That article summarizes the issue very well. The AL bass is such a prolific breeder that it hybridizes with many native populations of bass and essentially eliminates them. And one of the big problems with them is that even people with a fisheries degree can't just look at them and be positive whether they are AL bass, spotted bass, or some type of hybrid. I don't think you want them to be stocked anywhere outside their native range, and it is actually pretty small.

I read that report. It quotes their version of TP&WD.

I'm just curious. Are these the same "protectors of our fisheries" who decided what our state really needs is to eradicate hydrilla because it is not native to Texas...while at the same time stocking our lakes full of Florida bass that are not native to Texas, and whose natural environment is weedy lakes full of vegetation such as...

Hydrilla?

I don't believe everything I read.

PK used to have some monster Spots in it back in the day. That was before all the algae blooms. Haven't caught one there in almost 20 years. Good news was I did catch a smallmouth this past November. They have had a couple of small number stockings with smaller fish. This one was 12" long so hopefully they will get back to the numbers the lake used to have.

See Cypress Springs compared to 15 years ago.

Just for some clarification;
The fish known as the "Coosa Spot" was made its own species in 2008 - The Alabama Bass.
That left two subspecies of "Spotted Bass"; the Northern Spotted Bass and the Witchita (?)
The Northern Spotted Bass is also called the Kentucky Spotted Bass by a lot of anglers.

The Northern Spotted Bass on a couple searches shows a range that extends into Texas.
The TWRA site says the only stocking of "spotted bass" was 150 Alabama Bass stocked in 1996. (In Alan Henry)
Maybe what you see in other Texas lakes are actually Northern Spotted Bass.

Northern Spotted Bass grow to two or three pounds, 16 inches or so. Some get larger.
Alabama Bass grow to double digits . . 24 inches or longer.
My largest is 5-6.

The best Alabama Bass lakes I fish are different from good Largemouth Bass lakes.
Lakes / Impoundments with good Bama Spots have:
Current (most but not all)
Large schools of bait fish that they usually share with Hybrid and / or Saltwater Stripe (Rockfish).
Little or no weeds / grass
Rocky shorelines
Fair amount of deep water (over 30')

When I target Bama Spots, it is much more like fishing for smallmouth than largemouth.
Smallmouth and Spots are very similar in feeding behavior.
I don't think our Bama Spots have ruined any of our Alabama largemouth lakes.

Please post any corrections of errors I've made.

They are not frowned on in every state:

That was a good post, and I agree with you on all points. The Alabama bass certainly have not ruined any of the waters in which they naturally exist with LM. I don't think that even people who study fish for a living fully understand why they can exist normally with LM in their native environment, but then seem to take over when moved to a place where they aren't native. Most bass fisherman have probably never heard of it, but the AL bass have greatly damaged the Redeye bass in a number of streams in the southeast by hybridizing them out of existence when moved to new water.

The AL bass native range is limited to the Mobile river basin. I don't understand how they have existed side by side with Redeye and LM in their native range without issue, but then become such a problem when moved to new water. And the fact that the fisheries people don't fully understand either is something I think should make us cautious about moving fish outside their native range. It doesn't seem to be a lot of concern about moving FL LM all over the country, but who knows if that doesn't cause problems down the road.

Maybe a lot of the issue with the AL bass is that we are now dealing with bodies of water that aren't natural in the first place. Building dams and turning rivers into lakes creates habitat that is completely different from the habitat they lived in for thousands of years. The AL bass seems to be prolific enough to thrive in a lot of places. It's actually my favorite fish and I spend more time chasing them than anything else, but I don't think you want to spread them through Texas.