Spotted bass are very similar in appearance to its closest cousin, the largemouth bass, and similar in power and fight to its other nearest relative, the smallmouth that looks nothing like it.
Two key differences are best used to tell the difference in spotted bass and largemouth bass.
The first is visual, and involves the relation of the jaw and the eye. On a largemouth, the jaw extends well beyond the rear of the eye. On a spotted bass, the jaw extends to the rear portion of the eye, but not beyond it.
The second is tactile, and is told best by feeling the tongue of the bass. Spotted bass will have a patch of teeth — a rough spot — in the center of the tongue that largemouth do not have.
The lateral line on the spotted bass is usually but not always more defined than a largemouth, and a spot’s scales below the line are usually but not always darker, which gives the species it “spotted” nickname.
Smaller than their kin, spotted bass are mostly overlooked by Mississippi’s bass fishermen. Largemouth get bigger and are more plentiful.
The rare (at least in the South) bronze-backed smallmouth are prized for their beauty, their fight and, well, because for Mississippi anglers the opportunities are limited.
Pound for pound, however, the meanest and toughest of the three is the Kentucky bass. Its ferocious fight has lured many an angler into its fan base.
“A lot of times, a fisherman will think he’s got a big fish and be fooled by a 2-pound spot that fought like a 6-pound largemouth,” Robbie Bridges said. “No, not even the smallmouth can match its ferocity.”
MDWFP’s Larry Pugh agreed.
“That’s true: The spot is the meanest,” Pugh said. “They fight, no matter how big they are — but a really big one, like 3 or 4 pounds and up, are insane.”
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