First bass of 2015

PK Yi · Mar 27, 2015

ok, nothing to write home about really. but it's a bass nonetheless. about a pounder.

caught him at cottage grove lake while trolling a z-ray for trout.

beautiful day on the water, just no action. water was turbid. visibility a little poor. a friend caught the trout.

Shaun Solomon · Mar 27, 2015

Dang that looks like a spot. They got those in there?

sapo · Mar 27, 2015

Interesting looking trout, really bright, haven't seen any stockers like that before. Just looks different to me.

PK Yi · Mar 27, 2015

didn't know either. it was my first time at cottage grove lake. we caught him in 20ft of water. just a nice looking fish.

rogerdodger · Mar 28, 2015

that is a real tough one, over here at the coast I would say that was a searun cutthroat all day long, that is exactly what they look like in Siltcoos in the fall, these for example were caught in early October.

playhooky · Mar 28, 2015

sapo said:
Interesting looking trout, really bright, haven't seen any stockers like that before. Just looks different to me.

Looks like a bright little Kokanee.....hard to get a good look at the anal fin in the pic but the anal fin on a Koke is a little larger than a trout and this fish also has those distinguishing black spots on its upper sides as on a Koke.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

rogerdodger · Mar 28, 2015

playhooky said:
Looks like a bright little Kokanee.....hard to get a good look at the anal fin in the pic but the anal fin on a Koke is a little larger than a trout and this fish also has those distinguishing black spots on its upper sides as on a Koke.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I would have said kokanee but there are too many spots and I see them on the lower part of the tail, kokanee are in the "no distinct spots on back and tail" group of salmon. plus the tail should have more of a forked shape...

how about a small chinook that got planted with the rainbows by accident?

Native Fisher · Mar 28, 2015

playhooky said:
Looks like a bright little Kokanee.....hard to get a good look at the anal fin in the pic but the anal fin on a Koke is a little larger than a trout and this fish also has those distinguishing black spots on its upper sides as on a Koke.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Kokes have a much more defined fork in the tail. The overly large eye, slight fork in tail, and coloration say it is a kamloops rainbow typical stocked trout in local lakes...probably a hold over.

Shaun Solomon · Mar 28, 2015

That is not a trout. I don't know what it is, but I am 90% it ain't a trout, lol. Eye is too big, too far forward, markings are wrong, tail too deeply forked.

I agree not a sockeye. So not a rainbow, not a koke. lol

I still think that is a spotted bass.

Shaun Solomon · Mar 28, 2015

rogerdodger said:
how about a small chinook that got planted with the rainbows by accident?

This gets my vote.

wils · Mar 29, 2015

How'd it taste?

PK Yi · Mar 29, 2015

we release the kokebow. his mouth was a little torn but he darted away quickly. (there's a mercury warning on the boat ramp?)

bass · Apr 3, 2015

Shaun Solomon said:
That is not a trout. I don't know what it is, but I am 90% it ain't a trout, lol. Eye is too big, too far forward, markings are wrong, tail too deeply forked.

I agree not a sockeye. So not a rainbow, not a koke. lol

I still think that is a spotted bass.

I agree that it definitely looks like a spotted bass. Used to catch them occasionally in Allegheny river in PA. A good check next time is to feel the tongue. Spots have a rough tongue, large and smallmouth have a smooth tongue. Also the spots dorsal fin does not end between the front and back half, a largemouth's does. The dorsal on your picture looks like it does go all the way down (does not look like two distanct fins).

First bass of 2015

Similar threads