If you're an avid bass fisherman, did you know there's a new species of black bass swimming in southeast waters according to the Outdoor Pressroom.

Scientists from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have discovered these new species while DNA testing a species found in Florida's Chipola River in 2007. The accompanying photo of the bass, that is destined to be called the "Choctaw bass" (more on that later), was collected from Florida's Holmes Creek in February 2012.

According to Mike Tringall, head of the genetics lab at FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, "We didn't' set out to find a new species, it found us."

After confirming the initial discovery, scientists searched for the DNA profile in bass caught in nearby rivers to determine the species' range. They learned that the Choctaw bass inhabits coastal river systems in Alabama and along the western Florida panhandle, including the Choctawhatchee River.

"We choose the name "Choctaw" because the species' range overlaps the historic range of the Choctaw Indians," said Tringall, who added that Tringall, who added that the word "haiaka" is a Choctaw name that means revealed or manifest, and the bass will be scientifically named Micropterus haiaka.

Before the name becomes official, the American Fisheries Society must approve the suggested scientific name for it to take effect.

The Choctaw bass is similar in appearance to its relative the spotted bass. "The differences between the two are not easily seen with the naked eye," said Tringall, which is the reason they had never before been distinguished despite decades of bass studies in the region.

Choctaw bass, say scientists, can usually be distinguished from other basses by counting scales, fin rays and gill-rakers, which are comb like projections inside the gills which prevent particles from collecting on the gill filaments. Foolproof identification however, requires genetic testing.

Typically, Choctaw bass have been found in the upper reaches of rivers and streams where sediment accumulates, avoiding stream headwaters and tidal zones found closer to the coast, say FWC scientists.

Judging from the photos, the bass has eyes like a walleye and the bodylines of a black bass. There was no mention in their research of anyone catching this species, but again, anglers may not have known what they caught and just presumed it was a black bass.

MINSI LAKE

DRAWDOWN

For those anglers that travel from Lehigh County to Northampton County to fish Minsi Lake, you'll probably notice that the water level has dropped there.

The lake was lowered according to the PF&BC approximately 2-3 feet last month to repair the spillway this summer.

According to Eric Levis, PF&BC Press Secretary, "We plan to replace several small concrete patches and seal the concrete joints and cracks on the surface of the dam's spillway." The work, he says, will take approximately one week and is tentatively scheduled to be completed in June. Once it's done, the lake will return to its normal level.

The dam, says Levis, is classified by DEP as a high-hazard unsafe dam because the spillway is not large enough under current regulations. Although Minsi is not experiencing any problems, the spillway does not meet current engineering safety standards and must be ultimately rebuilt at an estimated cost of $3.1 million.

The 117-acre impoundment holds bass, white perch, trout and walleye.