The young grow to 1-1/2 to 4 inches the first summer. Spotted basses tend to grow slower than largemouth bass and do not attain as large a size as other species. Similar to other black basses, spotted bass tend to stay near cover in the forms of stumps, logs, and other submerged structures. Spotted bass are usually found in areas with more current than largemouth bass and typically inhabit areas too warm, sluggish, and turbid for smallmouth bass. They do not enter brackish water and typically inhabit areas that separate them from closely related species like its largemouth bass and smallmouth bass cousins. Spotted bass may occupy reservoirs but are seldom found in natural lakes. Spotted bass prefers small to medium streams and rivers with clear, slow-moving water, gravel or rock bottoms, or clear lakes. Both spotted and largemouth bass are native to the central and eastern United States but have become widely introduced throughout the nation. Abundance is limited in this area, but the fish primarily occurs in and west of the Choctawhatchee River. While widely distributed outside Florida, the spotted bass is restricted to streams of the panhandle from the Perdido River to the Apalachicola River. There are dark markings above the lateral line, and below the lateral line, the scales have dark bases that give rise to the linear rows of small spots responsible for the name spotted bass.
The cheek scales are usually much smaller on a spotted bass than those on the rest of its body. In general, a spotted bass will resemble a largemouth bass in appearance but have a smaller mouth. However, unlike the largemouth, the spotted bass has scales on the base portion of the second dorsal fin its first and second dorsal fin are clearly connected, and its upper jaw does not extend past the eye.
It has a green to olive-green hue, white, mottled belly, and a broad stripe of broken blotches, usually diamond-shaped, along the body’s midline. Spotted bass are similar in appearance to the largemouth bass.
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