guys this may sound extremely stupid but are there any ways to tell a female from a male bass.......all weve come up with so far is that the males seem to be longer an slimer....this is probably wrong but i would really appriciate some clarification here....thanx in advance

logan  

the big ones are the females...after that i really do not know if there is a way to easly tell like mammals

and its not a stupid question

There is a way but it involves inserting a probe into the poop chute.  A biologist can tell but not an everyday layman.

females grow to be larger overall but just because you see a big fish on a bed, doesn't mean it's a female.  Fluke was working a 5-7lb fish at Fork.  Didn't work, he scared it off........then the female moved in looking like a 14 lb russian sub underwater.  That 5-7 was the MALE!!  

its not a stupid question and i dont think there is any easy answer.  if you see a pair on the bed then the smaller one is the male.  other than that i think it is a lot of guesswork as even top fishermen seem to have a tough time and rely on guesswork alot.  during the spawn the males will also often have beat up tails but females can get a little raw too being in the shallows.  look at the belly and if it is distended with eggs then that obviously is a clue...  maybe a biologist will come along and set us all straight with some fail proof tell tale thing to look for but i dont know any...

I asked an Illinois DNR Biologist this same question once and she told

me that the only accurate way to tell was to disect the fish. There

were no external markings or things of that nature that would allow

us to look at a fish and tell the sex. She said she would have to

cut it open and look at the internal organs to tell what sex the

fish was.

JT Bagwell

Autopsy is the only positive way except when the female is gravid, (loaded with eggs). Largest male on record - 6 pounds. On average a huge male is 5 pounds so basically if over 5 it's pretty much a guarantee that it's a female.

Man, you guyz know nuthin !  :

MALE bass:

FEMALE bass:

See ? it 's that simple.  

Kidding aside: No need to disect the fish, females have 3 openings in the genital papilae, males have 2. But it 's not that easy, it takes a lot of training and practice to view such characteristics.

LOL

Raul you are such a MOOK :-*

Forgot to mention that male basses sometimes have moustaches, but don 't take it literally, females can also have moustaches. If the moustache is well trimmed and shows the owner has taken time to groom it well then it 's positively a male.  

I read on a fishihg board that the male was a smallmouth and the female was a LARGEMOUTH. Ha! Just kidding. I like Raul's example.

Jim