I fish a local pond that has only had largemouth, catfish, carp, and bluegill in it for over 18 years now.  This summer I started catchin some bass that had brighter bellies and clearer markings.  I didn't pay attention or notice at first, but then I began to wonder.  So the next time I caught one I looked and the tooth patch and dorsal fin and, sure enough, it was a spotted bass.  They haven't stocked any in there and there are no tributaries to the pond.  How do y'all think they got in there and established a large population????? :-?

Maybe some random person decide to put a few in a few years back.

Fish end up in many ponds that are never stocked. A bird could land in the water and grab something to eat and then move to another body of water, It is highly possible that the bird transplants the eggs to another area.

It happens all the time!!

-Nitroman

What the others said.

But id be taken advantage of it! Sounds like some good fun fishing mang!!

yeah i've heard all these ideas before but what i'm wondering is how they got such a large population up with all the bigger fish, snakes, herrons, and hawks we have.  And I've never heard of spots in a pond, normally they need large bodies of water

Someone had to place the spotted bass in the pond.

And maybe a number of them, too.

Or, they have been there for the 18 years and this is the first time you have caught them due to your excellent techniques and baits you learned to use on this fourm.  ;D

No matter, fish for them, too.

As you practice catch and release, I am sure their population will grow in the future.  

You guys are lucky. It sounds like you have a bunch of places to fish. Spots are a bunch of fun to catch.

Spots are normally river bass, similar to smallmouth and fill a different nitch than largemouth. The spots spawn deeper and a few degrees colder water, so their fry have a little head start on the largemouth.

Spots do not normally do very well over a long time period in ponds or small lakes, so my guess would be the spots were planted within the past few years.

Spots tend to be school feeders, like smallmouth and prefer crawdads and smaller profile baitfish. It sounds like the spots have a lot of competition for prey and may be more aggressive, then the largemouth that target the bluegill population in the weed beds areas.

Good luck and enjoy the spots while you can.

WRB