Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Confirm Identification

I think these are small Large Mouth Bass (one 6" one 9") however then don't have the horizontal stripe I am used to seeing.

Caught on the Kentucky River. New state and location for me.

Images attached.

Not an expert, but here's $0.02 worth:

I see a horizontal stripe on #1, which looks like a Largemouth to me.

#2 has radial stripes emanating from the eye on it's gill; perhaps a Largemouth/Smallmouth cross. (???)

It would be interesting to see how far big the mouths went wrt the eye when not being held. #2 does look to have a smaller mouth than #1.

Thanks, yes pictures are not the greatest. They were very active...The mouth when closed went at least to the back of the eye on both. With their size it was tough to see if it went significantly past.

Have you ever caught any spotted bass? (Also known as Kentucky bass.)

The second fish might be a spotted bass. Or even a spotted/LMB hybrid.

Next time you catch an obvious LMB, pull erect the front dorsal fin. You will notice that the tail end of that fin comes all of the way down to the back of the bass, before the start of the second dorsal fin. This is true even for very large LMB.

When you catch a bass that has odd coloring (to your eye), do the same thing again. If it is a spotted bass, then the back edge of the front dorsal fin will merge (a little) with the front edge of the second dorsal fin.

That "might" be the case in your second photo - if you had pulled up the last dorsal spine with your fingertip. (I can't tell for sure looking at your picture.)

Black bass species can have widely varying colors and pattern manifestations depending upon the water conditions. I have caught LMB and spotted bass throughout the day on a reservoir from shallow muddy conditions where the river was running to clear deepwater conditions near the dam, and there was huge variance within each single species during only a single day.

If you do catch an obviously "spotted" bass, do the dorsal fin test I described poorly above. Your eye will quickly become calibrated on identifying LMB versus spotted bass if your start catching a lot in your best fishing spots.

Good luck catching bass this spring. Those two little fish are clearly nice aggressive chunks that I hope you catch again in 3-4 years!

They both appear to be largemouth bass to me. Bass can get that "washed out" look based on water clarity sometimes.

Spotted bass have a tooth patch on their tongue. It's an interesting characteristic and is easier to identify than jaw positioning. Here in MS we have Kentucky spots that are extremely feisty but are slow growing. In other southern states, the Alabama spotted bass is dominant which is also very aggressive but has a much higher growth potential.

BASS magazine did an article a few years back describing black bass species and sub-species. It was a great read that also had information on shoal bass, red-eye bass, small mouth, and Suwanee bass.

Check out the different types if and when you have time. Very informative.

I agree with ML10 regarding the tongue patch on spotted bass. (I should have added that "easy" identifier.)

However, it is not 100% fool-proof. I have caught several LMB that also had the tongue patch. They did not appear to be hybrids (to my eye), or have any other traits that made them look anything other than pure northern-strain LMB.


P.S. ML10, have you ever considered putting some feisty spotted bass into your pond? They might dine on a slightly different portion of your forage, AND would be a blast for you and your family to catch!

Around here, the only places I see the Kentucky spots are in rivers and streams. I'd be hesitant to add them unless you think they'd thrive?

Additionally, would they cross breed with the largemouth?

Our experts on the forum generally state that moving stream fish to ponds typically does NOT result in a high rate of fish thriving. Whether forage fish or sportfish.

However, I have caught lots of spotted bass in my favorite fishing reservoir. They certainly can thrive in open bodies of water. It might take a few spawns for you to create some spotted bass that would thrive in your pond?

In my (limited) experience, they prefer the rockier areas compared to the LMB. Do you have any rocky areas in your pond?

Personally, I want to try bucket-stocking some spotted bass into my ponds. (But they need some serious re-hab that is not in my current family budget.)

In my (non-expert) opinion, they could be an excellent "bonus" fish in your pond. A five-pounder would be a life memory for a kid to land. Also, catching 12-14" spots to eat is much more fun than 12-14" LMB.

I don't think(?) they could mess up your fishery, but there is very little expert information on spotted bass in small ponds. (You could become our expert!)

I do NOT believe I have ever caught a hybrid black bass. Our favorite fishing lake had LMB, spotted bass, and SMB. I have caught LMB with the tongue patch, but never ever caught a fish the looked (to my eye) like half way between any two of those existing species.

However, Snipe is an actual expert, and he says he has shocked up hybrid black bass in Kansas reservoirs. I believe he stated that he has observed LMB/SMB hybrids and LMB/spotted hybrids. So perhaps I have caught a hybrid black bass and just didn't observe the subtle traits?

Personally, I think it is unlikely that the spotted bass would create any substantial number of hybrids in your pond.

However, how about if a spotted bass hybridized with an F-1 bass? It would be awesome if you got the growth rate of Florida-strain bass combined with the aggressiveness and catchability of spotted bass!

[I do have a spotted bass thread somewhere in the archives. The experts did post some informed opinions, but they said there is very little hard research on this topic.]

Good luck on your future fish management and fish catching in your pond!