America's favorite game fish, the largemouth bass, could qualify as a Fortune 500 company. Ala. A predator with a voracious appetite and an explosive jump, the largemouth is the fish anglers can't resist. Micropterus salmoides is not a true bass, like the striped bass, but the largest member of the sunfish family. Largemouths occurred naturally in much of the Eastern United States and southernmost Canada. They have been introduced throughout the country, except Alaska, and in countries such as Japan.
Biologists recognize two subspecies, the northern largemouth and the Florida largemouth.
Florida bass grow to trophy size more readily than northern largemouth in warm waters. An Indiana man noticed a ''weird fish'' in a gravel pit in 1999. Bob Beatty told The Indianapolis Star. After weighing the fish, Perry and his family ate it. Fifteen of the 25 biggest largemouths of all time were caught in Lake Castaic and Lake Miramar in California, according to ''Quest for the World Record Bass,'' by Bart Crabb.