Orange smallmouth

[The Baron]

Have you ever seen a smallmouth this orange?  This was my last cast of the afternoon and he came up off a shallow rock shoal to smack a walking bait.  Neither my buddy nor I recall ever seeing one this orange, but we did notice looking down that the rocks were a similar color, maybe due to high iron in the water.  This is from a small, somewhat remote lake in Ontario.  The photo has not been altered and he was every bit as orange in hand.

[Log Catcher]

I read an article many years ago about this. It said the coloration of a SMB was determined by the colors of the environment it was in.

[Way north bass guy]

Yup. Around my neck of the woods we get some lakes where they are similar in colour, sometimes also a real nice copper colour too. Seems to be mainly in darker, tea stained coloured lakes ( the water gets stained that way around here from all the white pine growing around the shoreline). Also caught this guy a couple years ago, he was an anomaly though as all the rest from that particular lake are regular coloured. 

[FryDog62]

This one was pretty orange... I think on a sunny day would have shown the color more.  Could be tannick stain, eating rusty crayfish... or just getting ready for Halloween... 
 

 

[Chris Catignani]

21 minutes ago, Way north bass guy said:

Yup. Around my neck of the woods we get some lakes where they are similar in colour, sometimes also a real nice copper colour too. Seems to be mainly in darker, tea stained coloured lakes ( the water gets stained that way around here from all the white pine growing around the shoreline). Also caught this guy a couple years ago, he was an anomaly though as all the rest from that particular lake are regular coloured. 

It almost looks like a Kentucky/smallmouth hybrid. Are there Kentucky bass in the lake?

[The Baron]

33 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

Are there Kentucky bass in the lake?

Not that I’m aware of.  We’re in central/eastern Ontario, Canada.  Thankfully, your delicious bourbon does make its way up here.  But I’ve never even heard of a Kentucky bass. 

[Way north bass guy]

Yeah, we’re a LONG ways from any Kentucky bass up here. 

[Log Catcher]

22 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

Yeah, we’re a LONG ways from any Kentucky bass up here. 

Kentucky Bass is just another name for a Spotted Bass.

[Way north bass guy]

11 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

Kentucky Bass is just another name for a Spotted Bass.

I know. Still a long way from them. I’d have to drive for a couple days at least to find any spotted bass. 

[cyclops2]

My bass are a VERY bleached out greenish grey in early May. Then get  very darker green as green weeds fill in the bay.

[Thumber]

On 9/20/2021 at 7:34 PM, The Baron said:

Have you ever seen a smallmouth this orange?  This was my last cast of the afternoon and he came up off a shallow rock shoal to smack a walking bait.  Neither my buddy nor I recall ever seeing one this orange, but we did notice looking down that the rocks were a similar color, maybe due to high iron in the water.  This is from a small, somewhat remote lake in Ontario.  The photo has not been altered and he was every bit as orange in hand.

Xanthochromatism Or search for orange small mouth bass

[pdxfisher]

 

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

 

 

Hey man how ya feelin? 

[Swamp Girl]

I think A-Jay's massive smallies are orange.

[Koz]

I’m, it is Halloween. They are just getting in the spirit of the season.

[pdxfisher]

On 10/27/2022 at 6:16 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Hey man how ya feelin? 

I am hanging in there. I even did another fishing trip this past weekend. 6 dinky bass, 7 trout (trolling for them) including a 20" fatty and 2 nice sized crappie. It was a fun multi-species day which is what I like to do when I hit the local lake (Hagg) in the late fall. Kind of fun to mix it up. 

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

I am hanging in there. I even did another fishing trip this past weekend. 6 dinky bass, 7 trout (trolling for them) including a 20" fatty and 2 nice sized crappie. It was a fun multi-species day which is what I like to do when I hit the local lake (Hagg) in the late fall. Kind of fun to mix it up. 

Good to hear!!!