Have you ever seen a smallmouth this orange?  This was my last cast of the afternoon and he came up off a shallow rock shoal to smack a walking bait.  Neither my buddy nor I recall ever seeing one this orange, but we did notice looking down that the rocks were a similar color, maybe due to high iron in the water.  This is from a small, somewhat remote lake in Ontario.  The photo has not been altered and he was every bit as orange in hand.

I read an article many years ago about this. It said the coloration of a SMB was determined by the colors of the environment it was in.

Yup. Around my neck of the woods we get some lakes where they are similar in colour, sometimes also a real nice copper colour too. Seems to be mainly in darker, tea stained coloured lakes ( the water gets stained that way around here from all the white pine growing around the shoreline). Also caught this guy a couple years ago, he was an anomaly though as all the rest from that particular lake are regular coloured. 

This one was pretty orange... I think on a sunny day would have shown the color more.  Could be tannick stain, eating rusty crayfish... or just getting ready for Halloween... 
 

 

21 minutes ago, Way north bass guy said:

Yup. Around my neck of the woods we get some lakes where they are similar in colour, sometimes also a real nice copper colour too. Seems to be mainly in darker, tea stained coloured lakes ( the water gets stained that way around here from all the white pine growing around the shoreline). Also caught this guy a couple years ago, he was an anomaly though as all the rest from that particular lake are regular coloured. 

It almost looks like a Kentucky/smallmouth hybrid. Are there Kentucky bass in the lake?

33 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

Are there Kentucky bass in the lake?

Not that I’m aware of.  We’re in central/eastern Ontario, Canada.  Thankfully, your delicious bourbon does make its way up here.  But I’ve never even heard of a Kentucky bass. 

Yeah, we’re a LONG ways from any Kentucky bass up here. 

22 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

Yeah, we’re a LONG ways from any Kentucky bass up here. 

Kentucky Bass is just another name for a Spotted Bass.

11 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

Kentucky Bass is just another name for a Spotted Bass.

I know. Still a long way from them. I’d have to drive for a couple days at least to find any spotted bass. 

My bass are a VERY bleached out greenish grey in early May. Then get  very darker green as green weeds fill in the bay.

On 9/20/2021 at 7:34 PM, The Baron said:

Have you ever seen a smallmouth this orange?  This was my last cast of the afternoon and he came up off a shallow rock shoal to smack a walking bait.  Neither my buddy nor I recall ever seeing one this orange, but we did notice looking down that the rocks were a similar color, maybe due to high iron in the water.  This is from a small, somewhat remote lake in Ontario.  The photo has not been altered and he was every bit as orange in hand.

Xanthochromatism Or search for orange small mouth bass

 

5 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

 

 

Hey man how ya feelin? 

I think A-Jay's massive smallies are orange.

I’m, it is Halloween. They are just getting in the spirit of the season.

On 10/27/2022 at 6:16 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Hey man how ya feelin? 

I am hanging in there. I even did another fishing trip this past weekend. 6 dinky bass, 7 trout (trolling for them) including a 20" fatty and 2 nice sized crappie. It was a fun multi-species day which is what I like to do when I hit the local lake (Hagg) in the late fall. Kind of fun to mix it up. 

12 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

I am hanging in there. I even did another fishing trip this past weekend. 6 dinky bass, 7 trout (trolling for them) including a 20" fatty and 2 nice sized crappie. It was a fun multi-species day which is what I like to do when I hit the local lake (Hagg) in the late fall. Kind of fun to mix it up. 

Good to hear!!!