Looks like a LMB to me but I never have seen a bass with such markings. Awesome looking fish!

I'd have to agree with you. It lookds more like a Largemouth but I haven't seen those markings either.

The fish was caught in Japan and weighed approx. 9lb.

As far as I know they dont have spots in Japan but they do have smallies. Meanmouth?

The fish was caught in Japan and weighed approx. 9lb.

As far as I know they dont have spots in Japan but they do have smallies. Meanmouth?

Trig may be right, those are unusual markings though.

That thing looks AWESOME!!!

Largemouth. Probably from very cold and very clear water.  I catch some big ones that have the markings showing more like that every year in the colder months when the water temps are cold. It's very normal and nothing out of the ordinary in clear cold lakes in winter. Also a big female fish caught just before she drops eggs on a bed in a clear lake will often have that color but change to a darker color after they drop eggs on a bed. I can often tell what stage of spawning a fish is in and how catchable it is by its color. Hormones release in the spawning female to make it darker as the eggs are dropped and it will lose many of the markings you see in the photo.  Also fish that are actively feeding  usually get darker in color and lose some markings. I have watched this happen in the tank at the Bass Pro Shop Tank at feeding time. I have never seen a fish this color in stained or muddy water. They are usually just pale or dark with fewer markings.  

The lake I fish is very clear and I never have see a bass like that.

Here you can see how clear the water is (yes those are all bass )

Looks like a Largemouth to me.  All the Meanmouth I have caught looked exactly like a Smallmouth.  This was in the early '90s when I didn't know what a meanmouth was.  I just thought they were ""Hillbilly Smallmouth"(Caught all them in Paintsville Lake in E. Ky.

The lake I fish is very clear and I never have see a bass like that.

Here you can see how clear the water is (yes those are all bass )

I can't tell how clear the water is really. I am talking about seeing the bottom at around twenty feet down where I have seen fish marked like that. I am not sure what exactly causes it. Also the lakes I was taking about have Florida strain x northern in them. I can think of some real clear lakes that have just northern strain in them that I have never caught one with the markings like that that I can remember. Maybe that has something to do with it?

That thing looks AWESOME!!!

X2

                                                         Ian

I am not sure what exactly causes it. Also the lakes I was taking about have Florida strain x northern in them. I can think of some real clear lakes that have just northern strain in them that I have never caught one with the markings like that that I can remember. Maybe that has something to do with it?

That's possible.

It is a largemouth. Down here fish from some clear water lakes exhibit that pattern.

Ditto Randall's posts.

Most likely...a floridanus from very clear water. Maybe pre-spawn too.

Every spring I see immediately pre-spawn females (northern strain) with heavy markings against a bright metallic gold-green. They lack those vertical shaped markings along the side though (a floridanus feature), having a regular blotchy stripe and blotches across the upper back. Very striking. Never had one in hand though; They seem to be pre-occupied at that time.

I saw one female last year on a bed with a male -he gently pushing her around. She was absolutely stuffed with eggs and as close to perfectly round as any bass I've ever seen. She was that pale gold-green with two sets of dark and jagged longitudinal stripes. She looked for all the world like one of those little round striped watermelons, with fins! Really made me chuckle.

Well personally I can say I would have to see inside the mouth.  The main lake I fish around here is stocked full of both spots and largemouth.  2 Sundays ago at our first tournament for the year I weighed in 2 fish that looked just like a largemouth, however when you looked inside of the mouth they had the spotted bass tooth patch.  Around here that is the only way to tell sometimes.

Jerrod

The tooth patch is not a 100% reliable way to tell them apart. The fish you caught may have been LM if they looked like LM.

however when you looked inside of the mouth they had the spotted bass tooth patch. Around here that is the only way to tell sometimes.

Jerrod

25% of the LMB population exhibits the tongue tooth patch, so tongue tooth path to identify the species has a 25% margin error.

The place where the mouth ends in relation to the eye is 100% accurate. The mouth extends beyond in imaginary line perpendicular to the eye it 's a LMB, if the mouth ends before or at the very imaginary line then it 's a spot.

By LM you mean Leopard Mouth right lol That is one awesome looking bass