I had a crazy question to start out the week here.. I know that dogs interbreed with other species that are similar to them (even wolves I guess?) Do Bass?

I was thinking of stocking a single LMB and a single SMB in my pond. The LMB would put a hammer on the bigger shiners and medium sized gold fish plus hit tadpoles, and the largest crayfish. The SMB would hit more of the YOY perch, smaller crayfish etc.

Since I can't reliably sex either types of bass, one of each should work out to prevent a bass explosion. With my luck if I do 2 LMB or 2 SMB suddenly there will be baby bass... But will my plan be foolproof?

If they are the only 2 bass in the pond, and if they happened to be male and female, could the eggs not get fertilized?

What are the characteristics of the cross LMBxSMB if it actually ever occurred? Medium mouth bass?

CC,

LMB x SMB = MMB Mean Mouth Bass. It happens but is rare I think. I have the potential in my pond with both SMB and LMB present. IIRC an old thread mentions there is a guy with a pond in Arizona that has MMB.

I found this great article from an old newspaper!

Beware of aggressive fish!

I recall reading about the aggressiveness of the LMB x SMB hybrid many years ago - about how it would attack swimers. It seems like it was a decade or more before that article was written. At any rate, it doesn't appear that that cross is a real threat, or we would have heard more about it before now.

The LMB X SMB hybrid is pretty rare. The SPB X SMB mean mouth is much more common. Table rock in Missouri and Dale Hollow and Watauga lakes in TN all have them show up at least occasionally if not regularly at tournament weigh ins. I've spent the last 25 years bass fishing in waters with smallmouth and largemouths and I've never seen a cross between the two. LMB spawn much shallower than smallmouths on highland reservoirs, but spots spawn deeper like smallmouth.

If you have spots and smallmouth you will definitely get meanmouths. I have personally caught one and seen 3 or 4 more that I know of.

Matt,
I guess it depends on how much the bass want to 'tango'. If you have a lone female and a lone male in my small pond, of different varieties (say female SMB and male LMB) you wonder how many days and nights they swim in circles in a pond and hold out on making babies...