Spotted bass or largemouth??

[WRB]

 

Looks a lot like a Spot to me with the tail spot and scales on the tail base.

Tom

PS, looking with my iPhone after a few glasses of wine!

 

[Drew03cmc]

 

 

On 9/6/2009 at 4:30 PM, tentimesover said:

Until recently I didn't realize there were two types of "bass."  I do a lot of fishing on Lake of Ozarks and was happy just to catch a bass of any type.  Now I've been looking more closely at the position of the mouth relative to the eye and it appears that most of the bass that I get are the spotted bass.  They typically range from "kidde" size up to about 1.5 pounds.  While it's fun to catch any bass I'm really eager to get something bigger than my personal best so far this year (4 lb 6 oz) and I don't think these spotted bass are going to do it for me.

My question is, do the largemouth and spotted bass have different hangouts?  How would you try to target the largemouth in a mixed population of spotted bass and largemouts?

On LOZ, you'll also find smallies. 

[jaimeastin]

21 hours ago, Rick Dungey said:

sorry, but just the opposite is true...The spotted bass has a top dorsal fin that is clearly connected while the largemouth bass has a separate or almost separate dorsal fin.  Also, the front dorsal fin on a spot has 9 spines, while the largemouth has only 7.  Another good indicator (besides the tooth on the tongue of spotted bass) is the lines of black dots along the side belly of the fish (below the lateral line).  Largemouth do not have those black dot lines.  The fish in the picture is a spotted bass.

That's a largemouth all day long.  The lower jaw extends past the eye, enough said.  Largemouth colors vary by water.  Now... could there by a hybrid?  I will not argue that, but it is waay more largemouth than not.

[TnRiver46]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:25 AM, MNfisher said:

Is this a unique colored Largemouth or a hybrid between a Spotted & Largemouth Bass?

That's a largemouth 

[Drew03cmc]

Largemouth, no question. I can find no record of spotted/largemouth intergrades. Spots and smallies, yes, but not the other way. The jaw extends beyond the eye, that is all you need to see.

[soflabasser]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:25 AM, MNfisher said:

Is this a unique colored Largemouth or a hybrid between a Spotted & Largemouth Bass?

Welcome to the forum. The fish you are holding is a northern strain largemouth bass.

[rtwvumtneer6]

Found this one today.  Appreared a little different so I took a closer look.  Jaw of a largemouth but also had a rough patch on the tongue.  

 

[OCdockskipper]

That is a largemouth as well.  The gap between the dorsal fins, the lack of spots below the lateral line, the overall shape are what convinces me.  I can't completely see where the jaw ends, but it looks to have a smaller mouth for its size, so it may just be a male.

 

The light coloring can be from that particular fish being a bit pelagic, roaming around in open water as opposed to setting up base in the middle of a brushpile.

[TnRiver46]

Largemouth and smallmouth can occasionally have a tooth patch on their tongues. I’ve caught both. 

[Hook2Jaw]

Everything I wanted to cover on the differences of spots and largies has been covered.

 

I just want to say spots are an absolute ball to bring into a boat.  I didn't get a weight on my PB spot, but she was less than 3 and a monster during the fight.

 

Truly a heck of a fish.

[Bluebasser86]

On 12/9/2019 at 6:47 AM, TnRiver46 said:

Largemouth and smallmouth can occasionally have a tooth patch on their tongues. I’ve caught both. 

Same, the tooth patch thing isn't a clear identifier IMO.

[Woody B]

I know it's an old thread but I've been pondering patterns for catching spots, as opposed to Large Mouth.   I normally fish one of three lakes.   Lake Wylie is 13,400 acres and is in both NC and SC.  It's the main lake I fish.   I catch a BUNCH of bass there, in spite of reports that bass fishing at Lake Wylie is dead.  On average I catch 10LM for every spot but I hear many people saying they only catch spots.    Last Sunday I fished from 6am until 11:30 am.  I caught 9 LM and 1 spot.   

 

I also fish Lake Norman occasionally.  It's ~32,000 acres, north of Charlotte NC.  People say they aren't any LM there, it's all spots.  Last Saturday, fishing pretty much all day myself and a co worker caught 20 bass.   10 LM and 10 spots.   

 

So it would appear that my habits/adapted patterns would be more geared toward LM.   

 

The other Lake I fish occasionally is Moss Lake in Shelby NC.  It's 1500 acres and from what I've seen has very few Largemouth.  It get's a BUNCH of fishing pressure for a lake that size.   With the exception of the middle of Winter I never catch more than 2 or 3 bass.   It's ~10 miles from my house so I've fished there a BUNCH.  I've caught 3 largemouth there since December.   As stated earlier I don't catch many spots, but the ones I catch pretty much all have old sores/hook holes in their mouths.  They're usually fairly small too.   I did catch a 3 pound 14 ounce spot there back in January.  It put up a heckuva fight.   

 

So on Lake Wylie and Lake Norman I catch more LM and less spots than other people.  On Moss Lake I don't catch many bass at all.   Are my techniques more inclined to catch LM instead of spots, or am I just not doing a good job at Moss Lake.   

 

 

FWIW, I haven't heard of any small mouth in any of these lakes.  I went to Lake James (6800 acres, NC mountains, has smallmouth) back in February and caught 3 small mouth and 3 large mouth.   

[VolFan]

There’s a very few smallies waaaay in the upper end of Norman, but I would consider them accidental and not a targetable population. I bet your techniques and chosen lures are targeted more towards largemouth- like flipping docks with worms or jigs. I fish Mtn Island mostly, and when I fish in cover with soft plastics I catch more Lmb. When I fish cranks or flukes or spinnerbaits more on the riverine part, in moving water, or on off-bank structure, I catch almost 100% spots. There’s some bruiser lmb in there but I think I like the spots better. And spots make great catfish bait. ?

[Alex from GA]

It's a long video but all encompassing on bass.