There’s a new bass in town, and fishing fanatics predict anglers will find its lure impossible to resist.

State wildlife experts in Florida confirmed the newest member of America's top freshwater fighting family is the Micropterus haiaka, now known as the Choctaw bass. The fish has been around for years, but was previously lumped in with another, nearly identical-appearing species, the spotted bass. But word that there could be a new-ish fish on the other end of the line is enough to send anglers scrambling for their tackle boxes.

“I suspect there will be a lot of folks who will want to go out and catch one now,” said Robert Cartlidge, president of The Bass Federation. “Anything new is obviously exciting and there’s certainly some excitement about it.”

Scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission first noted a DNA profile that did not belong to any recognized species while testing a bass specimen from Florida’s 92-mile-long Chipola River as part of a larger genetic study of the popular game fish in 2007. But confirmation took years.