Difference between male and female bass

[gmetime24]

My buddies and I have been discussing how to identify the difference between a male and female bass. Any thoughts?

[YpsiBass]

The males don't have bellies full of eggs.

[Genie]

The females are usually in my livewell.

[Got Fish??]

I am told that, the shape of their anus is how you can tell. One  is crescent . The other is more rounded.

[LGMOUTH]

Ive always heard the Males dont open their mouths much and the Females wont shut their mouths. Thats just what Ive heard.

[Waterfoul]

Ive always heard the Males dont open their mouths much and the Females wont shut their mouths. Thats just what Ive heard.

I've heard of this also... it must be true.

[Redbone]

Ive always heard the Males dont open their mouths much and the Females wont shut their mouths. Thats just what Ive heard.

I was going to say... One complains a lot more than the other. But your saying fits better.

[djkimmel]

I've had some fisheries biologists say it can be difficult to tell externally. Others say you can tell by this or that. I just figure if they are big, they're most likely female and if they aren't as big, they may be male. Or female.

Luckily, a 4 pound male weighs as much as a 4 pound female!

Are you guys thinking of starting an all male or all female bass club or something?

[jjjmpv22]

Gmetime24 and I had a conversations about this and he said sounds like a good question to ask on GLB

[t-bone]

At spawn time when they are both on the bed, it is fairly obvious based on the size but I don't have a clue after that.

[gmetime24]

Thanks for the input guys. No Dan we aren't looking into starting any clubs just thought I would throw it out there to start some discussion. I'm running out of things to talk about and this ice and snow need to go away so I can at least go pond fishing. It's been a long winter

[djkimmel]

I think it's a great topic. I've always wanted this website to be about education and understanding. There's a little stir crazy in all of us probably right now.

I was thinking that there are more clubs around the country that limit themselves to one type of fishing, one way or another, but I've never heard of a club that tries to target one sex of bass? Thought you guys might be starting a new trend and GreatLakesBass.com would be the news groundbreaker!

The type of excretion in the spring is one way I can think of that you can probably count on. There are lots of other discussion out there about jaws and vent hole shapes. I think I might check with a fisheries biologist.

Well, sometimes online search can be helpful if you're careful - there's lots of misinformation or contradiction posted by anglers on the Internet - a common problem maybe? I found a 1986 study released The Progressive FishCulturist (1986) olume: 48, Issue: 3, Pages: 221-225:

Practical Field Methods of Sexing Largemouth Bass
by G W Benz, R P Jacobs (Connecticut Bureau of Fisheries)

Abstract
Several rapid and simple methods of sexing live mature largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides were assessed: the presence of absence of a swollen reddish genital papilla, the shape of the scaleless area surrounding the urogenital opening, and the depth and angle of probe penetration into the urogenital opening. The genital papilla method was 89% successful during the spring, but only 48% successful during the fall. The shape of the urogenital opening was a poor indicator of sex (53% of the fish were sexed correctly). Probing the urogenital opening was the best single method; it provided success rates of 90% (probe depth) and 94% (probe angle). The highest rate of sexing success (98%) was realized during the spring spawning season from a combination of the papilla and probing methods

I probably won't be attempting the most accurate method of sexing largemouth bass. I'm just going to guess...