Ryan, that is an odd fish and my knee jerk reaction is its a hybrid based on morphological characteristics. Those lateral bars below the lateral scream redeye, but they are not as distinct as those Ive seen in what I know are pure redeyes. I didnt zoom into the pic, but as best I can see your fish appears to have a turguiose cresent just behing the eye, thats straight up redeye. However, straight redyes also have various amounts of turquiose in the checks, lower jaw and on the fins, and they have a distinct white band on the upper and lower edges of the caudal. Your fish shows none of this. As you know, all Micropterus hybridize, and I know first hand hybridization among family members is very frequent in California to the point where its impossible to tell what you are holding without genetic analysis. When you start getting hybrids that backcross, it makes it even more difficult to identify an individual.
Without having the fish in hand, and without counting spines, lateral scales, and the rest of that sort of thing, taking a stab at identification is nothing more than a guess. If I had to guess, and thats all it is based on a photo, I would say youve got a hybrid spot/redeye with the spotted bass characteristics dominating. Also, morphological characteristics vary by lake and region, so you may just be holding a washed out looking redeye. Who knows. Check the link, it shows a pure redeye. Your fish shares similar characteristics, but its not dead on.
Regardless, thats a toad and a beautiful fish! I dont know the world record redeye weight off hand. However, back when I lived near Lake Seminole I remember a TBF angler sticking an 8+ redeye in a tourny. Not sure how big your fish is, but if indeed its a true redeye it probably is a state record. Next time you catch it, you may want to keep it! And if you did keep it I would love to do the age and growth analysis on it. Congrats on a great trophy!
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