Conference wahoo::fishing

    
    	I have encountered a number of them myself. I do not have the
    
    	answers either. I also have the same questions!!!!
    
    	I did however have variety, pickeral,sm mouth, and lg mouth
    	bass and of course perch and sunfish
    						RES
    

    
    	Could you describe a rock bass?  
    	I do not know one type of bass from another... 

    Unless I'm mistaken, the Rock Bass is also called a Crappie, and
    some say Calico Bass.......Member of the pan-fish family and good
    eating for those that care. For them to be around in good numbers
    the conditions (like most fish) have to be right. I would think
    of it as being a positive thing. They are alot of fun to catch and
    get to two pounds or more. The average size is probably in the 3/4
    to 1 pound range. 
    
    Normal bait for them is a crappie jig....small bucktail on a lead
    head. They will hit small crankbaits and grubs also. When I was
    growing up we use to fish for them with nightcrawlers. They like
    rocks (hence the name) and deep holes in swallower water.
    
    They have a molted color pattern in green a black. Dark top with
    VERY sharp dorsel fin. Very pan fish looking, not like a bass.
    
    Hope this helps answer the question, tightlines, Ranger Ron

    Ron,
    
    The rock bass I'm referring to is not a crappie.  It sure is confusing
    with all these regional nicknames for fish that a crappie is a calico
    bass in some places and a speckled perch in others.
    
    The rock bass I'm referring to (picked it out from the picture in
    my guide to freshwater fishes of North America) is also called 
    "goggle eyes" among other names.  It is a panfish, a member of the
    sunfish family and looks like a largemouth from the front.  It has
    red eyes and rows of spots across its sides.  I don't think they
    get over 12-15" and I haven't seen one yet that weighed over 1.5
    pounds.  If you colored one green (they're kinda brown) and removed
    the spots, it would look like a pygmy largemouth.
    
    The places I have encountered them most frequently have been shallow
    spots in small rivers, locally the Westfield and Housatonic which
    are also good trout and smallmouth rivers in deeper, cooler, faster
    parts. 
    
    Compared to a Crappie, they are less flat and more cylindrical in
    shape, have a much larger mouth and are brown/black as opposed to
    white/black.  Ever seen/caught one?
    
    Steve  

    No Steve, I haven't ever run across what you described in this area
    but from the color and spots you mention, it sure sounds an awful
    lot like a Kentucky Spotted Bass, also called a Redeye in the south.
    
    But I doubt it, as they aren't suppose to range this far north....
    oh well, another mystery on names....sure is fun though:^)
    
    Sorry if my answer mislead anyone....Tight lines, Ranger Ron

        All the local names sure does make things confusing, and there are
    a lot of misidentifications of fish caught by anglers.  First in the
    South, there is the spotted bass also known as Kentucky bass, Kentucky
    spotted bass, Alabama spotted bass, Wichita spotted bass, etc.  There
    are actually three subspecies of this fish.  It is often mistaken for
    largemouth by many and even smallmouths.  Because of this, it is believe
    that many record fish might have been caught and undetected.  According
    to some authorities, it hybridizes in nature with the smallmouth at
    times making things more difficult.  When depth permits, they prefer
    deeper water than the smallmouth.  In Tenn., they have been caught in
    depths up to 100'.

    There is also the Redeye bass in the South which is a separate species.
    It is also known as the shoal bass.  This is very similar to the spotted
    bass and the smallmouth bass.  All these fish display the "red eyes".

    The rock bass, also called black perch, goggle-eyes, red-eye, and rock
    sunfish, is native to the northeast USA and southeast Canada.  It is
    found also around the Great Lakes region and south to Tenn. and Alabama.
    It looks somthing like a cross between a bluegill and a black bass and
    more like a bass than a sunfish.  There is a black spot at the edge
    of the gill cover and has the "red eyes" also.

    I don't believe you have to worry about the water quality when you catch
    these.  They prefer small, cool, weedy lakes and streams and the outer
    edges of larger lakes, always over rocky bottoms where there is no silt.
    I've caught these at Quabbin before and other area ponds and they have
    always been small fish.  The world record is something like 3 lbs. 
    I can't imagine them being too threatening in a pond at least no more
    than sunfish or other types of bass.  I've eaten them before and they
    have firm white flesh and are very good.  So if you are catching some
    of any size, you may want to try them out in the skillet.

    Steve