Hybrid Yellow Bass

Had a customer pull in this huge yellow bass on Saturday the 17th. Upon further inspection and with the broken lines near it's tail, it seems to be a hybrid Yellow. At the time I thought nothing but wow, what a big yellow! Another guide mentioned he thought it might be a hybrid. It was about 13 inches long and better than a pound. The Kentucky record is only 1' 6.4 oz and I believe this fish was short of that weight but close. Need to be more vigilant but after 5 trips in 7 days my thinker was a bit discombobulated!!! Here's a pic of that fish and Saturday's family!! That lure is a SteelShad Bladebait. Worked properly it is the deadliest lure for any fish that swims IMHO!!
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That was a good sized one

Nice fish! Looks like every yellow bass I've ever caught in the Mississippi River. Broken lines are very common in our fish, and in fact I'm not sure I remember seeing one without it?

13" is a dandy. We get some monsters on the Miss but rarely that size, most of the real giants top out around 12.5-13". I've been 2 ounces and 3 ounces short of the Iowa state record (1-7 and 1-6), they sure do look huge in person when they get that size!

I have seen two hybrid yellow x white bass come from Clear Lake Iowa, they look a bit different and are very different shaped, they are almost shaped like a Wiper if you know what that is (white bass x ocean striped) but have a golden tint and a tiny little head.

I hold the Oklahoma state record yellow bass hybrid at 2 lbs 5 ozs and 15 1/2 inches. At one time it was a world record for several years, an IGFA world record, Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame world record and 8 # line class record.

I never heard of a yellow bass. We don't have them in Ohio. I regularly fish for white bass and wipers. Learn something new everyday!

Thanks for the post BIGBADDAD.


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Since catch, I too learned something from this post.

It is really quite difficult to actually tell if it is totally a hybridization of a yellow and a white .
We have a few spots where pure yellows get really large and they tend to look just like a hybrid yellow to me .
The good news in Texas is they don’t regulate yellow bass or the hybrid versions of them ,so we don’t worry much if they’re really pure or not .