what kind of fish is this?

[shanai]

This fish was caught on a spinnerbait. Angler Robert stated that it had teeth like a red devil and pulled like a Tuc. Measured 17" and weighed 3 pounds.



It looks like a Jaguar or 5 star cichlid or maybe a hybrid tilapia but whatever it is, it put up a very good fight before being landed. Fish was then released to fight another day.

[Pegasus]

Sure looks like a Jaguar to me. The state record ( Basstracker ) is 3.28
Did he catch that today Friday 8-30-13 ? Nice one ! They do fight pretty well. I got one and thought it was a SMB at first.

[shanai]

yes, Robert and his wife were out fishing today (Friday 8/30) when they got this fish

[Ahnkochee]

It has the color of a Jaguar but the profile looks more like a Red Devil. I have never seen a Jaguar with a bump forehead before. I wonder if they could hybridize with Red Devils. The Jaguars I have seen have all had sloping foreheads like the one pictured below. The dorsal and anal fin profiles to me resemble more that of a Red Devil too.

[roadwarriorsvt]

I'm thinking a jaguar also. Whatever it is, it is not a target species and our lake would benefit from it being tossed on the bank. I'll bet it likes to eat LMB fry whatever it is.....

[Soldierboy]

Thanks for all the help to identify this mystery fish me and the wife caught. I thought I had a Tuc by the way it was pulling and tangled its self on some log. When it was slowly coming up to the boat and I seen the bump on its head with its mouth open, I thought it was a Tuc. When it jumped out of the water, I then thought it was an abnormally large tilapia. Once I landed the darn thing, now it had teeth like a Red Devil. Talk about a mystery fish????. As you can see I did not lip the fish to conduct C-P-R, had to put my fingers underneath it's gill plate.

This fish is built like a Dodge Ram! BAHAHA

[TheAlohaBoy]

Its a Jag.... and it didn't make it when my pond was attacked by a bacteria virus.

Lost 1 Jag, 10 Catfish and two buckets of Red Devils

[Ken]

It has the color of a Jaguar but the profile looks more like a Red Devil. I have never seen a Jaguar with a bump forehead before. I wonder if they could hybridize with Red Devils. The Jaguars I have seen have all had sloping foreheads like the one pictured below. The dorsal and anal fin profiles to me resemble more that of a Red Devil too.

Don't know Ahnko...plenty of pictures on Google of Jags with pointy dorsal and anal fin profile with a slight bump on the head. But you are right...that bump is bigger than usual.

Red Devils and Jags are in different genus though. Not sure how common it is for them to produce viable hybrids.

I would say it is a Jag though...and great to see at the lake. Sure keeps things interesting.