GA BASS ODYSSEY
Senior Member
Aren't there Altamaha bass on the Oconee River near Athens? Are there any threats to it there?
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Shoal Bass
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Aren't there Altamaha bass on the Oconee River near Athens? Are there any threats to it there?
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
Yes Altamaha Bass are native to the Middle and North Oconee Rivers unfortunately Alabama Bass were illegally introduced resulting in widespread hybridization between species in the Athens area.
Altamaha Bass are also no longer found in the South, (most of the) Yellow, and Alcovy Rivers due to the illegal introduction and spread of Alabama Bass. Nonnative Shoal Bass and Alabama Bass wiped out the population in the Ocmulgee below Lake Jackson. If you want to catch a real pure Altamaha Bass there are a few places left but they're rapidly disappearing.
Altamaha Bass
Altamaha x Alabama bass hybrids
Altamaha x Shoal bass hybrid
Altamaha x Shoal x Alabama bass hybrids
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GA BASS ODYSSEY
Senior Member
I need pure one for my bass slam. Catch and Release. I don't eat bass at all. Is it best below or above the lakes. PM me if you wouldn't mind helping me out. Thanks.
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
PM sent.
CAPTHotMess
Member
Yes Altamaha Bass are native to the Middle and North Oconee Rivers unfortunately Alabama Bass were illegally introduced resulting in widespread hybridization between species in the Athens area.
Altamaha Bass are also no longer found in the South, (most of the) Yellow, and Alcovy Rivers due to the illegal introduction and spread of Alabama Bass. Nonnative Shoal Bass and Alabama Bass wiped out the population in the Ocmulgee below Lake Jackson. If you want to catch a real pure Altamaha Bass there are a few places left but they're rapidly disappearing.
Newbie here and sorry to revive an old post, but I've been catching what I believe to be Altamaha bass at Cedar Shoals in Porterdale on the Yellow River and I came across this post when doing some research. I say they are Altamaha bass because they have a lot of features of a spot, but are missing the tooth patch and are usually smaller. (around 12inches). They could very well be hybrids because they look most like this one that you shared here as a alt + spot hybrid. They guys I met on the river yesterday called them shoalies, but I'm sure they aren't shoalies as they are missing the dark spot on the tail and as far as I know there are no know introductions of shoalies north of Bartlett Shoals Dam.
DylanSeverens
Member
I lived in Porterdale for a couple years and caught Alabama bass almost exclusively in the area below the dam. There were a few largemouth in the slower pools and one shoal bass that someone must have transported there, but the shoals hold a good population of Alabama bass. Historically that area would have had Altamaha bass so the genetics should still be present and you may even find pure Altamaha bass in the feeder streams.
If you're looking for a place to catch Altamaha bass take a look at this interactive map (works best on a computer, not as great on a phone) and turn on the layer for Altamaha Bass Fishing locations. Good luck!
https://gadnrwrd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=360c1018b643486ea704dc1a5888c1b7
If you're looking for a place to catch Altamaha bass take a look at this interactive map (works best on a computer, not as great on a phone) and turn on the layer for Altamaha Bass Fishing locations. Good luck!
https://gadnrwrd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=360c1018b643486ea704dc1a5888c1b7
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CAPTHotMess
Member
Thanks for the info. I've definitely caught a lot of Alabama bass here and throughout the system, but a few of these fish are different. I'll try to get some good pics of them next time I'm out. I would love to know a few red-eyes are still around, but I know it's probably wishful thinking. I'm pursuing all the bass in the GA bass slam this year and will hit one of those locations on the map for Altamaha bass. Thanks again!
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
Sounds like you know what to look for but Altamaha Bass typically have a tooth patch on the tongue. You can also check the caudal fin margins on those mystery fish for any kind of pigment. It can be absent or hard to see on older/larger individuals (especially if the water is cold and/or stained) but Altamaha Bass typically have some white pigment visible near the upper and lower caudal fin margins. The caudal fin lobes on genetically pure Altamaha Bass will also be more rounded like other upland species of black bass.
It'd be cool if some were there but they'd probably be living on borrowed time given the current distribution of nonnative species in that drainage. I also just want to add that the DNR has been pretty lenient with some of these bass slam submissions. I've seen a few submissions that were clearly hybrids and Alabama Bass labeled as just about everything else in social media posts. At the end of the day I think they want people to complete the bass slam so it probably doesn't matter but it's good to see some anglers like yourself care and are out looking for the real thing. BTW the Altamaha Bass is the ONLY black bass endemic to the state of Georgia. That means it's found here and nowhere else in the world.
CAPTHotMess
Member
I went back last night without the kayak so access was limited but managed to catch one specimen similar to what I've been catching. Unfortunately, the fish was a bit washed out, but you can see the broad vertical bars along the lateral as well as the blueish tint. Small cheek scales, connected dorsal. There is much more bronze coloring in these fish than the alabama bass caught from the same waters. This fish had no tooth patch. Definitely not a pure altamaha bass, but surely this fish isn't a pure anything else either.
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
That's an interesting looking fish alright—did you happen to get any pics of the caudal fin? I agree it appears to have Altamaha genetics just looking at the pics. The fact it doesn't have a tooth patch though suggests it might be an Altamaha x Shoal hybrid.
Here's a washed-out spring Altamaha Bass that looks very similar to your fish.
This Altamaha Bass was caught in the fall but you can see the physical characteristics more clearly.
Here's a washed-out spring Altamaha Bass that looks very similar to your fish.
This Altamaha Bass was caught in the fall but you can see the physical characteristics more clearly.
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CAPTHotMess
Member
Thank you for the info! I did get a pic of the caudal, but I didn't find it very distinctive. I couldn't figure out how to get my hand behind it while holding the fish and the phone, lol. Here you go.
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
Hard to say one way or the other from that pic and like you said river conditions have a lot to do with the way a fish looks. Hybrid black bass also typically have intermediate features because they're a combination of two (or more) species so you'd really have to genotype that fish IMO to get a definitive answer.
I've attached a few more pics of Altamaha Bass from an area where nonnative species have not been introduced (yet). You can see the spots on the caudal fin and the location of the pigment on the fin margins. These features often fade as the fish mature but are still visible in most adults (under ideal conditions).
I've attached a few more pics of Altamaha Bass from an area where nonnative species have not been introduced (yet). You can see the spots on the caudal fin and the location of the pigment on the fin margins. These features often fade as the fish mature but are still visible in most adults (under ideal conditions).
CAPTHotMess
Member
Those fish are very distinctive. Can't wait to catch one. In other news I've been watching this crew fish up at the millstead dam on the yellow river. Seems this river is full of surprises. 
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
That first fish could be a Shoal Bass but I kind of doubt it...hybridization between species is out of control in the Yellow River and has been for a while thanks to the illegal introduction of nonnative species. Those other two fish for example are definitely hybrids with Alabama Bass genetics.
If people don't stop moving fish around all our streams will be like the Yellow River—no species just a bunch of hybrid/mutt 'bass'.
If people don't stop moving fish around all our streams will be like the Yellow River—no species just a bunch of hybrid/mutt 'bass'.
CAPTHotMess
Member
I was thinking that first fish sure does look like a Smallmouth. 
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
The entire pelvic fin on a Smallmouth will have pigment and appears brown while the pelvic fins on most Shoal Bass have a white translucent appearance. Even on a really dark Shoal Bass the entire pelvic fin is rarely dark. There are other ways to ID Smallmouth and Shoal Bass but that's a pretty reliable method if/when the mouth is open.I was thinking that first fish sure does look like a Smallmouth.
Smallmouth bass
Shoal bass
CAPTHotMess
Member
Got another weird one last night in the same spot. 
ShoalBandit
Senior Member
That's definitely a hybrid probably an Altamaha x Shoal or an Altamaha x Shoal x Alabama. It has the really prominent horizontal rows of scale spots and the blueish color around the mouth/cheek area like an Altamaha Bass but the midlateral blotches and the spot at the base of the tail are more typical of a Shoal Bass. That's also a male (with redeyes) getting ready to spawn so it's about to make a few thousand more hybrids.
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