Largemouth or Spot?

Hidehunter · April 03, 2012, 08:40:29 AM

Put this ol girl in the net yesterday and threw my tripod up and snapped a pic and then turned her loose. I just thought it was a bucketmouth but when I got home last night and looked at the pic I think it may be a big spotted bass. What say you?

code · April 03, 2012, 11:16:42 AM

No idea what it is but it sure is a purdy fish.

weedwalker · April 03, 2012, 11:25:55 AM

Looks like a largemouth to me. It dosen't have the spots on the side and the corner of the mouth appears it would be behind the eye when closed. Did it have a smooth tongue or a rough spot on it?

markTNhunter · April 03, 2012, 04:05:31 PM

I agree with weedwalker its a large mouth a nice one too

Okanagan · April 03, 2012, 04:29:09 PM

Quote from: weedwalker on April 03, 2012, 11:25:55 AM
Did it have a smooth tongue or a rough spot on it?

Yep, I always check the tongue on a fish

. For further confirmation, did it have small or large tonsils, and did it have bad breath?

Kidding aside, I am learning something about ID on bass kind of fish. Good info.

possumal · April 03, 2012, 04:38:29 PM

Yeah, I believe Weedwalker Ed is correct. The stripe up the side is too definite for it to be a spotted bass.

FinsnFur · April 03, 2012, 05:40:06 PM

What color eyes did he have? Spotted bass have red eyes if I remember right.

weedwalker · April 03, 2012, 05:57:03 PM

Quote from: FinsnFur on April 03, 2012, 05:40:06 PM
What color eyes did he have? Spotted bass have red eyes if I remember right.

The spotted bass here have black eyes. So do the largemouths. The red eyed bass we have in some of our rivers are Coosa bass.

Oki, spotted bass have a patch in the middle of their tongue kinda like velcro. A largemouth has a smooth tongue. That used to be the deciding factor for ID here as the size limits for legal fish was different between spots and largemouth. But because of crossbreeding between them and some characteristics of them going both ways, they are now ID'ed by if the lower jaw extends behind the eyeball with the mouth closed. Long jaw=largemouth, short jaw=spot.

shaddragger · April 03, 2012, 07:24:15 PM

^ What Weed said.^

code · April 03, 2012, 07:48:11 PM

^What shad said.^

Hidehunter · April 03, 2012, 08:32:18 PM

I did some checking and you guys are right. I just assumed it was a largemouth and never really checked anything. I just set my tripod up and snapped a pic and turned her loose. After looking at the pic the mouth seemed kinda small and the spots on its belly seemed real defined...thats what got me wondering. Appreciate the steer in the right direction though. I have caught alot of healthy smallies and largemouth but havent caught alot of spots so Im not to familiar with them. I just know they look alot like a bucketmouth.

nastygunz · April 05, 2012, 05:57:05 PM

WTH is a spot? Well know I know

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_bass

nastygunz · April 05, 2012, 06:00:14 PM

That mouth looks to small compared to the body size, I think its a spot

"A convenient way to distinguish between a largemouth bass and a spotted bass is by the size of the mouth. A spotted bass will resemble a largemouth bass in coloration but will have a smaller mouth."

possumal · April 05, 2012, 06:51:35 PM

Sorry Nasty, it is a largemouth.

FinsnFur · April 05, 2012, 07:29:47 PM

Quoted from wikipedia.org

It has now been determined that the "Spotted Bass" found in the Tallapoosa and Coosa Rivers, and their lakes, are a new species, now known as the "Alabama Bass".

Hidehunter · April 06, 2012, 08:32:12 AM

Lol well maybe I have a new species here!!