Spotted bass

They inhabit most rivers in the Florida parishes. The tickfaw river at hwy 42 has a primitive launch perfect for kayaks and easy paddling. I’ve caught them here using 1/8 oz white beetle spin. The amite river anywhere north of I-12 produces too with small jointed jerk baits in dark colors and using fly rod with chartreuse poppers. Fun little fish on light tackle. Good luck.

There are some in the Spillway. They are (naturally) in moving water. Years ago I used to catch 1 or 2 every trip - now it's one every 6-7 trips.

Comite or upper end of Amite. Use light tackle because they will all be 8-12".

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state record was submitted from False River a few years back (it was over 5lb if I remember correctly)

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Nothing since 1988 has cracked the top 10. Sometimes people catch a largemouth with a tongue patch and submit it as a spot but those usually get DNA tested and shown to be largemouth.



Also, because of all the hurricanes blowing through the Northshore rivers and having big fish kills the past 20 years, not many big fish are caught. Anything over 3lbs is a giant.

Keep in mind too, our native spots are northern spotted bass (sometimes called Kentucky bass) and different from the Alabama bass (also referred to as "spotted bass") found in the Tennessee River system and stocked in Cali. Those fish grow much larger and 5lb fish are much more plentiful.

I agree. Here's the pic of the fish, it's definitely different than the usual LMB we see. Whatcha think???

LINK

I caught one around 4.5 lbs in the 80s and tied it to a tree. String came loose apparently and he was gone. (Wade fishing)
Never caught one bigger than 2.5 since....
Comite river about where O’Neal is now

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I caught one around 4.5 lbs in the 80s and tied it to a tree. String came loose apparently and he was gone. (Wade fishing)

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I wish I had a dollar for every story like this I've heard. Very similar to..

"I caught a 4 lb sacalait as a kid. Mawmaw took a polaroid then we fried him. Would have been the state record had we known."

"My dad killed a deer in Walker that pegged out a 350lb scale in the 1970s. He must have been 400 lbs."

I’m loving this thread on spotted bass. I grew up on the Coosa River in Alabama and fished Lay Lake, Mitchell, Lake Jordan and the Alabama River hundreds of times. I learned early that the spotted bass was my favorite. I’ve caught many over 4 lbs. and a good number over 5. The biggest I ever caught was 5 lbs 9 ozs. I’ve been in the boat when my partner caught a 6 pounder. It’s a strong pulling fish and I usually use a small spinning reel on a 6ft medium rod with 8 pound test that would give me quite a thrill especially with anything over 2 lbs. I retired and moved to Florida nine years ago and I sure do miss my spotted bass fishing.

Where the jaw ends is past the back of the eye. From growing up fishing small rivers in LA my dad taught me that’s a largemouth. Spots jaw no further than back of eye was the rule of thumb in our house. Not sure how accurate that is.

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Y'all have to look at the video by Stoked On Fishing's YouTube channel. They broke the spotted bass world record

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That's all Alabama bass, not Northern spotted bass we have in LA.