Are any of these spotted bass?

[rejesterd]

I'm especially curious about the one in the middle, as his mouth is a bit smaller and his spots are more pronounced.  I'm sure the one on the right is a largemouth, but I can't tell for sure with the other 2.  My lake doesn't list spotted bass as a species, but it also doesn't list yellow perch (and I know those are definitely in there).  Just wondering if these are just spotty-looking largemouth or actual spots.  Thanks.

[fishballer06]

Those all look like largemouth to me. I'm not sure spotted bass live as far north as NH. 

[TnRiver46]

All largemouth. Good ones too. Spotted bass will have well pronounced rows of spots below the lateral line 

[rejesterd]

Thanks.. didn't think they existed up here, but someone on another site was convinced that the middle one is a spot.  Hadn't thought about it much before then, so figured I'd ask.

[lo n slo]

the center fish....maybe???????..... and thats a BIG reach because it’s hard to tell with the jaw jacked like it is and no clear view of the dorsal fins. notice a rough patch on the tongue? 

[WRB]

What you need to see in a photo to make a guess to identifying a spotted bass;

1.Dorsal fin raised to clearly show it's connected as 1 long fin.

2. Mouth closed to clearly show where the center eye is aligned to the end if the jaw.

3. Mouth opened front view to show the tongue has teeth.

4. The base of the tail to show the "spot" the bass is named for has scales on the tail membrane.

Those are the indenting characteristics to look for, not coloration or dark scales below the lateral line.

The photos posted have only the tail to evaluate and none have the "spot" or scales membrane.

Tom

[J Francho]

Here is a map from In-Fisherman that shows the spotted bass' range. 

 

[rejesterd]

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

Here is a map from In-Fisherman that shows the spotted bass' range. 

 

Interesting.. I thought California would have a lot more red in there.

[bagofdonuts]

i see why they call them kentucky bass.

[TnRiver46]

If y’all ever get the chance to catch coosa strain spotted bass in Alabama, jump on it. They are about as mean of a fish as there is, and that’s coming from a guy that fishes in the heart of smallmouth country 

[WRB]

2 strains of Spotted bass; northern or Kentucy and southern or Alabama, very different growth rates with Alabama strian more then 3X heavier.

California has both strains of Spotted bass, northern introduced in Fraint dam/lake Millerton 1939 and southern introduced in lake Perris in 1960. The In-Fisherman map doesn't show the central California lakes or lake Shasta in Northern California. 

No black bass species are native to California.

Tom

[lo n slo]

here is an older pic that i have of an Alabama spot that displays most of the identifying characteristics that WRB spoke of, sans the tooth patch on the tongue. these fish have all but replaced the largemouth bass here on Lake Norman in NC and i have caught hundreds of them this past decade. 

[TnRiver46]

Excellent picture by @lo n slo, once you catch a good many spots you can tell them apart immediately. I zoomed in on the rows of spots (like stippling) below the lateral line I was referring to in an earlier post on this thread. A largemouth usually has random black slashes in that area

[LxVE Bassin]

17 hours ago, WRB said:

2 strains of Spotted bass; northern or Kentucy and southern or Alabama, very different growth rates with Alabama strian more then 3X heavier.

California has both strains of Spotted bass, northern introduced in Fraint dam/lake Millerton 1939 and southern introduced in lake Perris in 1960. The In-Fisherman map doesn't show the central California lakes or lake Shasta in Northern California. 

No black bass species are native to California.

Tom

It’s not showing any in South Carolina either. Hartwell and Murray def have them.

[Bluebasser86]

Spotted bass scales are rough to the touch while largemouth are smooth. You can tell the difference without even seeing them.

[soflabasser]

16 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

It’s not showing any in South Carolina either. Hartwell and Murray def have them.

Lake Murray, Lake Hartwell and many other bodies of water in South Carolina has spotted bass. I caught some Bartram's bass x Alabama spotted bass hybrids in South Carolina waters that are supposed to be free of Alabama spotted bass.These Alabama spotted bass hybridize with Bartram's bass and are a threat to this rare species of bass.Fortunately I caught a pure stain Bartram's bass since that was the bass I was targeting.

[lo n slo]

4 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Lake Murray, Lake Hartwell and many other bodies of water in South Carolina has spotted bass. I caught some Bartram's bass x Alabama spotted bass hybrids in South Carolina waters that are supposed to be free of Alabama spotted bass.These Alabama spotted bass hybridize with Bartram's bass and are a threat to this rare species of bass.Fortunately I caught a pure stain Bartram's bass since that was the bass I was targeting.

very interesting, would love to see a picture of that! btw, i caught this 20” beast last summer at a small lake connected to Lake Norman by a pair of elevation spillway culverts only. it contains both largemouth and spotted bass. i first thought it was a spot but it had no tooth patch on the tongue.  could this be a spot/largemouth hybrid?

[Bluebasser86]

5 hours ago, lo n slo said:

very interesting, would love to see a picture of that! btw, i caught this 20” beast last summer at a small lake connected to Lake Norman by a pair of elevation spillway culverts only. it contains both largemouth and spotted bass. i first thought it was a spot but it had no tooth patch on the tongue.  could this be a spot/largemouth hybrid?

Looks like a humped back largemouth to me, but I'm pretty sure that largemouth and spots hybrids do occasionally happen. I caught one at Table Rock several years ago that I'm pretty positive was a hybrid. 

[TotalNoob]

We have Spotteds here in Southern Colorado (my PB spotted in my avatar).

 

Best way I have learned to tell them apart in photos (because typical photo angles don't always provide the tell-tale signs) is to look at the CHEEK SCALES.

 

The scales on the cheek of Spotteds are SMALLER than the scales on the rest of their body. On a Largemouth, the cheek scales are the SAME SIZE as the scales on their body. 

 

Cheek scales are always visible in any photo thus making this my go-to way to quickly distinguish the difference.

[rtwvumtneer6]

Some are tricky... And some largemouth (I think) resemble a spot before they mature. This one in particular has been the case of a few arguments.

[CrankFate]

On 7/9/2018 at 1:59 PM, bagofdonuts said:

i see why they call them kentucky bass.

I never caught one there ?

[OCdockskipper]

One thing I noticed in most pictures is that spots are more football shaped.  Smaller head, large midsection, back to a smaller tail.  I don't know if I have ever caught or seen a slim Spot, they are pretty voracious eaters.  Largemouth typically have a bigger head, and range from fat to slim depending on the lake and the particular fish.

 

I know that isn't the scientific way to tell them apart, that is just what I pick up from looking at images of them.