More On Smallie Colors...

[Al Agnew]

As a rule, murky water fish have less color than clear water fish, no matter which species of bass it is. They'll look "washed out" in murky water. Clear water fish will have more color but may or may not be a lot darker, depending upon where they were hanging out. You can see from my photos that a lot of fish caught in clear, shallow water in bright sunlight are very light. As a general rule, in clear water they will pretty closely match the color of the bottom, and if the bottom is brightly sunlit they'll be light and bright as well. Smallmouth have more color changing ability than largemouth and spotted bass--the LMB and SPB can easily go darker or lighter, with markings more or less pronounced, but they don't seem to be able to change their basic greenish or grayish green color cast. Smallies can be anything from brownish olive to bronze to brassy to almost orange to almost black. And also unlike spots and largemouth, their bellies change shades. No matter what color the LMB or SPB is, their belly will be that same pearl white, but smallie bellies can be almost anything between pure white and dark gray.

[Chief Grey Bear]

That is what I find strange about these "Grey" bass. They did not come from murky or even stained waters. This one in particular came in the early spring with very clear water.

But we have caught them at all times of the year. None have come out of back water either. So I can't really say at this time what it is. I know I never caught one in all my years of fishing this area until about two years ago.

And to add to that I have been catching more bass with a very pronouced pointed lower jaw. When I say more, I mean about a dozen or less a year. That is also something I had never done until a couple of years ago. I don't believe this to be from being hooked as a youngster either. They look really deformed.

[eric1978]

And to add to that I have been catching more bass with a very pronouced pointed lower jaw. When I say more, I mean about a dozen or less a year. That is also something I had never done until a couple of years ago. I don't believe this to be from being hooked as a youngster either. They look really deformed.

Maybe they're Chernobyl bass.

[Al Agnew]

That is what I find strange about these "Grey" bass. They did not come from murky or even stained waters. This one in particular came in the early spring with very clear water.

But we have caught them at all times of the year. None have come out of back water either. So I can't really say at this time what it is. I know I never caught one in all my years of fishing this area until about two years ago.

And to add to that I have been catching more bass with a very pronouced pointed lower jaw. When I say more, I mean about a dozen or less a year. That is also something I had never done until a couple of years ago. I don't believe this to be from being hooked as a youngster either. They look really deformed.

Chief, I have no idea on the gray bass...I'll occasionally catch a smallie that's obviously old or sick that has that grayish, washed out look, but the one in your picture seems healthy other than the color.

As to the pointy lower jaw, I've caught some like that, though not as many as you have. So since it's apparently widespread, if not common, it may be a recurring mutation, and there may be a cluster of fish with that mutation in the area you're fishing.

One thing that intrigues me is the shape of the soft dorsal and anal fin of smallies. If you look at my photos, some of the fish have a swept back, pointed edge to these fins. The 20 incher from the Mississippi trib is maybe the best example. Others have very rounded fins, such as the Current River fish and the very brown smallmouth. Adult fish on the Meramec river system commonly have swept back fins, fish in some of the southern Ozark streams seldom do, so it may be genetic. Or maybe not.

[Mitch f]

Chief,

I've noticed quite a few smallmouth on the Gasconade river in the special management area that had very a pronounced lower jaw, making them look deformed. I actually thought twice about removing them from the gene pool, but I released them anyway. I've also noticed Smallmouth with very large tails compared to their body on the same stretch of river. I believe every river has some degree of quirkiness of species. The question is; should we remove them from the river?

[eric1978]

The question is; should we remove them from the river?

I don't think so. If they are inferior somehow, natural selection will take care of it.

[Kicknbass]

Thanks for the photos Al. I enjoy catching those little rascals.

[taxidermist]

Sometimes the water and habitat has a lot to do with bass colors. Other times its mood. Largemouth bass are sometimes different colors from the same water. Years ago I fished with a cousin he caught three bass over 7 lbs from one stump in three consecutive cast on Table rock and all three were different colors, a light a very dark and a brown largemouth bass, water was gin clear at the time.

sometimes i think bass color has a lot to do with what they have been eating.

Last week i was trying to explain to a friend how smallmouth change color with in seconds. so we put one on a stringer in crooked creek, and in a couple minutes it was copper colored with dark bars, when caught it had been yellow bronze.

Anytime the water is a bit cloudy the fish are more pale in color.

In taxidermy we have an argument about bass colors, the guys from up north where the waters are tea colored seldom see largemouth with the harsh lines down their side like we have especially in the creeks.

You can see a huge variation in colors on fishing shows.

Smallies can be any color at anytime and dont blink they will change on you.

One of the oddest colored smallies i have seen was a olive green with chocolate colored bars from crooked creek and it never changed colors.

Also look at smallies close up you will see yellow colored scales and some from the lake Bull SHoals will have turquoise colored scales.

[Outside Bend]

Chief, I have no idea on the gray bass...I'll occasionally catch a smallie that's obviously old or sick that has that grayish, washed out look, but the one in your picture seems healthy other than the color.

I wondered about that too, whether stress from spawning, low water, or competition could contribute to the grey phase Chief's talking about. I would assume the pigments we see are controlled somehow by the nervous system, and whether some nervous impairment could account for it, too. Just conjecture, though.

[Buzz]

Something Chief didn't mention was, that we didn't take pictures of all of the fish we caught that day. Most all of the Kentuckies were nearly identical in size and color. We decided that it would look like we took pictures of the same fish, only with different backgrounds. I don't remember how long the float was, but we caught them throughout the day.

I've also caught both Spots and Largemouth with the same coloration from Table Rock and always figured they were deepwater fish.