Ever Seen A Bass With Red Eyes

[LxVE Bassin]

Caught this largemouth in Indianapolis, IN in pond that is filled by a nearby creek win it overflows. She had red eyes. 

[soflabasser]

Have caught plenty of largemouth bass with orange-red eyes in South Florida.Peacock bass often have eyes with a bright red color(peacock are not a true bass,but largemouth bass are not true bass either).

[geo g]

On 7/18/2013 at 10:22 AM, J Francho said:

 

 

 

Just a quick bit of info, rockies and black bass do not hybridize.  Same for crappie.  They are too far apart, genetically, though both belong to the sunfish (Centrarchidae) family.

 

Here's a cool article: http://www.in-fisherman.com/2012/08/24/hybrid-black-bass/

 

Here's a smallmouth with red eyes:

 

   Great article, I continually learn new facts about bass and fishing almost every week.  Thanks for posting that!

[Falkus]

After thinking about this , thoughts appeared in my head reflecting my youth days. 

 

If those largemouth bass who have red eyes which are rare. It should be renamed to "Largemouth/Smallie Stoner Eyes Bass" 

 

 

[Nitro 882]

Check out "Suwannee Bass".

[CTBassin860]

Never.But one time I caught a cross eyed bass with those dragon eye contacts.

[OCdockskipper]

I caught this one this past Thursday in Texas in the Blanco River, right below a small waterfall.  The eye is more orange than red.  I am not sure if this is a Guadalupe bass or a spotted bass, it seems like the characteristics of those two species is very similar.  In any case, tough little fish, fought really hard for his size.

 

I still can't figure out why half my pictures come out upside down here... If a mod can flip this 90 degrees for me, I would appreciate it.

[dwh4784]

A lot of the river smallies I catch have red eyes.

[Garret88]

Caught in northern-ish MI

[clh121787]

I've probably caught a dozen small mouth bass in my life and I think they all had red eyes. Countless large mouth I can remember one with red eyes. She was a beautiful fish. And had almost an iridescent green golden glow to her. Unlike the other fish we caught around that same day

[Matt McB]

Check out this largemouth stoner.  %100 black bass.  Caught in San Antonio lake. 

[Bluebasser86]

9 hours ago, Matt McB said:

Check out this largemouth stoner.  %100 black bass.  Caught in San Antonio lake. 

FWIW, all of the fish we call "bass", are black bass. There's 9 different species of black bass in North America.

[AlTheFisherman313]

Never seen it on a LMB

 

on a SMB or a rock bass I see it frequently.

 

maybe a genetic/environmental influence? 

 

[Moondance3020]

Did it look like this?  I caught this bass today in MN.

[Koz]

Oddly enough, every red eyed bass I have ever caught weighed exactly 4.20 pounds.

 

(I don't partake in that activity, but I just couldn't resist the snarky comment).

[bazzelite19]

Lol usually these means they are actually spawning or about to spawn. I see this commonly march and April in the midwest. Their eyes turn red to attract mates i believe. Kind of like bluegills will get more vibrantly colored as they spawn. Again, for the purpose of drawing in mates. Just like a bass gets darker in the sun hanging around shallow grass and lighter in muddy water or during winter down deeper thier eyes can change color just the same. I believe that process is called pigmentation. Bass are like chameleons in many ways in that they can change color to thier surroundings to hunt and survive as fry. They have many adaptations. Just like countershading, most fish are light on bottom and darker on top. Looking from below they blend into the lighy sky. From above, the darker topside blends with the bottom. 

[kayaking_kev]

I was going through some of my videos and came across this fish and it made me remember this thread.

 

River Smallie in early Spring, a lot of them and the Rock Bass have the red rings around their eyes. I don't really see it later in the season, so I always assumed it had something to do with spawning.

 

[TnRiver46]

On 1/27/2020 at 9:40 PM, kayaking_kev said:

I was going through some of my videos and came across this fish and it made me remember this thread.

 

River Smallie in early Spring, a lot of them and the Rock Bass have the red rings around their eyes. I don't really see it later in the season, so I always assumed it had something to do with spawning.

 

I got one Sunday, 47 degree water . Then a largemouth moments later with somewhat red eyes 

[kayaking_kev]

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I got one Sunday, 47 degree water 

I dunno, maybe a cold water thing, but I don't really know.

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said:

I dunno, maybe a cold water thing, but I don't really know.

Me either 

[A-Jay]

 

Caught my fair share of Red Eyed Brown bass ~

 

 

A-Jay

[kayaking_kev]

50 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 

Caught my fair share of Red Eyed Brown bass ~

 

 

A-Jay

OMG! What beautiful fish! Them things could probably eat my PB Smallie.

[Boomstick]

A lot of rock bass and even smallmouth bass have red eyes but I don't think I ever saw a largemouth with red eyes.

[soflabasser]

On 3/28/2017 at 8:35 PM, Nitro 882 said:

Check out "Suwannee Bass".

I caught a couple of them since I my made my last post in this subject, they are one of my favorite black bass species to fish for. At this point in time I have caught most black bass species that have been identified and I would say the Suwannee bass has some of the reddest eyes I have seen on a black bass. They fight hard for their size and live in beautiful places so they are a fish worth catching if you enjoy bass fishing.

[TnRiver46]

On 2/1/2020 at 10:27 PM, Boomstick said:

A lot of rock bass and even smallmouth bass have red eyes but I don't think I ever saw a largemouth with red eyes.

I caught yet another this weekend. It seems almost every large mouth I’ve caught recently has red eyes