Bass Color

[bmuskin]

You know as I look at pics and compare to mine. I really notice some difference in color and particuarly depth of color. I have caught some nice ones out of a subdivision pond lately, and the bigger 4 pounds plus seem unusually green on the back and hed and very pale on the body. Really no stripe at all. I caught one an hour south of me and it was more gold colored. Not like a smallmouth but more brown than green. They all had smooth tongues so they were not spotted or smallies but were LMB. My qustion is this why the color variation, Diet, Vegetation, Minerals, Genetics? What goes into play here.

[-HAWK-]

I think alot of it has to do with water clarity. Clear water will give a fish a more golden color with less visible markings. Where as a fish from murky/ heavily Vegitated water the fish will appear darker with more pronounced markings.

[J Francho]

Water clarity, bottom color, weed color, light penetration, depth, diet, and water color all influence color.

[WRB]

Bass use color to blend into the background and an change color to some degree.

If the lake has a lot of weeds, that indicates the water is low in PH or higher in acid then alkaline. The water clarity or depth the light penetrates also affects color. Generally the clearer the water the lighter the basses green tones become, the darker the water the darker the coloration becomes. A bass hiding to ambush prey wants to blend into the background.

Stress levels also change the basses coloration, the higher stress levels the more blotchy the darker color areas become. Highly stressed bass will show signs of stress with diamound shaped dark blotches above the lateral line and the lateral line starts to break up and fade. Bass loose color as the they die.

WRB

[Jig Man]

The general color of a fish also depends on whether or not it was actively feeding.  Fish on the prowl are more colorful because of hormones than those just hanging around.  OR at least that is what the big boys told me.

[dman]

I think alot of it has to do with water clarity. Clear water will give a fish a more golden color with less visible markings. Where as a fish from murky/ heavily Vegitated water the fish will appear darker with more pronounced markings.

i have noticed the exact opposite.....My clear water fish' markings are much more pronounced and darker and the muddy\stained fish are more a solid light green with few markings....Could just be location differences maybe.

[JShrock07]

I think alot of it has to do with water clarity. Clear water will give a fish a more golden color with less visible markings. Where as a fish from murky/ heavily Vegitated water the fish will appear darker with more pronounced markings.

I would have to disagree with you. I have a "gin clear" lake. the deepest part of this 85 acre lake is 35'. There is a large amount of vegatation in the shallows on the shoreline.

Almost all the bass we catch out of this lake are dark green, not goldish or pale but the colors on these fish are so deep these fish really are the nicest looking fish I have ever caught. Many other people will say the same thing about this lake. I have caught many larger bass about 7-9 lbs out on this lakes in previous years and they had the same type of markings.

I have another pond that has little to no vegatation for the fish and it is about 15 acres big. It is surrounded with trees and you can barely fish from shore. I put my boat in and fish the edges. (This pond is only 4' feet deep at its deepest spots.) I have caught my PB out of this pond at 10.2lbs. The bass in this pond is very murky year round and most of the fish here are paler looking.

[-HAWK-]

I was just stating from personal experience. I fish two lakes on a regular basis. One lake is gin clear with almost zero vegatation, and the fish are almost a solid gold color with very little markings at all. The other lake is loaded with hydrilla and weeds, and the water is always dark and murky. the fish that come out of there are very dark in coloration with very distinguished markings.

Heavily Vegitated lake/ dark water

Clear Lake/ no vegatation