Green largemouths

[Keepin_It_Reel]

I was fishing a pond to day and wasnt doin good and a old guy was fishin close by and he was pulling them in almost every cast. I went and asked him what he was using and he was using a spinnerbait like me and said the fish he had been catching were really green and that means that they spend alot of time in shallow water. Is this true?

[Madhouse27]

It's not easy being green

[Reaction_Strike]

Sounds kinda...fishy...to me.  Like an old wive's tale or something.

[basser89]

What was the water color? Was it clear? Bass are an ambush feeder and if the water was clear, that would explain it. The bass will get darker (turn more green) to help conseal themselves in the grass or other structure.

[Keepin_It_Reel]

The water had alot of plants and weeds in it. it was very clear.

[basser89]

The bass in my pic was caught in a clear lake that has a TON of hydrilla. See what I mean?

[Pond-Pro]

         I dont think that the fish were green just because they were in shallow water.  There is probably a lot of weads in that pond, thats why the fish would be more green.

[bowjunkie35]

Some truth to this old wives tale. The deeper you catch bass, the more pale they will be due to lack of light infiltration. Catching them shallow, well, Mr. (or Mrs.) Bass will reveal more of his/her true colors.

To put it into perspective, it is kind of like you in the sun. If you spend alot of time exposed to it, you will get some "color". Spend alot of time indoors (deep) you will be pale.

While bass don't get a tan, you can see the similarities in the above example.

[Kendammit]

has to do with the light, for sure.  Catch a bass late into the night hours and it'll be much, much lighter than daytime fish.  Catch one in the middle of the day in shallow water and see how green it is.  Of course, the water would have to be kinda clear during the day for it to be green.  A pond I fish right now is stained to muddy water, and all fish are a pretty pale grey or very light green color.  Earlier in the summer when the water was clear due to no rains, the fish were all very green.

[Guest hydrillagorilla]

I think it all has some place but I agree with the theory of light creates darker bass in general.  or forces them to blend in with their surroundings.  

Rember those early season bass - gray/white color.  They have not been in the sun.  

[bassaddict62]

All the bass I catch are light green/greyish too. Also, the lateral line is barely visible. Some of the bass in pics are vivid green with a black lateral line. I don't know what the factor is. The lakes I fish are very clear (some weedy, some not).

[Minuteman]

Bill Dance or Roland Martin was talking about this on one of their shows this summer. Of course not only do I forget which one, I also forget what they said. It did have to do with the depth and the light that gets through.

[Keepin_It_Reel]

The depth has some thing to do with it. i think that bowjunkie35 made it sound like a tan that was a good way to put it. the old wise fisherman must be right i cant belive i doubted him lol

[Rebbasser]

I think it is the water clarity.  Bass I catch in clear water are that beautiful green color, butbass I catch in muddy water are typically very pale.  the reason IMO is the bass blend into their surroundings.

[Nick]

Me thinks the old fellow was using n effective bait in theright place.

[tipptruck1]

Well i have to agree with every body on this post. i fish for lost of small mouth there almost black/dark brown. Snice we really have no type of weed or plant life in the river were i fish so thefish have to blend in with the rocks that are black/brown.

[master_baiter]

here's one to turn u around about color light and weeds.  this summer i caught many bass one day and was fishing alot of different areas of the same lake.  it is a very clear lake can see bottom at 15+ feet.  so anyways i caught alot in weeds and some on rock/sand bars.  Ones in weeds were great coloring while the rock were browner and the sand bar ones were pale not much color like they were sun bleached out.  just my input

[Bass Hammer]

Went to our bass pro shop yesterday and was looking at the fish in the giant tank.

It has a gravel bottom and no plant life. Every bass was very pale.

Hammer

[Fisher of Men]

IMO this would have to do with the pigment in their skin.  It seems that it would work just like ours.  The more time we spend in the sun, we get darker and vice-versa.  Why would this be any different in bass.

[Chris]

Bass change colors to blend in with their suroundings.

[BillyBob]

Believe this or not I've had em change color in the live well in an 8hr tournament. Lose most of their lateral stripe and turn white-ish. Unfortunatly also had a couple in my life turn black!  :'(