Coloring

[Vabass22]

I was windering if any of yall knew whether the coloring of a fish has anything to do with it's health? Do the surroundings make the color change? I have been catching very light-colored bass lately, and wonder if they are healthy or not.

[zooker]

no.. the bass coming up a light faded like color is a sign of cold water. the water temp it was sitting in must be at least 20 degrees cooler than the surface temp..most deep caught fish show this coloration..


zooker

[Vabass22]

Good, because I haver been doing real good at apond, but they are really light, and I have been concerned that there is a problemm there...

[skeeter944]

also,bass that are in weeds tend to be a little darker than bass in open water devoid of cover.

[KenDammit]

there are mainly three things that effect the color of a bass. The amount of direct sunlight its receiving, its immediate surroundings, and its general area. Example

A bass on the edge of a weedline(sunlight is hitting the fish, its near a green area, the bottom is a muddy color) the fish will be darker.

A bass under a big mess of grass or moss or whatever will be a lighter shading(less light penetration, maybe even completely black underneath in some spots)

A bass cruising around in the open(so long as the water is at least moderately clear) with direct sunlight will be a darker coloring, but will try to blend in a bit with the bottom coloring....(lighter bottom, less prominent, darker bottom, more prominent)

each skin cell on a largemouth contains pigment that reacts to light...more light, they expand, less light, they contract. The amount of light hitting their eyes also effects their coloring. The main objective of a largemouth changing colors is to reduce the contrast between itself and its surroundings...in other words, it wants to blend in or camoflauge itself.

http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/articles/T10.htm

[JB]

the bass here that stay under the mat of topwater vegetation/slime usually are very black looking on the back, and like zooker stated, the cold water ones ya get in the spring are lighter in color

[Vabass22]

Good to know, thanks guys, I'm catching them in water 7 feet deep at most, anbd there is barely any structure around, a few isolated weed beda on the bottom.

[RandyHolt]

Bumping this old thread. I saw a really light colored large emerge from the depths and visit me on the shore. I have caught many at this lake and never seen one colored like that. I have seen smallies on the potomac like that, but not a large. He was very light in color, no black strip, no black tail; hardly any green if any at all. I would guess he was 3.5+ pounds. He was in the sunlight and I get a great look at him. He came towards shore about 5 feet away he turns back and burrows into the hydrilla. I ripped my fluke back in and flipped out past him as fast as i could. But I pulled the fluke towards him way too hot and instantly spooked him. Last time i saw one on shore like that was about 2.5 months ago.

Reading the posts above, it seems he was in the deep where the water temps are about 20 degrees lower.

[BigBassin144]

muddy water will also lighten a bass' color, or most any fish for that matter.

BB

[RandyHolt]

Thanks BB144. The lake has been clear basically all summer. I need to do more research.

I know fish cant change extreme depths that quickly. And now i wonder just how deep he was before I spotted him, and how long it would take for him to resume normal coloring. It seemed he was digging for a crayfish the way he burrowed thru the drilla and was kicking up some dirt. he must have been cold and hungry and bolted up to the hot tub to grab a snack. I ruined that plan with my magnum fluke.

[Raul]

There are a couple of lakes I fish near my hometown, the water there is always milky ( muddy ) the bass that come from there are almost silver with no markings.

[RandyHolt]

Thanks for that info Raul. I knew someone here had to have seen that same colorless large. And maybe its milky down in the depths or wherever he has been chillin out. It just caught me off guard; I had never seen that (lack of) color in the lake I have been working for 5 years.

[Bucket]

Originally Posted by Vabass22

Good, because I haver been doing real good at apond, but they are really light, and I have been concerned that there is a problemm there...

They will darken up a bit when they hit that hot grease!

[MallenManson]

Around here, we get some seriously light colored bass in the really clear or shallow water lakes. I caught a little smallmouth on a lake here that was so light colored, it took me a minute to realize what it was.
Smallies and largemouth are really pretty in those conditions

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by Bucket

They will darken up a bit when they hit that hot grease!

Or take on the color of your favorite fry mix

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

Originally Posted by MallenManson

Around here, we get some seriously light colored bass in the really clear or shallow water lakes. I caught a little smallmouth on a lake here that was so light colored, it took me a minute to realize what it was.
Smallies and largemouth are really pretty in those conditions

It's exactly the opposite around here. The clearest water around is Lake Michigan and the bass are very dark and vivid, like the ones they draw on the cover of In-fisherman. It's also the coldest water around.

It's a fascinating subject to me. Bottom color/composition has got to be factored in I'd think. Various structure and cover as well. Also the size of the fish, or more precisely, it's position in the food chain in it's particular environment. Say, in prey mode, they school up and roam a little, whereas once they're the predator, they like to ambush from behind that stump in four foot of water.

What about when they spawn? Do they gradually grow darker? The muddiest water I fish is still about 10 inches secchi disk, so I've only seen really pale ones on TV.

[RandyHolt]

Chimming in about the smallies i get on the potomac, I get vastly different color variations within the same area on the same day. Doing a little research later on wondering what the heck i had caught that was so light, i came to the conclusion that it was just a very light colored smallie (i checked the mouth to make sure it was not a large at the time). But it still struck me as odd.

I cant even find any pics on the web of any like I have seen. I will take a picture the next time I get a silver or colorless large or small and post it up here.

[nofearengineer]

Yeah, I often wonder about this as it relates to the color of baits.

I understand why a bass would be more patterned in clear water (for its camoflaging effect) and paler in muddy water (same thing).

However, if camoflage is the point of it, why would we want to "match the forage" and hide our lures? Shouldn't we want to buck the trend, so to speak, and simulate an unhealthy or dying forage fish by going the opposite? This would make it more visible to the predators, right? This should be a good thing.

Maybe predators have that line they're not fooled by. As if it maybe looks too unnatural for them to believe. But then again, I've seen them hit some very unrealistic looking lures before, so I'm still confuzzled.

[RandyHolt]

Fish Camo Theory 101 says to me that the light colored bass basically is living or feeding in an area that is very light. A sandy bottom with little to no cover, for a lack of a better description. The dark green large or dark brown small are chilling or ambushing from grassy or hydrilla laden areas, or muddy rocky areas, respectively.

temps may certainly come into play but I have no experience there.