well, i know most of us are sport fisherman who practice C&R exclusively... but for those who are not, when you are going to take home a fish, do you check if its male or female?? is there a reliable way of knowing the gender?? someone claims he does and he only takes males, i think theres no certain way of checking without opening the animal. he even said one cannot call himself a sport fisherman if he cant determine the gender....

 

what do you think??

I've always heard (from other discussions on here about it), that there's no way to determine the gender of the bass just by looking. Female and male alike are identical on the outside. There's a lot of discussion on it, and a lot of theories, but nothing short of tissue samples seem to be the surefire way.

 

You could do a DNA tissue sample test.

 

Otherwise, I've heard of guys taking a tiny tube of some sort, and err....."inserting" it in the urogential vent on the underneath side of the fish, just in front of the anal fin, if eggs come out, it's female.

 

I really don't recommend doing either.

 

However, that said, females tend to be the larger fish, so if you catch a hawg, it's likely to be female.

 

Also, I heard an oldtimer say to observe the males and females after spawn. The males will be tired and sluggish, while the females will want to cuddle........ :grin: :grin:

Ask him how he knows its a male or female then laugh in his face when he gives some bull answer...

From what I understand there are some ways you can make a educated guess but there is no way to be 100% sure if a bass is male or female just by looking at them.

Males will usually be smaller and skinnier overall. Also there lower jaw will be more pointed like a v shape where a females will be more round. Even with both of those it's not 100% sure fire on which is which. The only sure fire way I've found is to give'em a kiss and put them back in the water. If they swim off really quick trying to get away you know it was a male. If it jumps back up in excitement or slowly swims away you know it was a female lol. 

The only way to tell with the highest degree of certainty is during the spawn or recently after. Rub your finger along its belly toward the anal opening.

If milt, a whiteish fluid comes out it's a male. Eggs of course will be a female.

Mike

There is another way, but you have to fillet them.  You can also look at the vent, there's a difference there, but in order to do it well, you need a bunch of similarly sized fish, otherwise, even trained experts can't always tell.

So if those who are wanting to eat the fish, simply keep the smaller fish IE 12-14inches depending on your states regs ofcourse and release all the rest over 2lbs unless it looks like its overly skinny or unhealthy. And only take enough for a meal instead of trying to fill the cooler.  Throwing all the fish back depending on the body of water can be a bad thing.  If there is an over abundant amount of smaller fish, then they need to be culled to improve the predator to forage ratio (normally an issue in ponds).  Taking a few fish from a lake or pond normally isn't a problem, just do it smartly, larger fish should be returned to keep the quality fish in place and to keep a heathy breeding pool, same should go with panfishing.  Those bigger fish should be left in place and keep the smaller medium sized fish.  That way you keep the food for the bass as well as the breeding fish to keep supplying the food for them.

I'd find another friend, lol

I'm a sport fisherman & I can't tell...

Big girls on the bed, yea female.. Outside that I couldn't tell you, shoot some bed fish I have caught may be male. I wouldn't stress over it.

 

Big girls on the bed, yea female

 

Even that isn't reliable....the ladies visit, spawn, and leave to spawn with another, or recover.  They don't guard the nest, so if you see a big one alone on a nest, it's probably a male.

LOL, hey if it's over 8lbs, 99.9% sure it's gonna be a female. 

Geez..

LOL, hey if it's over 8lbs, 99.9% sure it's gonna be a female. 

 

You're probably right...

 

Here's a cool study: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/mds_inland/mds-210.pdf

Geez..

 

Now I'm reading anecdotes about females tending nests, nut never alone, and they're less aggressive....I've never seen it myself, though my experience is limited.

Geez...

I hear an echo echo echo echo....

The exhaust port on a male is round. The exhaust port on a female is more oblong. But no sure fire way with just looking.

Lol, I can't tell on females, so you're right. It's anecdotal, from my experience only.

Vent? Exhaust Port? I'm getting all kinds of good material to annoy my wife with. Thanks guys!

Ever see a bass with a dual exhaust?

Wow how this topic has turned...never new bass had exhaust ports.....must be the upgraded model.  Bet the duel exhaust bass are really fast swimmers.

They got glass packs and the deluxe model has a cherry bomb. Supercharger included at extra charge.