Why is there never a mention of spotted bass? We talk about every kind of trash fish, bait fish, small mouth, walleye, even Isreali carp (which I've never heard of until this board). But spotted bass never show up on this board nor in Pond Boss mgazine. They are everywhere. I've read they are more agressive than large mouth and they look the same, they just don't get as big.
Have none of you professional managers had clients with spotted bass already stocked and wondered why they don't have trophy bass? I'm sure they can compete as well as channel cats and crappie.
Also, there are a lot of people who want to catch lots of bass instead of a few big ones. Wouldn't spotted bass be a good top end predator?

Folks think you need deep and clear water for spots. What you need is alot of forage. I'll tell you two stories that may help. The first guy lives close to Lanier known for its spots so he thinking like you wanted an aggressive bass for the pond. The two in put in were caught many times. They lost weight until looked so pityful he cleaned and ate what little meat they had left on them. Went from 3.2 lbs to 1.8 lbs in less than a year. In another pond just purchased by a client he was not catching bass. We shocked it and got out two spotted bass in a 5 acre lake that's it. they were 4.8 and 5.6 lbs. These were wall hangers, tons and tons of intermediate bluegill in the pond.

So NO I do not think they are a good option because due to their metablism requiring more food that can pond can hold fewer compared to largemouth. Does that make sense? I guess if you wanted a spotted bass fishery you could stock fewer and manage for them if that was your goal.

I may show some ignorance here, but is there any chance that a spotted bass could help with overpopulation of panfish in a small pond?? I don't have any problems with them, but I know that there are some people who have that problem. Just a question that may help someone, I find the thread to be a very interesting question about spots.

Grimey, I wasn't saying that I want them, I was just saying that they deserve mentioning. I realized that more agressive meant eating more but didn't think about needing to stock fewer. That little tidbit was what I was looking for--just pros and cons. Maybe they would work to help control crappie.
Has anyone else had problems with them?