Guadalupe Bass (Williamson County, TX)

Guadalupe Bass | Micropterus treculii

We’ve printed this species  before – see our previous versions with a different specimen. We figured we’d try it again after running across this beautiful specimen in Brushy Creek just north of Austin.  See the photo below. It’s colors and patterns have changed a bit since we collected it. At that time it had some of the vertical barring typical of Guadalupe bass.

I really like the look of specimens with ink on them. All color is hidden and you start to notice things you wouldn’t otherwise. In this case the ink and the angle of the reflecting light allows you to see the individual scales in great detail. Notice how small the cheek scales are compared to the body scales. I recently learned that this is a good character for distinguishing Guadalupe bass and spotted bass from the largemouth bass which has cheek scales similar in size to the body scales.