So I caught this bass during the fall. It was in a local pond, where I had previously caught many bass. The thing is, is that the coloration is very different from all the other bass I have caught in this pond. Anybody got any ideas why?

 

A normal bass that I usually catch in this pond would look like this

Also, this pond is heavily covered in vegetation. You have to use weedless lures otherwise you will always get stuck in weeds.

I can't really see the first fish. Either way. It's a bass that's a little darker than the bass on the bottom. Perfectly normal. It depends where the top bass was hanging out that makes it darker than the bass on the bottom pic. 

Odd bass? They're generally between the even ones...

Both of your bass look like regular LMBs.

I caught one a week ago in Port St. Lucie Fl. that was 90% pure coal black, even the fins. The only light color was a small belly stripe. Brian.

Both fish are obviously LMB bass. The one on the top was caught out of clear water lake, the one on the bottom was caught in the Everglades. The water these fish live and hang out in will effect their color. 

 

 

                                                                 

 

 

I caught one a week ago in Port St. Lucie Fl. that was 90% pure coal black, even the fins. The only light color was a small belly stripe. Brian.

and you didnt take a picture?

like this?  this is one of mine from the mississippi backwaters from under duckweed...

Dang... that's the darkest bass I have ever seen

The darker and nastier the water is the darker they will become. That 's nice fish. 

and you didnt take a picture?

Of course I took a pic. PM an e-mail address and I'll get it to you. Brian.

Ebola!

 

Check for Ebola.

 

Just kidding.

 

The guys posts above are right. Depends on where the bass was spending his winter as to his color pattern.

 

As the water temperature rises and he heads to shallow waters he will get nice and green again.

Why does a bass that is in deep, open water become lighter while a bass that spends his time under a dock get darker? In both cases, they are out of direct sunlight, no?

I am guessing it has more to do with the fish blending in with his environment, making him more stealthy as a predator. I know Blutarsky, the bass in my koi pond changed color in short order and now is a perfect match to the color of the bottom of the pond.

Many factors lead to the coloration a bass. It is typically stated that deeper water fish are lighter in color and that shallower water fish are darker. That isn't always the case. Water clarity and forage base play a role in coloration as well as genetics. That being said check out this bass :

 

If the bass just seems to have black spots or black all over the top it generally means it spends a lot of time patrolling banks and what not. Picture is too small to get detail to see, but its basically a bass sun tan

Of course I took a pic. PM an e-mail address and I'll get it to you. Brian.

was hoping you could just post it here, but one like you describe was posted by someone else, so its all good...

That's a crazy camo bass

If the bass just seems to have black spots or black all over the top it generally means it spends a lot of time patrolling banks and what not. Picture is too small to get detail to see, but its basically a bass sun tan

How does it get a sun tan under a thick sheet of ice?

How does it get a sun tan under a thick sheet of ice?

Global Warming