Bass with red lips

[FishDewd]

I was told by an old timer once that its a sign of approaching pre-spawn.

[CrankFate]

 

 

All I know is it is disappointing that science knows so little about such well known fish. There are more fishermen who know more about fish than scientists.

 

 

[kenmitch]

Them are the one's waiting for a kiss from Jimmy Houston or some other legend in the industry.

[Koz]

On 1/30/2016 at 7:03 PM, A-Jay said:

Maybe it's chapped lips ~  

A-Jay

 

"Honey, does this shade of red make my bass look too big?"

[the reel ess]

18 hours ago, ArizonaFishing said:

I caught a bass today with red lips. There are no craws in this body of water. Also water temps are very low right now. Rocky bottom, mid January

I'd bet there are craws there. I fished my home lake for more than 30 years, even lived there for years, before ever seeing a crawfish there. The only one I ever saw was in a fish.

 

But I doubt that's the reason for the red in the mouth. I agree with you that it's water temp related. Bass eat craws year-round. but they don't keep the red lips. My theory is their body moves blood toward the lips to help them feed in winter because they're cold blooded creatures.

[the reel ess]

18 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

For me we've come full circle with the thread about new members reviving old threads. I've never seen this thread and found it very interesting and I'm glad it was revived! Thank you! 

Me too. Because it was one I started. 3 years old now.

[ArizonaFishing]

On 1/16/2019 at 9:39 AM, the reel ess said:

I'd bet there are craws there. I fished my home lake for more than 30 years, even lived there for years, before ever seeing a crawfish there. The only one I ever saw was in a fish.

 

But I doubt that's the reason for the red in the mouth. I agree with you that it's water temp related. Bass eat craws year-round. but they don't keep the red lips. My theory is their body moves blood toward the lips to help them feed in winter because they're cold blooded creatures.

There are no craws. It's a seasonal stocked pond. Was dry 3 months ago. I put the bass there. 

[OCdockskipper]

You would be surprised where crayfish show up.  In areas that dry up seasonally, the crayfish burrow deep enough to get in dirt (mud) that still has moisture in it.  When the pond refills, they come out of their burrows.

 

I saw this first hand on the creek that runs from the dam at Canyon Lake into Lake Elsinore.  For much of the year, especially during the summer, the area is just a dry creekbed.  As a teen, my uncle took me there one June day, and had me help him flip over the largest boulders we could handle.  Sure enough, you could see the burrows, some inches deep, some a couple of feet deep.  Most of the burrows had multiple crayfish in them.

[the reel ess]

23 hours ago, ArizonaFishing said:

There are no craws. It's a seasonal stocked pond. Was dry 3 months ago. I put the bass there. 

They are routinely found in ditches that dry up seasonally

[TnRiver46]

I didn't know there was water without crawdads. Then again I have only been to Arizona briefly and it was snowing 

[Khmcmillan]

In South Texas. We caught two from a small pond that had these red lips. Our lakes and ponds never freeze and these guys were still sporting the lipstick. Figured I'd put my two cents in from another state. 

[Quick32]

I’ve caught 20+ this spring with red mouth. But the bigger ones don’t have it. ?

[burr56]

Just an off the wall thought. Has anyone looked into whether crawdads get redder colored in colder water, maybe there's something there to see or maybe eliminate? Burr

[jbsoonerfan]

On 1/29/2019 at 8:47 PM, OCdockskipper said:

You would be surprised where crayfish show up.  In areas that dry up seasonally, the crayfish burrow deep enough to get in dirt (mud) that still has moisture in it.  When the pond refills, they come out of their burrows.

 

I saw this first hand on the creek that runs from the dam at Canyon Lake into Lake Elsinore.  For much of the year, especially during the summer, the area is just a dry creekbed.  As a teen, my uncle took me there one June day, and had me help him flip over the largest boulders we could handle.  Sure enough, you could see the burrows, some inches deep, some a couple of feet deep.  Most of the burrows had multiple crayfish in them.

When I was a kid (9-12) I could catch crawdads in my front yard after a big rain on a piece of string and bacon, They were so much fun to catch. When I could walk to the creeks and catch them I was so excited.

[The Bassman]

4 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

When I was a kid (9-12) I could catch crawdads in my front yard after a big rain on a piece of string and bacon, They were so much fun to catch. When I could walk to the creeks and catch them I was so excited.

We did exactly the same thing in the drainage ditch behind our house. Our side yard is full of "mud volcanoes" right now.  Wonder what my neighbor would think about a 65 year old man dangling a string in them?

[Dude87]

Hey guys, I wanted to add to this thread. I looked it up because I caught 2 large-mouth with crawdad imitations when nothing was biting. Both had red lips and I thought that was weird. Not so hard to believe when you consider flamingos are born gray and then turn pink after eating shrimp. Maybe the same dye in shrimp is found in crawdads. 

[Eli collier]

I think that the bass eat the crawfish in the winter because the water temps are getting colder and they don’t want to lose energy so they go for something a little slower and easier to “catch”/eat and  since the crawfish are on the bottom the bass are rubbing their mouths on the sand ,rocks there for making their lips red