PB Rock Bass

[Tokyo Tony]

Hey guys, this is the biggest rock bass I've ever seen. Caught it over the summer on a dropshot rig with a Roboworm. In general, I think these fish are pretty worthless. Kinda cool-looking though.

Definitely a smallmouth/crappie hybrid of some sort.

[DADto4]

Nice,

Believe it or not there is actually a tourney held on Lake Wawasee here in northern Indiana once a year just for those fish, only they call them "GOGGLE EYE".

[Jake.]

Nice. Are they worth keeping to eat?

[SuskyDude]

Rockies...worthless?

Dredge/wash and bread them in panko. Deep fry until golden brown.

Little homemade tarter suce. You'll sing a different tune for sure.

Not a hybrid, but in same family as bass/crappie/sunfish: centrarchidae.

Nice fish!

[T-rig]

Nice fish! It's just a regular rock bass, no hybrid.

They get even bigger.

[Tokyo Tony]

I could see them being tasty, but they're usually so small it just seems like it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

I know it's a rock bass, but it seems like the rock bass species is a cross between a crappie and a smallmouth. They have smallie colors and smallie eyes, with a crappie shape and crappie fins. The mouth is kind of a mix, as are the patterns. By worthless I meant in the sense of a gamefish. The fight is a cross between a weed and a very small twig  ;D

T-Rig - that's now the biggest rock bass I've ever seen  

[SuskyDude]

I could see them being tasty, but they're usually so small it just seems like it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

I know it's a rock bass, but it seems like the rock bass species is a cross between a crappie and a smallmouth. They have smallie colors and smallie eyes, with a crappie shape and crappie fins. The mouth is kind of a mix, as are the patterns. By worthless I meant in the sense of a gamefish. The fight is a cross between a weed and a very small twig ;D

T-Rig - that's now the biggest rock bass I've ever seen

That is about how well they fight!

Yes it is true that they look like a hybrid, but I assure you thats not the case. They share commonn ancestors, and if I could find a cladogam that I don't have to pay for I'd share it.  ;D

"Hybrid" is a term that is thrown around WAY too often. Most "hybrids" aren't hybrids at all, but just genetically unique indviduals from a certain species. Furthermore, speciation by hybridization is very rare, as the vast majority of hybrid offspring are inviable, infertile, etc.

[J Francho]

Rock bass tournaments abound in early spring around here.  That's a nice one, but they can get bigger.  In fact, the CT state record is 1-3.  here in NY, the record is almost 2 lbs.  i actually think this record has broken many times, due to simply not knowing it exists.  For truly huge goggle eyes, mid May through early June, using 3-4" worms, creatures, and grubs in areas you'd call "marginal" for bass beds.  You'll run into quite a few along this size:

They are EXCELLENT from the pan.

I'm curious as to what led to your assertion that is a hybrid of some sort?  Its size?  Everything else looks pretty typical for a rocky.  Not all have the red goggles on all the time.

At any rate, its a notable catch for your personal records.

[KYntucky Warmouth]

Nice rock bass....mean little critters....ferocious

[Red]

i always heard they were no good for eatin cuz they are always full of worms??

[J Francho]

Red, that's cod, not rock bass.

[Paul Roberts]

I'm a "rocky" lover. No, they don't fight particularly well -just not built for it. But they take lures really well and that's enough for me.

J Francho lives in prime rock bass country. Port Bay (and Sodus) could be amazing (They called them "strawberry bass up there). We used to fish 1/32oz jigs in spring and on a good day cull a couple dozen over 10" for the pan. The largest I saw was 13-1/2inches.

BTW: Tony didn't think it was a hybrid -he just said it looks like both a crappie and smallmouth. I don't see the crappie resemblance myself -they are much more compressed (flat). Rocky's are pretty wide little guys.

[thetr20one]

These Balboas (like Rocky Balboa) get huge in Lake Erie and will eat anything you generally use for bass. Much bigger baits than you would expect them to. They are very persistent little guys, often holding on to a senko without being hooked all the way back to the boat.  

[TrippyJai]

I love fishing Rock bass. I fish this small river that is probbaly like a creek size and it holds pretty big Rockies. They put up a good fight on ML tackle. They are fun to catch and because you can treat them like a Crappie, they are easy to realise than a sunfish is.

BTW, they are usually pretty fat.

[J Francho]

J Francho lives in prime rock bass country. Port Bay (and Sodus) could be amazing (They called them "strawberry bass up there). We used to fish 1/32oz jigs in spring and on a good day cull a couple dozen over 10" for the pan. The largest I saw was 13-1/2inches.

That's very true Paul.  I find that in late spring and early summer have to "fish through" the more aggressive rockies.  

I love them too.  For three years straight, there was a VERY big female that would set up a bed next to our dock on Port Bay.  She might let you catch her, if you were having a slow day.  One year she stopped showing up - someone must have caught her.

As for strawberry bass, we used that name for crappie.  Maybe we were wrong about that?  Rockies were "googly eyes, " or, "dammit, another one!" to us, LOL.  I still like them.

[SMfisher]

great fish to eat roll them in sweet cornbread mix and fry. i try to keep about 8 to a dozen each trip if they are big enough. thay are also good for padding your stats if you are fishing with buddies and you are separated on the river, when they ask how many bass you caught just don't say the rock part. they can be annoying at times i catch a few that put up a little fight most just come in skipping across the top of the water like water skiing

[Paul Roberts]

Yeah, maybe strawberries were crappie. I just called 'em rock bass and crappie LOL.

No. wait...crappie were called calico's! And white bass were called silver bass and white perch were called silver perch.

I once caught a bowfin (Port Bay) and an very old man saw it and exclaimed "Cauhoi! Cauhoi!" (pronounced Coh-hoy), which turned out to be a cajun term! A short time later a boat went by and asked what I had (I was on shore) and I replied, "Cow-Hoy". The guy turned to his buddy and said, "That kid's got a Coho!"