Bryant Super Slam

[Justin Spencer]

Floated by myself from Hodgeson to Warren yesterday. Only took fly gear and despite the wind and a late start I managed to catch quite a few fish. Nothing big, but caught a handful of smallmouth on Zonkers and big articulated streamers. When I needed a fish fix I would pick up my 4 wt. with a grasshopper and catch pumpkinseeds or bluegill (only one gill), also one little largemouth(could have been a spot didn't really pay attn). As I got within site of Warren bridge I managed a goggle-eye in a deep hole among some rocks to make the trip complete. Great afternoon of fishing saw no other people, 10 deer crossing the river, several eagles, and quite a few ducks of many varieties. Would have been a better fishing day had there been two of us, so one could fish while the other paddled or held the canoe in place, but no complaints here.

I had never really noticed until I was looking at the pics, but does anyone know why some smallmouth have red eyes and some brown.

[tjulianc]

I'm pretty sure that is a largemouth since the dorsal fin is deeply notched.

Spotted bass sometimes have red irises too. In the case of spotted bass, the iris is red in breeding males. So I wonder, if in smallmouth bass, males have red eyes, females don't? Its an interesting question, I've also wondered about.

[Justin Spencer]

Looked like a largemouth to me also, but I didn't pay that much attention, and then wondered after I released it. Caught no spots, although had several takes or follows from them that I saw so I guess that is one species I didn't mark off on this trip.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I've caught a few meanmouths out of the lower Bryant, not too far above the hiway. They generaly appear to be smallies looking down on them, then when above the water the kentucky shows up.

[sean c]

Nice Justin! That is a float I have always wanted to do.

[Justin Spencer]

Nice Justin! That is a float I have always wanted to do.

It's a float we need to do in a driftboat come late spring when the water is up and the smallies are coming on.

[Al Agnew]

The same fish can have red eyes or dark eyes. The eye color is part of the general pigmentation changes the smallie can go through. The red pigmentation is always there, but as the fish's skin darkens, the dark pigment in the eyes also "overpowers" the red. In your pictures, the dark-eyed smallie is also darker overall than the red-eyed one. You won't see a dark-colored smallmouth with red eyes.

As fall progresses and the water cools, the algae that covers the summertime rocks on the bottom of the rivers dies off, and the "natural" chert gravel colors show up. The bottom of the rivers gets lighter in color, and the smallies turn lighter in color to match it. So you end up seeing more light-colored, red-eyed smallies in the late fall and winter than you will in the summer.

As for spotted bass, it's probably much the same. I haven't noticed spawning male spotted bass being any more likely to have red eyes than they will at other times of the year. Spotted bass don't change color as obviously as smallmouth, but they do turn darker or lighter. Largemouth do as well, but they don't have much red pigment in their eyes to begin with, so their eyes at most will have some burnt orange when they are very light in color.

[Justin Spencer]

Good info Al, thank you!

[Ham]

The smallies out of the Current river sure had yellow colored pec fins. High skies and super clear water over gravel makes em that way I suppose. I should have gotten some pictures.

[sean c]

It's a float we need to do in a driftboat come late spring when the water is up and the smallies are coming on.

For sure Justin. We were going to try it this summer but when we got to Warren to drop off a vehicle it was a complete zoo so we passed.