Please pardon my ignorance. I caught these 2 in consecutive weeks from the same pond in nearly the same spot in the pond. The first went about 3.5, had red eyes and generally a different shape than the other. It fought harder probably breaking the water 5 times. The second went about 4.5 and had huge bulging dark eyes. This one was like dragging in a log until it was close to the bank and then he peeled off some drag. What strains are these?

Nice fish! It's almost impossible to tell strains of bass just by look. TPWD has a good guide in their annual about how to tell between largemouth, spotted, etc. but to tell the difference between a native largemouth and a florida stain isn't something you can just do like that. It takes genetic testing to get a true identity. Florida strain tend to be harder to catch than natives, but grow at a quicker rate.

Nice fish!

Different fish fight differently and there's not always a rhyme or reason for it. I've had fish that felt like water-logged plastic bags, 5lbers that felt like perch and 2lbers that felt like 15lb catfish. Could be a change in temp, water clarity, barometric pressure, bait fish, etc. I notice that you caught the first fish on a chatter bait and the second fish on a texas-rigged craw. That might say something about the difference in their activity level.

All I want to know is where the pond is.

The first one looks like it might be a spotted bass. The second one is surely a lmb.

Spotted Bass and the second is a ditch pickle.

First one looks like a Spotted Bass and the second is a regular LMB! Nice fish.

Thanks for the replies!

Respectfully disagree on I'd. Except for the reddish eyes, the top pic AND the bottom pics are LMB's. Spent the entire spring wearing out spots in a local creek, and NONE of them came close to resembling either of these two. Spots have tooth patch on tongue. LMB's don't. That is best way to tell them apart

Both LMB. They don't always have the toothpatch, Lovfldx. The best way to distinguish them is the dorsal fins. The spots dorsals are connected. The LMB's aren't. Also, the spotted bass has scales at the base of the soft dorsal, the LMB does not. The first picture, while obscured, doesn't have any scales on the soft dorsal. LMB. Also, the top of the jaw on a spot does not extend beyond the rear of the eye. The LMB's does. But that can't be discerned from these two photos due to the position of both fish's mouths.

100% agreed.

both Largemouth, once youve caught about a gazillion Kentuckies you recognize one when you see it & I dont see one

First off, congrats on the nice catches. The lower pic is a LMB. The first pic is really difficult to tell but if I would have to guess, I would guess spotted bass. You can probably make a case (although not definitive) that the upper jaw does not extend beyond the rear of the eye, plus there appears to be rows of spots down below the lateral line. Also, some spotted bass have red eyes, and this fish does have red eyes. Again, it is really hard to tell.

Here is a spot: Notice the stripe on jaw all the way to eye, the "dotted line" laterals, the much smaller mouth, the shadows don't make the red eyes stand out but they were red, the splotches of "copper/gold" here and there, sorry guys, it's not even close.




Rudy

That is a nice looking fish Rudy. The top pic from OP still appears to me that it has a small mouth for a typical LMB that size, and could have poor coloration that prevents it from being identified as a true spot. I have caught SMB, but have never caught a LMB with a red eye - but maybe others on the forum have? Do spots and lmb cross-breed? If so it may be a hybrid of the two. That is an odd looking fish to me.