I have been looking very hard for a hatchery stock of Spotted Bass. A producer near me has had them in the past and trying to drum some up from ponds stocked several years back. I have a couple thousand Spotted Fingerlings, but they are not legal for sale as from wild brood stock.
I have made hybrids between Spotted and Largemouth about 25 years ago. Hybrid, like the Meanmouth, is more aggressive than usual when on the nest. Next spring hybrid Spotted x Largemouth will again be made although use is not intended for recreational fisheries.
As a kid, we had several livestock ponds in southern Indiana stocked with Spotted Bass. They performed favorably to Largemouth in the smaller ponds lacking sunfish as forage. The spotted are not as good at protecting fry in a pond setting when lots of sunfish present. I think the Spotted Bass wean offspring before large enough to avoid sunfish going after them.
