Is this bass a largemouth or spotted bass -- and, what is the key features that you can tell from?

Largemouth.  Looks like the fillet'o fish strain to me.

The charlie brown stripe always gives them away.

Large mouth i don't want to sound smart but i can tell by just looking at it. I catch alot of Kentucky's i live in Richmond KY and fish the river it is full of both but this is a large mouth.

Definitely looks like a LM to me.  Don't mean to highjack this thread but do they crossbreed at all?  I caught one yesterday morning that looked just like a largemouth in every way except that he had teeth all over his tongue.  It wasn't just in a little patch like most the spots i've caught.  But then again I never caught any spots until I moved out here to OK.

Definitely looks like a LM to me. Don't mean to highjack this thread but do they crossbreed at all? I caught one yesterday morning that looked just like a largemouth in every way except that he had teeth all over his tongue. It wasn't just in a little patch like most the spots i've caught. But then again I never caught any spots until I moved out here to OK.

They will. Tennessee has had some fish challenge for the state record that were ruled a hybrid and disqualified. I have caught a couple large fish that appeared to be huge spots but on closer inspection they looked like a hybrid. That one looks like a LM though.

Also a precentage of LM have a tounge patch. So the tounge patch is not a good way to identify a spot.

It's hard to identify a dead bass by the profile alone. The eye appears to be even with the lower jaw, making the bass a northern or Alabama spotted bass. The dorsal fins are usually connected on a spotted bass and they almost always have teeth on the tongue.

WRB

I would say LM.

Also a precentage of LM have a tounge patch. So the tounge patch is not a good way to identify a spot

Good to know, thanks.  I never paid attention to tongue patches in the past because I never fished in waters with spots.  

Infidel- we call the spot hybrids meanmouths.

Infidel- we call the spot hybrids meanmouths.

I thought the meanmouth was a smallie hybrid, not a lm???