Is this LMB pregnant?

[Sword of the Lord]

One of my catches from today looks pregnant?

 

[Jon G]

Nope. The spawn happens in the spring. The bulge in the stomach you see is something it ate (bluegill, big shad, ect)

[Sword of the Lord]

21 minutes ago, Jon G said:

Nope. The spawn happens in the spring. The bulge in the stomach you see is something it ate (bluegill, big shad, ect)

That's why I was curious. I know there can be a false spawn in the fall.

[Bluebasser86]

LMB don't get "pregnant", since they're egg layers. That fish is overall pretty skinny, looks to have a decent sized meal (I'm guessing a bluegill because they tend to look kind of square in a fish's belly), in it's stomach. 

[12poundbass]

Nope

[Falkus]

That looks like my belly during the fall ...Im always hungry ! 

[Sword of the Lord]

14 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

LMB don't get "pregnant", since they're egg layers. That fish is overall pretty skinny, looks to have a decent sized meal (I'm guessing a bluegill because they tend to look kind of square in a fish's belly), in it's stomach. 

Which I don't understand. All of the bass in my 3 regular ponds are slender with an occasional exception. There's a plethora of bait fish and frogs, and there's a bunch of weed lines and beds. I don't get it. 

6 hours ago, Burke said:

That looks like my belly during the fall ...Im always hungry ! 

I'm always fat. Beer and meat does that.

[Paul Roberts]

There are a number of possibilities. You'd have to cut the fish open to tell.

 

-Gonadal Development: August is too early for ovaries to be so noticeable. They begin to show here in mid to late fall and are most noticeable in thin fish as a slight bulge similar to what your picture shows.

 

-Fish just ate something.

 

-Parasites. Nematode worms are common, affix to the gut, and can become numerous enough in a fish to show such a bulge. The fact that your fish is SO thin (despite picture distortion) shows it's had a difficult time maintaining body condition, which could make it more prone to infection.

[the reel ess]

Nice bass though.

[OCdockskipper]

No, it got married because it wanted to, not because it had to...

[Bulletman20XD]

On 9/3/2017 at 3:17 PM, Sword of the Lord said:

Which I don't understand. All of the bass in my 3 regular ponds are slender with an occasional exception. There's a plethora of bait fish and frogs, and there's a bunch of weed lines and beds. I don't get it. 

I'm always fat. Beer and meat does that.

Fish in small bodies of water as well as cooling reservoirs often will be very slim looking especially in the summer months because of the hot water. Fish in warm/hot water have a high metabolism and don't get much out of what they eat. They lose weight due to all the feeding activity.

[J Francho]

On 9/3/2017 at 1:21 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

LMB don't get "pregnant", since they're egg layers.

This.  "Gravid" is the term.  "Fecund" would be a good description, too.  The pic in the OP actually looks thin to me.

[WRB]

It's hard to evaluate the op's photo from the camera angle. The bass appears to have a big head and slim minimal body mass indicative of a old male or starving femal bass. Egg development has started in most female LMB by early fall in warmer climates, the eggs sacks are located near the top of the body cavity behind the stomach, no bulge in the location indicated in the photo.  The spawn starts in less than 6 months where I live.

Tom