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Spotted Bass
Species Information
| Scientific Name: | Micropterus punctulatus |
| Common Names: | spotted bass, Spotted Black Bass, Kentucky Bass, spots bass, spotty bass, spot bass |
| Environment: | Lake, River, Stream |
| Ideal Temp: | 70-78°F (21-26°C) |
About Spotted Bass
The spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus), also called spotty, or spots in various fishing communities, is a species of freshwater fish of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. One of the black basses, it is native to the Mississippi River basin and across the Gulf states, from central Texas through the Florida panhandle. Its native range extends into the western Mid-Atlantic states and it has been introduced into western North Carolina and Virginia. It has also been introduced to southern Africa, where it has become established in some isolated waters. It is often mistaken for the similar and more common largemouth bass.
A convenient way to distinguish between a largemouth bass and a spotted bass is by the size of the mouth. A spotted bass will resemble a largemouth bass in coloration but will have a smaller mouth.
M. punctulatus can reach an overall length of almost 64 cm (25 in), reaching weights of up to 5.2 kg (11 lb). It can reach an age of at least seven years. It is noted for the rows of dark spots below the lateral line, which give it its common name.
Preferring cool and warm mountain streams and reservoirs with rocky bottoms, the spotted bass feeds on insects, crustaceans, frogs, annelid worms, and smaller fish.
In 2010, the scientific community officially recognized a separate subspecies of spotted bass, native to the Tallapoosa and Coosa Rivers, and their lakes. This species is commonly known as the "Alabama spotted bass" (M. henshalli) and known locally as the "Coosa spotted bass", not to be confused with the "red-eye Coosa bass" found in northeast Georgia.
The Alabama spotted is highly prized as a gamefish and average size is much larger than the more common Kentucky spotted bass. The current record spotted bass, caught in pine Flat Lake, California, weighed 10.27 lb.
Spotted Bass Fishing
| World Record: | 4.71 kg (10 lb 6 oz) New Bullards Bar Reservoir, California, USA 12-Jan-2015 |
| # Fish Caught: | 27757 documented in database. |
| Earliest Record: | 1/1/1830 12:00:00 AM and located at 30.67576, -94.35440. |
| Latest Record: | 4/28/2024 6:55:22 PM and located at 34.16216, -85.59222. |
| Common Techniques: | Casting, Fly, Jigging, Trolling |
| Popular Lure Types: | Crankbaits, Flies, Jigs, Plugs, Soft Plastics, Spinnerbaits, Spoons, Topwater, Trolling |
| Fishing Spots: | 5111 Spotted Bass fishing spots. |
Latest Spotted Bass Fishing Reports and Spots
Winter is one of the best seasons for spotted bass. Cobb explains that they form large schools around baitfish making them easier to target. Zo (
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Shad rap bite (
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Weiss is fishing really good at the moment. Both spots and largemouth are feeding agressively. The spotted bass can be found on gravel bars in (
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This warm weather has got the bass moving up looking for a place to spawn. The Spotted bass are around 8 to 16 feet around rocky banks and point (
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The bass fishing at Weiss is excellent at the moment. The lake is clearing up from the recent rains and is at winter pool which is 3 feet low. (
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