What is a Mean Mouth Bass and Can You Eat Them?
The Mean Mouth Bass is an incredibly delicious and rare fish that people enjoy eating. However, not many people know about the mean bass, where it comes from, how to cook it and other obscure details about it. The mean mouth bass is a rare fish in the fishing world and many details about it are incredibly niche. Fortunately, we have some information pertaining to the mean bass that we want to share with you fishing enthusiasts out there if you’re looking for a challenge or something tasty to fillet.
What is a Mean Mouth Bass?
The mean mouth bass is a rare fish to find that is usually born out of specific circumstances. A lot of fishers have a difficult time finding these in the wild because the conditions that are needed in order for them to breed are not that common. Most people don’t even realize what a mean bass is because of how rare it is.
The interesting thing about the mean bass is the fact that it is a mix of two different types of bass that breed in the right waters. Understanding that fish travel from one pool of water to another depending on environmental factors, food supply, escaping predators, and more is important to note whenever tracking where a mean bass can come from.
A mean bass is a hybrid type of bass that is born whenever a large mouth bass or a spotted bass end up mating with a smallmouth bass. However, the more common parent of the mean mouth bass comes from the spotted bass, since it has a lot more common ground with the smallmouth bass when it comes to the environment. Largemouth and smallmouth bass don’t often share environments that are close enough for them to come into contact with, so a mean mouth bass could be a byproduct of humans forcing them to breed together.
Is the Mean Mouth Bass…Mean?
Interestingly enough, the name that has been given to the mean mouth bass is fairly fitting. The meaning of its name comes from the fact that this type of fish is incredibly aggressive. Upon discovery of the mean mouth bass, a female swimmer was struck on her head and chest, which caused her to flee the pond. According to reports, mean mouths reportedly attacked a dog that walked into the shallow water of a pond. This type of aggression is similar to the smallmouth bass but it seems to be ramped up to higher degrees.
It is also worth noting that the mean mouth bass is a nickname for this type of bass because, as of now, its classification as a species is a bit fuzzy for zoologists. Unfortunately, because the conditions for the mean mouth bass to be produced are so incredibly rare in the wild, it is not considered its own species.
Where Can You Even Find Mean Mouth Bass?
As mentioned previously, finding them in the wild is like finding a needle in a haystack. The conditions for finding them in a basin are incredibly slim. However, this does not mean that people have not found mean mouth bass in the wild before. In fact, the locations that one had to look at if you truly wanted to find them in the closest thing you’d call to a natural habitat would be in Missouri and Georgia.
To understand mean mouth bass, we must first understand bass behavior, their habits, and where they can generally be found. Bass are most often found in rivers and basins in the wild. There are tons of these in Missouri and Georgia, which is an explanation why fishing is so popular in these states. Bass are a thrilling catch to go after and for a fisher to find an incredibly rare type of fish in the wild such as the big mouth bass would be an absolute treasure.
Impossible, or Not?
Like we mentioned before, large mouth bass are normally not anywhere close to those of their smallmouth cousins. This means that spotted bass are usually the most common type of bass that you can find in the basins and rivers of Missouri and Georgia. There are various pools of water in Missouri and Georgia where both smallmouth and spotted bass reside. The chances of finding one in these pools of water are much greater than other surrounding areas or even states.
However, it’s not completely impossible for a big mouth bass to get produced in other pools of water. Certain areas of Kentucky are breeding grounds for spotted bass and smallmouth bass. In fact, the state is requesting that any kind of mean mouth bass that is captured in Kentucky be brought in for testing to fully understand this rare type of fish.
How Do You Catch a Mean Mouth Bass?
After hearing everything that we have had to say about the mean mouth bass, one might be thinking that the odds of catching one are close to zero. Fortunately, there is always a way whenever you want to catch a fish, such as this one. All one has to do is have the right resources, patience, and knowledge of any given area.
From what we understand, the mean bass has a very similar diet to the smallmouth bass. This means that they will often go for the exact type of bait that a smallmouth bass will go for. There are a few more steps that you will need to consider when you begin the hunt for this special type of bass.
Finding a Crossover Point
The most important thing a fisherman can do when trying to find a big mouth bass is to pinpoint where certain pools of water of spotted bass and smallmouth bass converge. The chances of them breeding together are much higher in these areas and so too do your chances of catching the offspring of these increase.
Your chances of finding a mean mouth bass are much higher whenever you look for specific areas such as rocky points and various bluffs that are found in pools of water. Keep an eye out for these areas and prep your resources to stay in this area for a while.
Finding the Right Bait
Since the smallmouth bass’ habits are incredibly similar to the mean bass habits, you will want to use the same techniques whenever it comes to catching them. This means that you should use smaller jig heads and plastic worms to bait this type of fish. Though every experienced fisherman knows that you cannot fully rely on this type of bait to catch any type of fish, it simply increases your odds of getting their attention.
Difficulties Catching Mean Mouth Bass
While the most obvious issue with the mean mouth bass comes from the fact that it is extremely rare, there are other factors that can make it rather difficult to catch one. Since many angler fishers don’t consider this to be something worth catching, there just isn’t enough vital information to be had out there that could help other fishermen find and catch this type of fish. Since the mean mouth bass is mostly wanted for scientific studies and not for record challenges, the information that we do have about catching the mean mouth bass is fairly vague and incredibly niche.
Patience
With all of this information revealed, it is important to note that if you want to find a mean mouth bass in the wild for your personal satisfaction, patience is going to be a must have. All good fishermen have years of patience built in. But whenever it comes to finding a fish this rare, many fisherman would probably say it’s not worth it. However, there is always a way whenever it comes to finding this type of fish. Using the techniques available for smallmouth bass fishing, you will eventually find the mean bass you’ve been looking for. You may be cycling through tons of smallmouth bass before you get to the mean bass, but in the end it will be worth it.
Can You Eat a Mean Mouth Bass?
While not many people in the fishing world have caught a mean mouth bass before, those who have caught them recall that they are a delicious meal. Bass can be incredibly delicious if you cook them just right. This means that you can have a succulent meal with a healthy bass that you caught from your local body of water.
Some people have a reservation whenever it comes to eating mean mouth bass, since they are so incredibly rare. However, since there is not a lot of interest in the mean mouth bass from angler fishers, those who have caught them have stated that they are delicious to eat. The mean mouth should be prepared to eat similarly to that of a small mouth bass and various types of bass in its gene pool. They taste similar to the smallmouth bass which can be described as “tasting less fishy compared to the large mouth bass”.
Conservation of the Mean Mouth Bass
It is always something incredible whenever a fisherman finds a rare type of fish in their own backyards. The mean mouth bass continues to amaze those who are interested in it regardless if they are not openly sought after. To all of the fisherman out there who may be considering finding the mean mouth bass, we salute you. Whether you decide to record catching the fish, cooking it to your taste, or turning it in for scientific study, you are doing important work out there. We hope this guide has been helpful when it comes to understanding how this incredible type of fish.
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