....unless we get a 3-4 day warming trend this winter. Had a nice day last Sunday. they all had the typical football shape for this time of year, suitable for enduring the winter. Notice the red lips. I fish here every weekend, and this was the first week i noticed them. I blame the first cold snap of the year, with nights in the low 30's. It's not crawfish, cause bass eat those year round here.

one more

Your making me jealous. 

Maybe I will catch one like that ice fishing this Saturday  :-/

Your making me jealous.

Dwight, your profile pic makes me want to crawl under a rock and die, enough with your jealousy jibborish ;D

great fish, and MMW reference!

wow. didnt expect anyone to pick up on that. great song

Very Nice and WTG man! Those fish were healthy for sure.

Big O

www.ragetail.com

As far as the red goes it could indicate crayfish, for the same reason that flamingos are pink (they eat shrimp).  For those of you that weren't aware this can also occur in people (look up Carotenoderma). 

    With all that being said, usually red coloring from diet would be seen on the tips of the fins and other subtle areas on the bass.  It is a lot more likely that the red color is from the fight itself just like your cheeks will turn red when you exercise heavily.  Notice that your cheeks turn particularly red in colder temps, which is when most people see this red color in bass' mouths.  Red color, particularly in the teeth area, can be a sign of heavy bottom feeding and bed building at other times of the year.

Of course this is all just the speculation of a biology major with strong interest in fish biology, but that doesn't mean I am wrong.

i think you're on the right track but like i said, they snack on crawfish here all year round so why weren't they red till last week? i'm startin to think its the temp more than anything

I caught this fish yesterday...I actually caught about 20, but this one seemed to be the most red....The bass in this pond usually have a little red all year round, but not this red ever....There are no crayfish in this pond at all...Only bream and bass

we did have an old thread about this speculation. couldn't find the thread through search. I'm surprised no one has a definitive answer for it.

great fishing

Last fish for 2010 for sure this time. didn't weigh much but i was thankful for her. she hit a buzzbait yesterday, that had the tail of a brush hog for a trailer cause the skirt slid off. it was maybe 50 degrees outside.

Next time trim that tag end a little closer.  ;D 

Nice way to end the year.

Yeah you're probably right, usually like to leave a little extra in case I didn't pull it tight enough. Let Nadine pull it tight for me.   ;D

Got out yesterday to try my luck with the pre frontal conditions and, wow. nothing like my previous trip. caught 7 fish, and only one weighed less than 3. the water was like chocolate milk and i couldn't see my lure 6 inches under the surface so i tied on the biggest, darkest lure i had, and had a hay day. with the temps now in the upper 60's, bass moved shallow, holding tight to cover, feeding like mad. anyone have any idea what the name of this matted grass is? i think they were finding warmth under that stuff. biggest was 6.7

few more

Those are nice!! Atleast someone took advantage of the warm front that was here that past week. I never got a chance to fish till it got cold again today.

I just noticed something. You said that the water was pretty muddy? Not sure if this makes since but I've noticed when I'm fishing muddy or dirty water the bass seem to have a light kind of dusty look to them. That's what it looks like in a few of your pics. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this.

Now your talking! Beautiful fish to end the year. 

Wow - great fish! Now - catch 2000 more !

Lynyrd, absolutely all the silt and mud that was stirred up by recent wind and rain filters the sunlight and effects the bass's pigment. I've caught some pale bass before that literally looked albino

great catchin' bud!  looks like you're doing great.  congrats big time.