This Guadalupe Bass likely isn’t 100% pure. I caught over a dozen obvious Largemouth x Guadalupe Hybrids several generations removed from either parent in the San Antonio River, but this juvenile fish found about two hours from there in a small Guadalupe River trib was the closest to pure I caught. It has 12 blotches along the lateral line (a Guad trait) as well as a tri-colored tail (white on the edge, then black, then light inside), though it’s very difficult to tell in the poor lighting. When I get back to Texas, I’ll catch a proper Guad.

Species: Guadalupe River (Micropterus treculii)
Location: Guadalupe River Trib, Central Texas
Date: August 14, 2018

I caught tons of bass in Texas. I got some respectable Largemouths, what was (at the time) my largest Smallmouth, and a few Spots. Every time I landed a bass, I was not-so-secretly hoping it was a Guadalupe Bass, the Texas State Fish. Unfortunately, every time, I was disappointed.

Not a bad smallie. I’ve only caught half a dozen larger.

Neither Largemouths nor Smallmouths are native to Texas. Spots are native to the easternmost portion of the state, but the other two are not. When the Guadalupe Bass was first described, shortly after the Civil War, it was considered a subspecies of Largemouth.

Half a century later, it was reclassified as a Spotted Bass subspecies.

It wasn’t until the 1950s when biologists discovered Guads living in the same waters as Spots that they realized something: these fish are different.

Official species status came shortly thereafter, but the State of Texas continued stocking invasive Largemouths and Smallmouths for nearly 30 years thereafter, a mistake in policy that would prove tragic. A combination of hybridization and outcompetition by the much larger Largemouths and Smallmouths put the Guadalupe Bass in dire straights.

By the time the fish was named the Texas State Fish in 1989, pure Guads were found in just a fraction of their original range. Strong efforts by the state to undo its decades of ill-advised stocking enabled the Guads to carve out a stronghold, but tragically, many rivers (such as the San Antonio River) had the genetics of their native fish compromised. One study found that more than 90% of bass in the San Antonio River had both Guadalupe and Largemouth genetics. As a result, the fish don’t really look like Largemouths but certainly aren’t proper Guads, either.

I caught a lot of dark, colored-up Largemouth Bass featuring Guad DNA that looked like this.

I caught tons of these hybrids while stationed in San Antonio, but it wasn’t until I drove a few hours from the city one night and targeted Gray Redhorse in a small trib of the Guadalupe River that I got a Guad that was at least mostly Guad. Local bios confirmed it was mostly Guad, but likely had a Largemouth parent two or three generations back. This explains the lighter coloration and the relatively narrow white edging on the caudal fin. That said, it still meets the 10-12 dark blotch meristic unique to Guads, the small mouth, the more streamlined body, and a few dark scales below the lateral line.

It’s definitely not a 100% pure Guad, though, so I’ll be sure to get one next time.

Please consider subscribing to my weekly column and access my past columns for as low as $1 per month by clicking “Become a Patron” below.

Become a Patron!

#SpeciesQuest // #CaughtOvgard

Read the next entry in #SpeciesQuest here: Species #188 — Mexican Tetra.

95 Replies

  1. I just started reading this amazing website, they produce high quality content for people. The site owner works hard to engage customers. I’m delighted and hope they keep up the good work!

  2. Good – I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs as well as related information ended up being truly simple to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or something, web site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Nice task..

  3. Hello! I just wish to give you a huge thumbs up for your wonderful info you have here with this post. I will be coming back to your blog to get more detailed soon.

  4. Very interesting info !Perfect just what I was looking for! “People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.” by A. J. Liebling.

  5. I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.

  6. Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Please also visit my web site =). We could have a link exchange arrangement between us!

  7. Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossips and internet and this is really annoying. A good website with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thank you for keeping this web site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Cant find it.

  8. Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your design. Appreciate it

  9. You actually make it appear so easy along with your presentation however I in finding this matter to be really one thing which I believe I would never understand. It kind of feels too complex and extremely broad for me. I’m having a look forward to your next put up, I will try to get the grasp of it!

  10. Its like you read my mind! You appear to understand so much
    about this, such as you wrote the e-book in it or something.

    I think that you simply could do with a few percent to power
    the message home a bit, however instead of that,
    that is excellent blog. A fantastic read. I will
    definitely be back.

  11. I will right away snatch your rss as I can’t in finding your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly allow me understand so that I may subscribe. Thanks.

  12. Aw, this was a really nice post. In thought I would like to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and actual effort to make a very good article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and on no account appear to get something done.

  13. I like the helpful information you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I’m quite sure I’ll learn plenty of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

  14. Вы можете изменить свою жизнь.
    ОПСУИМОЛОГ покажет вам, как это сделать.

    Опсуимолог усвоил все, чему учит, на собственном горьком опыте: сначала испортив собственную жизнь и по необходимости открыв инструменты и исследования, которые изменили жизнь и привели его туда, где он есть сегодня.

    Миссия Опсуимолога проста: поделиться проверенными инструментами, которые помогут вам создать лучшую жизнь. Загляните на сайт опсуимолога, и вы будете смеяться вместе, учиться и шаг за шагом создавать свою новую жизнь — свою лучшую жизнь.

    Простые советы опсуимолога, подкрепленные исследованиями, изменили жизни множества людей, и теперь он раскрывает вам все свои трудные секреты, веселые неудачи и интересные истории, чтобы вы могли изменить свою.

  15. Вы можете изменить свою жизнь.
    ОПСУИМОЛОГ покажет вам, как это сделать.

    Опсуимолог усвоил все, чему учит, на собственном горьком опыте: сначала испортив собственную жизнь и по необходимости открыв инструменты и исследования, которые изменили жизнь и привели его туда, где он есть сегодня.

    Миссия Опсуимолога проста: поделиться проверенными инструментами, которые помогут вам создать лучшую жизнь. Загляните на сайт опсуимолога, и вы будете смеяться вместе, учиться и шаг за шагом создавать свою новую жизнь — свою лучшую жизнь.

    Простые советы опсуимолога, подкрепленные исследованиями, изменили жизни множества людей, и теперь он раскрывает вам все свои трудные секреты, веселые неудачи и интересные истории, чтобы вы могли изменить свою.

  16. This web site is really a walk-through for all of the info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.

  17. Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice even as you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a weblog web site? The account helped me a appropriate deal. I were a little bit familiar of this your broadcast offered shiny clear concept

  18. After I initially commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get four emails with the identical comment. Is there any means you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!

  19. This piece provided a lot of food for thought. It was well-written and very informative. Let’s chat more about it. Feel free to visit my profile for more related content.

  20. Can I just say what a relief to search out somebody who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know the way to bring a problem to mild and make it important. More people must read this and perceive this side of the story. I cant consider youre no more common because you undoubtedly have the gift.

  21. I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.

  22. With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any ways to help protect against content from being ripped off? I’d really appreciate it.

  23. This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!

  24. Have you ever considered writing an e-book or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog based upon on the same information you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my viewers would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an email.

  25. It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you few interesting things or suggestions. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read more things about it!

  26. Hiya! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My blog goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Superb blog by the way!

  27. I have not checked in here for a while as I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are good quality so I guess I will add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂

  28. Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a excellent job with this. Also, the blog loads super fast for me on Firefox. Excellent Blog!

  29. I’m impressed, I need to say. Really not often do I encounter a weblog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me inform you, you could have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is excellent; the difficulty is something that not sufficient persons are talking intelligently about. I am very joyful that I stumbled across this in my seek for something referring to this.

  30. I was recommended this blog by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my problem. You’re amazing! Thanks!

  31. You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation however I in finding this topic to be actually one thing which I believe I might never understand. It sort of feels too complex and extremely large for me. I’m having a look ahead in your subsequent put up, I¦ll try to get the hold of it!

  32. I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the layout of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?

  33. It’s perfect time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Maybe you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!

  34. You really make it seem really easy with your presentation however I to find this topic to be really one thing which I believe I would never understand. It kind of feels too complicated and extremely wide for me. I am having a look ahead to your subsequent post, I will try to get the grasp of it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *