ML10, have you ever considered putting some feisty spotted bass into your pond? They might dine on a slightly different portion of your forage, AND would be a blast for you and your family to catch!
Around here, the only places I see the Kentucky spots are in rivers and streams. I'd be hesitant to add them unless you think they'd thrive?
Additionally, would they cross breed with the largemouth?
Our experts on the forum generally state that moving stream fish to ponds typically does NOT result in a high rate of fish thriving. Whether forage fish or sportfish.
However, I have caught lots of spotted bass in my favorite fishing reservoir. They certainly can thrive in open bodies of water. It might take a few spawns for you to create some spotted bass that would thrive in your pond?
In my (limited) experience, they prefer the rockier areas compared to the LMB. Do you have any rocky areas in your pond?
Personally, I want to try bucket-stocking some spotted bass into my ponds. (But they need some serious re-hab that is not in my current family budget.)
In my (non-expert) opinion, they could be an excellent "bonus" fish in your pond. A five-pounder would be a life memory for a kid to land. Also, catching 12-14" spots to eat is much more fun than 12-14" LMB.
I don't think(?) they could mess up your fishery, but there is very little expert information on spotted bass in small ponds. (You could become our expert!)
I do NOT believe I have ever caught a hybrid black bass. Our favorite fishing lake had LMB, spotted bass, and SMB. I have caught LMB with the tongue patch, but never ever caught a fish the looked (to my eye) like half way between any two of those existing species.
However, Snipe is an actual expert, and he says he has shocked up hybrid black bass in Kansas reservoirs. I believe he stated that he has observed LMB/SMB hybrids and LMB/spotted hybrids. So perhaps I have caught a hybrid black bass and just didn't observe the subtle traits?
Personally, I think it is unlikely that the spotted bass would create any substantial number of hybrids in your pond.
However, how about if a spotted bass hybridized with an F-1 bass? It would be awesome if you got the growth rate of Florida-strain bass combined with the aggressiveness and catchability of spotted bass!
[I do have a spotted bass thread somewhere in the archives. The experts did post some informed opinions, but they said there is very little hard research on this topic.]
Good luck on your future fish management and fish catching in your pond!
