male or female bass

[lazy hooker]

i know some bass have a blueish hue to their fins and some have a whiteish milky look but which ones are the males and which are female???

john

[wilkybarkid]

good post,was thinking about this myself recently..i know that bass over a certain weight are female..6-8lb+ ?...but not sure about the younger fish.maybe they are like other species and change sex at a certain age/weight?.or when breeding is necessary?

look forward to the replies

[stevenhaggerty]

I'm pretty sure the only way to tell the sex of bass is by checking the gonads when you cut them open, which is a shame.

You're correct that male bass tend to max out at about 8lbs, this doesn't help you with fish under 8lbs though :P

[woodsy]

males tend to be much sleeker looking.

[Pugs]

and during parts of the season you'll know a male, it will cover you in milt...LOL

[steve pitts]

good post,was thinking about this myself recently..i know that bass over a certain weight are female..6-8lb+ ?...but not sure about the younger fish.maybe they are like other species and change sex at a certain age/weight?.or when breeding is necessary?

Bass don't have the option of changing sex like wrasse do. They are one or t'other throughout their lives.

Males tend to max at between 6 to 7lb, so as Steve says, anything bigger is likely to be a female and females continue to grow throughout their lives and may tend to live longer than males as a result. A 16lb female bass could be 20+ years old

Outwardly - there are no distinguishing features, even around the vent, other than those previously described relating to male fish in breeding condition. This time of year the belly of a gravid female will look distended and conversely a spent hen fish will look distictly hollow around the belly.

Cheers
Steve