Hey y'all. Caught this guy here out of my parents pond today and it looked to me like it could be a big spotted bass. Measured in at 19" which seemed massive compared to most the spots I have caught. Maybe I am identifying it wrong or maybe it could it be mixed with a largemouth? Not real sure. What do y'all think? (confirmed this is a largemouth)

Looks like a nice native largemouth.

Largemouth. Dorsal fin of a spot is connected

Thanks! That sounds like a good way to tell.

Jaw extends past the eyeball. Largemouth

largemouth , but that first pic does look a little confusing . I think when bass have really fast growth rates , their body tends to look " too" big for the head . I would suspect that bass isn't very old , especially that first pic .

Beautiful chunky largemouth.

Tooth patch on tongue?

Probably not too many spots in ponds but what do I know

I have hybrid stripers stocked in my 2 acre tank. You should see it when the fish feeder goes off. Fun to catch them on my fly rod.

That's a largemouth for sure. the big splotches along the lateral line are a give away.

So you can tell easily next time.... A few different fullproof ways to tell. Usually the eyeball straight down to the jaw can tell ya in a second. If the jaw extends past the eyeball, its a LM..If you cant tell, look at the dorsal.

But I can tell why you asked, that first pic, quick glance it looks like a spotted football but then look at the eye and dorsal...back to LM