Features
Spotted Bass have a moderately compressed elongated body with coloration and markings similar to those of the largemouth bass. Both have light green to light brown hue on the back and upper sides, white lower sides and belly and a broad stripe of diamond-shaped blotches along the midline of the body.
The Spotted Bass is a slender fish, streamlined and shaped sunfish much like a largemouth with the upper jaw extending slightly past the rear margin of the red eye when the mouth is closed. The sides are greenish in colour with darker mottlings and golden-shaded reflections. There is a broad dark continuous stripe along the side, but the margins of this stripe are noticeably more broken and uneven than in largemouth bass.
The stripe is hardly noticeable on large fish or on fish in turbid water. The lower sides have spots arranged in distinct rows that form a series of horizontal stripes. The tail fin in young Spotted Bass has a black vertical bar that separates the yellowish-orange fin base from a whitish fringe along the rear margin of the fin. The dark bar usually forms a black spot in the middle of the tail fin. The pyloric caeca of Spotted Bass are not forked, like those of smallmouth bass.
Size
Spotted Bass are a medium size bass. While not as small as the whiterock bass, it is no way near the massive sizes that the striper bass reach. However, reaching an average size of four to five pounds, it is fun to catch and offers a good fight. The world record Spotted Bass was caught in California in 1994 and weighed nine pounds seven ounces.
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The growth rate for the Spotted Bass matches that of the Largemouth Bass for the first year of life. After the first year, it's rate of growth slows. On average, they will reach four inches at the end of their first year, seven inches by the end of the second year, ten inches by the end of year three and an average of 12 inches in the end of the fourth year. However, these lengths are on average with different locales being faster and slower with there maximum length being two feet.
The average weight of Spotted Bass caught usually is no more than three pounds.
Popular Foods
The Spotted Bass will chase after baitfish like fathead minnows, golden shiners, gizzard shad as well as the fry of other bass species. They enjoy leeches and worms as well as crayfish. The key to fishing for them is to use baits large enough to get their attention. Spotted Bass tend to have an appetite larger than their mouth.
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