I'm not sure what kind it was either. I felt the lips and they felt like a common carps. His coloration may have been blacker because of the clear water of the lake I was fishing also. I mentally crossed out black because I thought that the likelihood of catching my first buffalo would be a black.
Could be a Bigmouth with a weird mouth and the hook pulling it into a strange position, my soft lean is in that direction, based on me imagining what I think it would look like if the mouth was was closed. I would think the lips would pull up and back given the way it looks in the picture
Did you have any other pictures? Ideally with the closed as well?
Sadly I don't have any other pictures but I can tell you that the mouth was definitely pointed down. In the pictures on the SM buff page they had the smll hump above the mouth. I didn't see those on the BM page.
Also, if it means anything, I caught this with a piece of bread on the bottom.
Josh has a great eye for fish ID I would love to see his thoughts.
My opinion and it is just an opinion with no counting or measurements of any sort. It looks like a Smallmouth with a funny mouth placement. Lips are too thin from what I see to be a black. Def not a Bigmouth Buff.
My gut says its a derpy bigmouth buff.
It happens from time to time where bigmouth buffs get a more downward angled mouth.
Its too small in my opinion to have the typical tubular body of a black. generally that trait develops past the 28" mark
The lip thickness is way to thin as well. Its mouth is way too big for a smallmouth and the body proportions rule that out.
Gary got a very similar looking bigmouth buffalo last year.
Its important to disregard the word black in black buffalo, they are no more black than the other 3 we have in the US. in fact coloration for all three is nearly identicle. As for the bait bread has brought in many bigmouth buffalo.
Comments
Black buffalo maybe? Just
Black buffalo maybe? Just looking at the fish on my phone, but it looks black-ish.
I'm not sure either
I'm not sure what kind it was either. I felt the lips and they felt like a common carps. His coloration may have been blacker because of the clear water of the lake I was fishing also. I mentally crossed out black because I thought that the likelihood of catching my first buffalo would be a black.
Not a SM
Pretty darn sure it isn't a SM Buff
Could be a Black
Could be a Bigmouth with a weird mouth and the hook pulling it into a strange position, my soft lean is in that direction, based on me imagining what I think it would look like if the mouth was was closed. I would think the lips would pull up and back given the way it looks in the picture
Did you have any other pictures? Ideally with the closed as well?
No other pics
Sadly I don't have any other pictures but I can tell you that the mouth was definitely pointed down. In the pictures on the SM buff page they had the smll hump above the mouth. I didn't see those on the BM page.
Also, if it means anything, I caught this with a piece of bread on the bottom.
Bigmouth
Sure looks BM'y to me. Body shape, sheen on the scales, not convincing-enough lips. Head-body ratio. Nice catch dude! You're tearing it up recently.
Edit: Mouth location is giving me second, third, and fourth thoughts.
Thin lips
Josh has a great eye for fish ID I would love to see his thoughts.
My opinion and it is just an opinion with no counting or measurements of any sort. It looks like a Smallmouth with a funny mouth placement. Lips are too thin from what I see to be a black. Def not a Bigmouth Buff.
My gut says its a derpy
My gut says its a derpy bigmouth buff.
It happens from time to time where bigmouth buffs get a more downward angled mouth.
Its too small in my opinion to have the typical tubular body of a black. generally that trait develops past the 28" mark
The lip thickness is way to thin as well. Its mouth is way too big for a smallmouth and the body proportions rule that out.
Gary got a very similar looking bigmouth buffalo last year.
Its important to disregard the word black in black buffalo, they are no more black than the other 3 we have in the US. in fact coloration for all three is nearly identicle. As for the bait bread has brought in many bigmouth buffalo.
Ill share the pic of Gary's derpy bigmouth.

The smoother lips like you
The smoother lips like you said "felt like a common carp" is also a tell that it is a bigmouth rather than a smallmouth or black.
Big mouth
Thank you sir! I believe you may be right after seeing that picture of the one caught by Gary. I'll change the the species over to bigmouth!
Right on Josh!
I had it backwards from what Josh and I talked about. Derpy should be in the description! Thanks Josh.