BASALT — Four years after anglers started hauling in perch from Ruedi Reservoir, a seasoned fisherman caught what he believes was a bass there Wednesday.

Marco de la Espriella said a juvenile fish, maybe 5 inches long, aggressively went after a spoon lure that was about half the fish’s size. At first, he thought it was a tilapia but after reflection, he suspected that it was a bass.

“I’ve been fishing for 25 years, and I definitely know my fish,” de la Espriella said. “I can assure you it’s not a trout.”

De la Espriella was fishing with his mom where the Upper Fryingpan River enters Ruedi Reservoir, on the far eastern side by Dearhamer campground. De la Espriella threw the fish back in the water. They didn’t take a picture of it.

He and his mom researched freshwater fish via the Internet and concluded the fish he caught most likely was a smallmouth bass, based on the jawline. De la Espriella lives in Costa Rica, where he fishes extensively. He said the fish he caught at Ruedi resembles what’s known as a “guapote” in Costa Rica. That fish is called a rainbow bass in the U.S., he said, though what he caught more closely resembled a smallmouth rather than a rainbow bass, based on images.

Will this invasive fish harm others in the reservoir? Read what Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said.

The entrance of the El Paso County Terry R. Harris Judicial Complex on Tejon Street with the reflection of the Pioneers Museum in the background. Photo by Gazette File

Carol Lawrence

A smallmouth bass caught elsewhere in Colorado. Photo by Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife