The photo on this page was shot on my iPhone last week and is unretouched except for minor cropping, and is typical of some bass with a blue lower jaw.
Here in south Florida, in Palm Beach County, in November and early December, a large proportion of largemouth bass that I am catching, perhaps around 20%, have a curious irridescent blue coloration under the lower lip and jaw. Sometimes this is bright blue, as in the photo on this page. But more often it is a pretty pale turquoise evident over most of the lower jaw and sometimes on the opercula. It is seen more often in the smaller specimens, little dinks and 1/2 pounders, and more often in fish from large aggressive schools of small bass that are readily caught in open water, schools that abound here in November. The weirdest thing about it, is that I could not find any reference to the blue color on the internet. Are they pre-spawn males spruced up for mating? Have any of you bassers noticed this or have a comment or info about the blue coloration?
