ID Please

[fishmastermike]

Collected this fish the other day. Used the mayden labs dichotomous key and came to the conclusion that it is a rock bass. Wondering if anybody could give me a proper id. Also wondering why so fat. I was thinking she's full of eggs. Wasn't that fat when I caught her though

 

[divemaster99]

That would be a Mud Sunfish (Acantharchus pomotis).

 

[fishmastermike]

Lol that's what I originally thought when I first collected it but when I brought it home the coloration changed and I figured I only caught one instead of two. I had another one that had a huge chunk taken out of it's back. I'm not sure from what and I didn't get pictures . The only predatory fish I know that are in the lake are pickerel though and I've never seen a turtle there. Possibly a snake

 

[Belly up]

Snakes swallow things whole, they don`t take bites! Just because you have not seen turtles there does not mean they are`nt, especially mud, snapping and sort shell. Of these the snapper would most likely be guilty. In any case that`s a pretty cool fish. All the cooler because we don`t have them here in Michigan.