Bass Identification

[Cgolf]

Hey all, question for you on this bass. This thing was an absolute tank from a small river. While 18" long I have never seen a largie bigger than 16" on this river.

 

The question is, is it really a largie or a cross. For an 18" the mouth was surprisingly small for the size of the fish. It could be I am used to catching thinner lake fish, but the mouth seemed out of proportion to the body. Being a solid smallie river the chances of a cross are there. I am 98% sure a largie, but it was like the first time I caught a warmouth, my brain was trying to process what is wrong with the size of this fishes mouth.

[scaleface]

Largemouth , but it does appear to have a deformed  upper lip . I have caught them like that . 

[ArthurLK11]

Looks like a largemouth. If you look where the jaw would be resting if closed it extends all the way to the back of the eye. Like was mentioned above, it probably just has a deformed upper lip. 

[Cgolf]

19 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Largemouth , but it does appear to have a deformed  upper lip . I have caught them like that . 

That makes sense. I have caught a few smallies like that too from the same river. Doesn’t seem to hurt them as one of the smallies went 20 inches. That would definitely explain why the mouth looked so small. 
 

Wonder if it is genetic, from a contamination, or just from pulling too many craws from the rocks. 
 

The whole catch was weird. I had hooked and lost this fish last week. Fishing from shore there is a slanted rock that I normally bring them to, to grab them easier putting me inches from the water. For some reason I beached the fish in less than an inch of water and when I went to lift it up the high side of the rock the bait popped out of its mouth. Looked at it for a second and it didn’t flop away so I quickly set the tackle bag down, laid down on the rock and reached down and lipped it. Would have been a shame not to get a picture. This is my personal best river largie. 

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

Hey all, question for you on this bass. This thing was an absolute tank from a small river. While 18" long I have never seen a largie bigger than 16" on this river.

 

The question is, is it really a largie or a cross. For an 18" the mouth was surprisingly small for the size of the fish. It could be I am used to catching thinner lake fish, but the mouth seemed out of proportion to the body. Being a solid smallie river the chances of a cross are there. I am 98% sure a largie, but it was like the first time I caught a warmouth, my brain was trying to process what is wrong with the size of this fishes mouth.

The fish you are holding in your hands is a northern largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides).

[Cgolf]

13 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

The fish you are holding in your hands is a northern largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides).

It is just weird with WI lake largies, the mouths start getting huge around 17-18" fish. Not sure how to explain it, this ones mouth just hasn't caught up to the body. I will take it and as usual river fish put up one heck of a fight compared to the flat water fish. Could just have been on a feeding binge and widened out a bit making it look a little goofy.

[BrianMDTX]

It’s a nice bass for sure!

[Teal]

Nice fish!

[J Francho]

Nice work! Largemouth.  The smaller mouth just means it's been well fed and young.  This fish is from a a well fed population.  Most 18" fish were at least 5 lbs.  

 

[soflabasser]

22 hours ago, cgolf said:

It is just weird with WI lake largies, the mouths start getting huge around 17-18" fish. Not sure how to explain it, this ones mouth just hasn't caught up to the body. I will take it and as usual river fish put up one heck of a fight compared to the flat water fish. Could just have been on a feeding binge and widened out a bit making it look a little goofy.

I am 100% certain that the bass you showed is a northern largemouth bass. It is a nice fish but not a hybrid black bass, or any other type of black bass besides a northern largemouth bass. I have caught many northern largemouth bass with what appears to be proportionally smaller mouths but that is because these bass where well fed and had a larger than normal girth. You should see the mouth of a 26 inch or bigger Florida largemouth bass, you will be able to fit your whole fist and maybe 2 fist in its mouth.