Invasive Alabama Bass found in Kentucky waterways

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Awesome. We got an announcement this week that we have an invader amongst us.

[00:00:06]Can you talk a little bit about this invasive Alabama bass and how the heck they got into our waterways?

[00:00:14]>> So, the Alabama bass is a fish that is native to the Mobile region, Mobile River region down in Georgia and Alabama. And more than likely, how it got into Lake Glennville was through an an unauthorized introduction. Um, it wasn't anything that our agency brought into the lake.

[00:00:35]>> And can you talk about like what that looks like? Is someone was fishing down there and brought fish into our waterways. Why would some I mean, can you kind of just for those that aren't familiar with the angller lifestyle, why someone would do that and what that, you know, repercussions could be for us here.

[00:00:51]>> Right. They're down in their native range. They do exceptionally well.

[00:00:56]They've got really good growth rates.

[00:00:58]Um, so anglers like them just because they like to catch big fish. Um, so a lot of folks look at it and say, "Well, if they grow great down here, then we should also have them in our water bodies up here." So they might go fishing down in Georgia, catch a great big spotted bass because it looks identical to our Kentucky spotted bass.

[00:01:20]Um, so for us, you know, you bring it up here out of its native range and it's going to out compete the largemouth bass. Um, so a lot of a lot of states who have had these introductions in of Alabama bass into their water bodies, they see a big decline in the numbers of largemouth bass, which anglers in Kentucky love catching largemouth bass.

[00:01:43]Um, if a water body has smallmouth bass or spotted bass in that lake, a lot of times the Alabama bass will start to hybridize with the smallmouth bass and the spotted bass. And so you're going to see declines in the native smallmouth and spotted bass as well.

[00:02:00]>> It sounds like these are really hard to tell the difference between. You can't just look at them and see that they're not from here. How did you guys know to go test and look for that? And um you know, was that kind of a surprise to to find out?

[00:02:14]>> Um we were just out doing our routine sampling. Um Lake Lynville is not known for having really large spotted bass. Um and and honestly, it was the size of the two fish that we caught out of the net that made me think that these were definitely not our normal Kentucky spotted bass. Um, I hesitate to talk about the size that they can get because their initial when they get initially introduced into a lake, they can do good for a year or two, but after that, once they start overpopulating, then you end up with a population of very short small fish, you know, pound size fish. So, it's not good in the long run. Um, and a lot of people may think, hey, you know, this isn't going to hurt because initially they see a big fish, but in the long run, that's when things start to get really bad. Um, and a lot of this stuff can happen within a 10-year time frame of going from a nice largemouth bass dominated lake to one that's dominated by a lot of small Alabama bass.

[00:03:13]>> And obviously, some of our watering holes are known for uh their collection of bass. And this can that crossbreeding can really cause some issues and mess things up. What is it you want voters, recreators, fisher folk to know this summer? How can we help and and clean up this problem situation, if you will?

[00:03:34]>> So, the big thing is just don't move fish around. Um, you know, a lot of people don't have they they don't set out with negative intentions by moving a fish. Um, but those long-term consequences can be very very detrimental. So, the big thing is, you know, leave the fish in the lake that you catch them, unless you're harvesting them and taking them home, but don't put them in another water body.

[00:03:56]Um, and is there anything else you want people to know and understand? I mean, it sounds like, you know, we don't know how many. No way to We don't have tags. There's no way to like, you know, really, but um, I guess just monitoring and keeping an eye on it to see where things go from here and how to best monitor and track that moving forward.

[00:04:17]Yeah. So, right now we've gone out and we've done additional sampling. Um we're getting a baseline for for spotted bass in Lake Lynville. Um we've collected a hundred additional fish to send off to have them genetically identified because it is very difficult to just look at a spotted bass versus an Alabama bass and know what you have for sure. Um so we've done additional sampling there. Um we're also going to continue to monitor spotted bass in Laurel River Lake, Lake Cumberland. um because those are some lakes that are near Lake Lynville. Um we definitely don't want them getting into Lynville or Laurel and Cumberland just because they do have a really good smallmouth bass fishery. So, you know, we are definitely monitoring the situation to see what we have for sure.

[00:05:01]Um and then deciding where we need to go from there.

[00:05:05]And does it help to have, you know, Tennessee and some of these other states who have already experienced this a little bit of their data to kind of track and and know how to best tackle this issue and problem?

[00:05:16]>> Yeah. And the problem is is once they get into that system, it's impossible to get them out. Um, but we do have a lot of good information from our n neighboring states in terms of what they're seeing. Um, and so we kind of know what to expect a little bit um of of what's going to happen down the road.

[00:05:31]Um, so it's just a matter of time seeing what ends up happening at Lynville, but based on what we've seen on a lot of the other states, it's it's not going to be a good situation.

[00:05:42]>> Anything else you want to get the word out about? Maybe you have gotten questions. I know you guys have a whole page dedicated to frequently asked questions, so anything else you want people to know and understand?

[00:05:52]>> No, just just be very cognizant of not moving fish around. Um, and that's going to be the best thing to help us in the long run is just to not move fish around of different water bodies.

[00:06:03]>> Marcy, thank you so much for your time.

[00:06:05]I'm sure we'll check back in with you and and see how things are progressing.

[00:06:09]>> Well, I appreciate you reaching out to us.

[00:06:11]>> Of course. Thank you.