Spotted bass in CT?

[jjconnaire]

So I was doing some poking around on the Internet and found a bunch of different species of freshwater black bass (Shoal, Suwannee, Choctaw, spots, NorthernLMB, FloridaLMB, SMB, and the red eyes) 

This got me thinking and made me analyze what bass I was catching. I live in the Northeast and have caught LMB that I thought looked like spots. But spots aren't supposed to be up here. I spoke to a guide on Candlewood lake in CT and he tells me that he has caught spots in there though not many. He also mentioned that he knows of ponds in CT that hold spots. I analyzed some pictures of my fish that I have caught and feel like i confused myself and maybe convinced that I caught a spot? The top fish did have a rough patch on it s tongue and connecting dorsal fin. What do you guys think? The bottom fish was a small fish but was built like a spot, or a LMB that just ate a bunch. I Can't recal if it had a rough patch or not. 

["hamma"]

I have caught bass as far north as Maine that I thought was actually a spotted bass. There's a pond in North Andover's Harold Parker state park (Massachusetts) that back in the early 1900's was a bass hatchery,...I talked to a park ranger there and he said that they got fish from Florida, Georgia, and "other" southern states to stock it when it was created via the dam. They were of the idea that different strains would insure success and actually sent bass throughout New England to stock ponds. So The fish you and I caught very well may be transplanted spots.

Have you ever noticed some lakes have bass that seem to be on steroids? They fight like a smallie, but are green? I have,... several lakes on Maine and NH's borders are so. And I have suspected its these (what I like to call) NE spots

[WRB]

The native range of various bass species has been altered by man transplanting them all over the country. California for example doesn't have a native bass specie, they are all transplants.

Spotted are named for the dark large spot at the base of the tail. Spots also hybrid with Smallmouth and Largemouth bass, the fish in the picture may be hybrid.

There are also 2 species of Spotted bass, Northern or Kentucy and Southern or Alabama and very different bass.

Tom

[Gundog]

Coloration of the bass doesn't help determine a spot or LM. I've caught LM that range from extremely pale to very dark. Also I have caught LM with a rough patch on the tongue. So that isn't a exact way to know. The feature that sticks out to me would be where the mouth hinges. On all the spots I've seen the mouth looks more like a smallies mouth than a LM. The mouth of a LM hinges behind the eyes. A spots mouth doesn't. 

["hamma"]

On 9/9/2016 at 10:49 AM, Gundog said:

Coloration of the bass doesn't help determine a spot or LM. I've caught LM that range from extremely pale to very dark. Also I have caught LM with a rough patch on the tongue. So that isn't a exact way to know. The feature that sticks out to me would be where the mouth hinges. On all the spots I've seen the mouth looks more like a smallies mouth than a LM. The mouth of a LM hinges behind the eyes. A spots mouth doesn't. 

This ^^^^ its the hinge thats keyed me to spots. smallie mouth on a largemouth's coloring.  and they fight hard