I know the answer is "no", but does anyone think they have an anecdotal, unproven way to tell if a bass is florida strain or f1 without dna analysis, or the fact that it weighs 17lbs?

I recall a debate of that nature a few years back.

One person believed they could identify Florida strain by their markings. (I think relative to northern strain.)

I think(?) most of the Pond Boss experts were pretty skeptical. I think Florida versus F1 differentiation would be even more error prone.

Sorry, I can't remember what search terms might call up that thread, but you could try.

I think most of the experts recommended fin clipping your bass while stocking them in big $ trophy bass pond situations, so you could track the growth rates and characteristics of your introduced bass.

They may have even recommended clipping in a different identification pattern for any subsequent stockings of Florida or F1 bass so that you could monitor year classes in ponds where you were putting in the time and money to grow 17# monsters.

I hope that helped a little.

It does. Caught 2 small bass in my pond recently that were just colored differently than all the others (or it seemed like it). I put 2 inch f1's in it a few months ago.