Weld's Largemouth Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 I was fishing for largemouth the other day and i caught a fish that looks alot like a largemouth but has a cool spotted pattern on its side. I was thinking it might just be a largemouth with cool colors but im not sure. Here is the fish i need identification of: Here is what largemouth bass here in florida normally look like: Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 21, 2014 Super User Posted July 21, 2014 Its still a largemouth with a variation in coloration. Quote
Weld's Largemouth Posted July 21, 2014 Author Posted July 21, 2014 Its still a largemouth with a variation in coloration. Ok, that's what i figured. Thanks! Quote
kikstand454 Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 I find those brightly patterned fish mostly in spring fed waters here in Fla. They seem to have all the traits of a spotted bass- except the jaw still extends past the eye. Even when I pointed out all the similarities to a spotted bass- both a FWC and a fisheries biologist said they were still just largemouth. I've seen these brightly spotted bass sitting on a bed with a "normal" largemouth and would swear they were two different species of fish! I've also regularly seen these "spotted" bass bedding with Suwanee bass---- but have never seen "regular" Lmb and Suwanee breed. Go figure. 1 Quote
McAlpine Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Looks like a largemouth but if you look at the mouth on this fish it only extends to about the back of the eye ala spotted bass. Did you check his tounge when you caught him? If your ever not sure, check the tounge, a spot has a small grey patch of teeth on the tounge and a largemouth's tounge is smooth and slimy. Quote
Weld's Largemouth Posted July 21, 2014 Author Posted July 21, 2014 Looks like alil spot to me Hmm we have some opposing opinions here... Im going to give you guys the video of me catching the fish. He also fought differently than im used to with largemouth Here is the link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41183765/GOPR2271.MP4 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 21, 2014 Super User Posted July 21, 2014 It's a largemouth. Spotted bass do not exist in southern Florida. Its to far south of their natural range. See map. http://www.in-fisherman.com/2011/06/02/spotted-bass/ 1 Quote
Weld's Largemouth Posted July 21, 2014 Author Posted July 21, 2014 It's a largemouth. Spotted bass do not exist in southern Florida. Its to far south of their natural range. See map. http://www.in-fisherman.com/2011/06/02/spotted-bass/ Where is the map sourced from? All of the scattered red spots seem misleading.... what about the areas in between? Why don't they have spotted bass? Spotted bass can be introduced non-naturally to southern florida canals and ponds. If there is plenty of food, why wouldnt a spotted bass live in these locations? Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 21, 2014 Super User Posted July 21, 2014 Where is the map sourced from? All of the scattered red spots seem misleading.... what about the areas in between? Why don't they have spotted bass? Spotted bass can be introduced non-naturally to southern florida canals and ponds. If there is plenty of food, why wouldnt a spotted bass live in these locations? Ask the In-fisherman. The map & distribution areas came from an article done by Steve Quinn. When you research a species natural range that is where they are normally found. Can they or could they live elsewhere. Probable but not historically. South florida doesn't have pike or musky either. It is too far south of their natural range for survival. 1 Quote
ColdSVT Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Def a lmb Spots have some light stripes near the gill plate and there are a few other differences as well 1 Quote
Super User WRB Posted July 21, 2014 Super User Posted July 21, 2014 The easy way to tell the difference is the dorsal fin is connected, no gap, most spots have teeth on their tongue and the lower jaw does not extend past the eye. Very simialr to a smallmouth, except the teeth on the tongue. Coloration isn't a way to define a bass, spots do have dark scales "spots" far below the lateral line further down than largemouth. Florida also has Shoal bass and Red Eye bass that look a lot like Florida strain largemouth bass. The picture don't clearly show the dorsal fin or the mouth closed, they show the side and white belly that appear to have very few "spots", more than likely your bass are LMB or Shoal bass. Tom 1 Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted July 21, 2014 Super User Posted July 21, 2014 I caught fish with similar patterns a lot in the Hawthorne area, even in north Florida in Oseola Forest Pits.... Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted July 22, 2014 Global Moderator Posted July 22, 2014 Largemouth no doubt. Even with it's mouth open it's bottom jaw line almost extends past it's eye, close it's mouth and it would be well past it's eye. Quote
200racing Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 http://www.riverbassin.com/what-the-heck-kinda-bass-is-that/ Only someone who has never caught a spot would think that's a spot. 2 Quote
Super User Catch and Grease Posted July 22, 2014 Super User Posted July 22, 2014 That's a great link! ^^ Quote
kikstand454 Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 http://www.riverbassin.com/what-the-heck-kinda-bass-is-that/ Only someone who has never caught a spot would think that's a spot. This is true. We don't have spotted bass here in Florida, so we don't see many. OTOH, people north of here don't see too many Suwanee or shoal bass and confuse them for smallmouth all the time. So its kinda give and take. Quote
einscodek Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 http://www.riverbassin.com/what-the-heck-kinda-bass-is-that/ Only someone who has never caught a spot would think that's a spot. I could be incorrect but it looked like a spot and Ive caught spots.. so thats a wrong statement Quote
EmersonFish Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 I could be incorrect but it looked like a spot and Ive caught spots.. so thats a wrong statement To be fair, where I live, there are a ton of Spotted Bass (and Largemouth of course), and there are plenty of people who still have a hard time telling the difference. Maybe not the kind of people who live around here AND frequent bassresource.com, but people who fish quite a bit. So I don't give people a hard time about asking. Incidentally, the fish in question here are Largemouth. Quote
Fish Murderer 71 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 We have lots of spotted bass here... It's also called the Guadalupe Bass. It's a smaller LMB and very aggressive. The dead ringer I use to identify it is the teeth (or rough spot) on the tongue. Once a person catches a few of them they are easily identified. I'll throw back the native LMB, but I like to eat the spots. Quote
Super User Raul Posted July 23, 2014 Super User Posted July 23, 2014 We have lots of spotted bass here... It's also called the Guadalupe Bass. It's a smaller LMB and very aggressive. The dead ringer I use to identify it is the teeth (or rough spot) on the tongue. Once a person catches a few of them they are easily identified. I'll throw back the native LMB, but I like to eat the spots. My man, Guadalupe Bass are Guadalupe Bass, Micropteus treculii, Quote
midgastumpjumper Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 the river that I fish here in Georgia has spotted, largemouth, and shoal bass. The fish in your picture is without a doubt a largemouth. The fish in my profile pic is a shoal bass Quote
NDH Fishing Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 Thats still a largemouth. A spotted bass has a much smaller head. Quote
NDH Fishing Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 All fish can slightly change their color pattern, some more than others. They blend in when they can. If you catch it out of clear shallow water bass tend to be really spotty, and if you catch them down near the bottom bass tend to be dark brown. Quote
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