Finaly A Largemouth

[fishlover9000]

5 days ago i went fishing at my lake and got a small largemouth bass...
i put him in a 15g quaratine for 4 days along with my blugills(1-2in) (4 are left ) but now he is in a bigger tank along with my channel cat.

As some of you know i always wanted a game fish tank... and i am getting close now.... i curntly have bluegill, bass, channel catfish.

here are some pics of my bass:
He is a largemouth right?

 

[beglely]

the way to tell the difference between a large and smallmouth bass is the length of jaw. If the jaw extends beyond the back of the eye then it is a largemouth bass. If the jaw only goes to the middle of the eye, then it is a smallmouth. Hard to be 100% sure from ur pick but id say its a largemouth. Smallmouths also have more of a brownish striped color. There are other small indicators as well. Great fish!

 

[fishlover9000]

Thanks for the informative reply, dont largemouth also have the stripe?

i am going to pick him up 3 goldies just to get him to start eating.

 

[beglely]

largemouth have a black/dark diamond stripe pattern usually down the center of their bodies like urs. And are more green in color. of course spotted bass are similar in that aspect too, but depending on where ur from arent nearly as common.

 

[beglely]

I would also recommend feeding him feeder shrimp/minnows and/or the occasional crayfish if ur up to it. Largemouth looove thier crayfish.

 

[fishlover9000]

would i need to take the claws of them first?

 

[beglely]

i wouldnt think so considering in the wild they arent de-clawed. I cant say this from personal experience tho--just speculation. I have had many a bass regurgitate a crayfish or pieces of one in a live well before so I know they eat em. Fish with them too

 

[fishlover9000]

Ok thanks... i feed minnows.. is that ok?

 

[WhiteDevil]

Fish, thats a largemouth, the mouths is the easiest way to tell, largemouths are cousins to the sunfish, LM's are green in color be it light or dark, smallies are called bronzebacks for a reason, they are way too easy to tell apart.

NO GOLDFISH
NONE ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

get em bait from the bait store dont feed him petstore crap it will die on you, feeder fish are very dirty as in not healthy. do not take off the claws just throw 2-3 in there every 3-4 days and other days throw a FEW minnows or roaches in.

Minnows from the bait shops not from the fish store please remember that.

 

[fishlover9000]

OKAY! no goldfish... GOT IT!

my channel cats getting huge

 

[WhiteDevil]

it should, my wifey jsut got me a flat back angled 75g for fathers day. I am not sure what direction I am headed with it, Id love a game tank but 75g is way too small for the fish I want to keep.


Nice largemouth, and my offer is still open about taking in your game fish when they get too big for your tank. I just put a 42 pound flathead into the tank last weekend at work. for some reason I dont think its social, it likes to fight alot.

 

[fishlover9000]

well my cat is about 1' 3" will he get eaten?

 

[WhiteDevil]

nope, we got some 5" panfish in the same tank as the cats and bass, even in the walleye/musky tank there as 4" panfish that dont get eaten.

Catfish are social fish, they truly are a community fish they can live pretty much in any body of water and rarely do they get eaten because of their spines.

 

[fishlover9000]

i am very much considering leting him go...

i just dont want anything to happen to him

 

[spoonman]

Do you work at a Bass Pro Shops WD?

 

[WhiteDevil]

He will be fine.

We had a world record fish donated to our kansas city aquarium but it died on the way from the mississippi river to kansas city,mo. It was a 125 pound blue cat. We have never had any injuries to the fish at work, only pecking order squabbles but that is 100% natural to animals.

We arent gonna cook him up and eat em, we got enough cats around here for that. Seriously it couldnt be going to a better place.

 

[SparKy697]

Nice work on the game fish tank!

I had a few rock bass and bluegill in one a few years back. Fed minnows from the bait shop as has been suggested also. Consider a qt tank for the minnows. I got a batch of sick ones that I believe ended up killing off almost my whole tank. I came to the conclusion that some bait shops care little about keeping the minnows healthy, just alive long enough to sell. After all, they're bait.

Good luck.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Yeah, please get a 10g QT tank for the feeders, not onl will it keep your fish healthier it will keep a nice on hand supply of food. Pay attention to the weather and local fishing reports, that info will explain alot about your LM's behavior in your tank. Its really neat.

 

[fishlover9000]

Ok, i have a spare 15g that will work.

here is a pic of big blue and the bass:

 

[fishlover9000]

Do you work at a Bass Pro Shops WD?

he works at cabelas