a Michigan Rock Bass I caught this summer.  My guess is a bluegill fertilized a smallmouth bed or vice versa.  Same situation with the southern rock bass via bluegill and largemouth.

We even caught some largemouth/smallie hybrids


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## Seth carter (Jul 13, 2014)

Honestly those last pics looks way difrent then a warmouth we have them all over here and there coloration its a lot prettyer than those fish warmouth look like a hen readbreast with the swirls of color around the eyes but a big bass mouth


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## jimbug (Jul 15, 2014)

This is a Warmouth - the first photo 

Warmouth - their anal fins are edged with white

Rock Bass - their anal fins are edged with black

Colors very dramatically depending on spawning, sex, etc. on both species.


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## The mtn man (Jul 16, 2014)

NCHillbilly said:


> That certainly makes more sense than the idea that he caught a rock bass, (Ambloplites rupestris,) which is a very common fish in northern GA and western NC, and they look exactly like his pic.



That's what I was thinking, I can't tell you how many times this year alone I have read this same conversation on this and other fishing forums. It seems the Rock bass or warmouth has been extinct, now they are all some type of green sunfish hybrid.


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## tbrown913 (Jul 16, 2014)

i caught one yesterday in a pond near covington and considered taking it to the DNR for identification.  The thing ate a 1/4 oz spinnerbait with double willow leaf blades!  the hook went out the side of the gill plate near the throat!  its the first I ever caught, and I had a friend tell me its a warmouth or rock bass.  not sure, but the oil wont be able to tell the difference!


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## Old Dead River (Jul 16, 2014)

BCAPES said:


> Here is a Michigan Rock Bass I caught this summer.  My guess is a bluegill fertilized a smallmouth bed or vice versa.  Same situation with the southern rock bass via bluegill and largemouth.
> 
> We even caught some largemouth/smallie hybrids



No, they are a well documented species. Like I said I've fished in areas that had flourishing populations of rock bass.

That is a very nice one you're holding though.


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## Old Dead River (Jul 16, 2014)

jimbug said:


> This is a Warmouth - the first photo
> 
> Warmouth - their anal fins are edged with white
> 
> ...



you may have a point because the photos Adam and I posted have black rimmed fins.


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## DSGB (Jul 17, 2014)

*Rock Bass*

http://www.fieldandstream.com/artic...1&spJobID=481778498&spReportId=NDgxNzc4NDk4S0


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## ShoalBandit (Jul 17, 2014)

jimbug said:


> This is a Warmouth - the first photo
> 
> Warmouth - their anal fins are edged with white
> 
> ...



It's a warmouth. In addition to the observations jimbug made if you look closely the dark markings radiating backward from the eye across the cheek and gill cover can be seen. No member of the rock bass genus (Ambloplites) has these markings. BTW warmouth and rock bass belong to separate genera (within the sunfish family) so it's not a hybrid.


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## needmotime2fish (Jul 29, 2014)

Growing up in PA 60 years ago, those were usually called "goggle eyes", but sometimes "rock bass".  I never heard of a "warmouth" until I moved to GA about 50 years ago.

Also, Old Dead River is correct.  A "rockfish" is the local name for a striped bass (striper) in MD, especially the Chesapeake Bay, and it is totally different from a "rock bass" (which is a fresh water fish).


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## Tmpr111 (Jun 4, 2016)

Bad lil dude... Z craw was as long as he was.


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## TurkeyH90 (Jun 4, 2016)

*Warmouth*

And here is you a stud Altamaha warmouth.


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## PANFISHER (Jun 4, 2016)

That has to be a rock bass. A warmouth will have three black lines radiating from the eyes, kind of like the rays of the sun.


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## lampern (Jun 4, 2016)

It is a warmouth.

It *might* be a shadow bass 

Seriously it is a warmouth sunfish


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## antharper (Jun 4, 2016)

I'd say warmouth!


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## GT-40 GUY (Jun 5, 2016)

Information & Facts

Rock bassSpecies Name
Rock bass
(Ambloplites rupestris)

Common Names
Panfish

Size Range
The average rock bass is between 6-10 inches, and they are rarely over a pound.

State Record
1.38 lbs; William Jackson; Steilacoom Lake, Pierce County; June 26, 1981

Description
Rock bass, warmouth and green sunfish are similar in appearance. None of the three is common in the state. They are stockily built, and from a side view have a body shape somewhat like the bluegill. Their mouths are quite large and strong in comparison to the bluegill and pumpkinseed, though. Both rock bass and warmouth have reddish eyes, especially noticeable in freshlycaught rock bass. To tell them apart, remember that the rock bass has "five (or more) spines in its anal fin", while the warmouth and green sunfish have only three. The warmouth has a small band of teeth near the tip of its tongue, and fewer than 45 scales in the lateral line. The green sunfish has no teeth near the tip of the tongue, has more than 45 scales in the lateral line, and has a dark spot at the base of the last three soft dorsal rays.

gt40


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## across the river (Jun 5, 2016)

PANFISHER said:


> That has to be a rock bass. A warmouth will have three black lines radiating from the eyes, kind of like the rays of the sun.




It is neither a warmouth nor a rock bass.  It is a green sunfish.  This has already been extensively hashed out in this two year old thread.


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## Tmpr111 (Jun 5, 2016)

I'm back on the warmouth train.  I recently caught a very distinctive looking sunfish - the eye markings were quite different and not the three coming off the eyes.  Just my opinion though after catching and inspecting both.  The mouth too was quite smaller when opened on the sunfish


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## Tmpr111 (Jun 6, 2016)

Here's a better example of the face markings that didn't show in previous pics.  This under the sunfish picture should clear it up.


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## across the river (Jun 7, 2016)

Tmpr111 said:


> Here's a better example of the face markings that didn't show in previous pics.  This under the sunfish picture should clear it up.



If it has any of that iridescent blue in it, it is a green sunfish.   Some are as colorful as the one you posted, but I have caught some that are almost black in color.  The color on a green sunfish can vary a lot.   Every warmouth I have ever caught had a similar color and pattern around the eyes.


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## lampern (Jun 7, 2016)

That fish is a warmouth. The one above it is a green sunfish.


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## across the river (Jun 7, 2016)

lampern said:


> That fish is a warmouth. The one above it is a green sunfish.



Neither of the fish in the two pictures above are war mouths.  War mouths do not have any of that blue color on them.


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## lampern (Jun 7, 2016)

across the river said:


> Neither of the fish in the two pictures above are war mouths.  War mouths do not have any of that blue color on them.



The last picture is indeed a warmouth


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## across the river (Jun 7, 2016)

lampern said:


> The last picture is indeed a warmouth



Regardless of what your grandaddy told you, that isn't a warmouth.  Look at the link below.  Notice the warmouth has no blue lines on his head or blue specks in the body.  A warmouth will have the dark "tiger stripes" radiating from the eye, but they will not have any of that blue color that the sunfish do.  If it has that blue color on it, then it isn't a warmouth.


http://www.web1.cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/warmouth.html


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## ShoalBandit (Jun 8, 2016)

The blue-green coloration on the head is misleading but the last image appears to be a warmouth. Both species are in the same genus (Lepomis) so a green sunfish x warmouth hybrid is possible but I think this is just an extreme example of individual or local variation. 

Check these out:

http://www.tnfish.org/PhotoGalleryF...pages/WarmouthLargeChilhoweeLakeNegus_jpg.htm

http://api.ning.com/files/BwEYUWKva...-zW-rUsjQFKir9Zyab4KU14B6OgRenNS/DSC00242.JPG


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## lampern (Jun 8, 2016)

across the river said:


> Regardless of what your grandaddy told you, that isn't a warmouth.  Look at the link below.  Notice the warmouth has no blue lines on his head or blue specks in the body.  A warmouth will have the dark "tiger stripes" radiating from the eye, but they will not have any of that blue color that the sunfish do.  If it has that blue color on it, then it isn't a warmouth.
> 
> 
> http://www.web1.cnre.vt.edu/efish/families/warmouth.html



Warmouth are a species of sunfish.

And I have caught them with blue on their sides.

Like green sunfish there can be dark specimens or colored up specimens.


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