I catch lots of smaller bass with no stripe and usually in cold weather/water they were like that.

On 12/16/2020 at 10:50 PM, txchaser said:

At this point I'm convinced the coloration is basically a bass tan. The deeper the fish seems to live, the lighter it will be relative to the shallow fish in the same lake. The dirtier the water, the less coloration relative to average clarity, and VV. So a fish at 12' that spends most of its time at that depth, but in clear water, will look like a shallow fish in tannic water. I can't quite explain how a bass in the shade of weeds is getting a tan, probably just ambient light vs one out deep, just like me at the beach. Pretty sure they don't have the ability to actively or passively change color (or do they?).

 

It is a pile of anecdotes, but I watch it now to get one more clue about what they are up to, particularly if I see light fish biting up shallow mixed in with regular color fish.

 

Am I crazy/have I made this all up?

 

Yes they do change color.Its to make them harder to see.

Many around here seem to be pale, with little or no stripe during the winter around here.    This is a typical or our pale cold weather bass.  

 

On 12/2/2020 at 9:50 AM, J Francho said:

I dig that VIR t-shirt.

I don't know what it is, but that beard is awesome.

I recently moved from north Texas, and now live in Carolina. Everything I catch in the colder months is kind of washed out with no lateral line.

Very pale fish are pretty common depending on water body and water conditions. Most pictured are just some variation of washout. I came across this pic in my feed this morning with extreme variation. Near the head is heavily washed out, and near the tail is very prominent. However, the mid section appears to be completely absent.

The pale one was caught in Lake Lanier, GA and the black one was caught in a black water pond/lake in FL.