I think I remember a post about this earlier, but I caught a couple of bass this afternoon with red lips.  What does this mean?  Sorry for repeating a topic.

There was never a clear cut answer. One of the world's great mysteries ;D

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1136331466/0

For all hard core bass fisherman this may be a shock so take a seat.  If a bass has red lips and you think he is eating crawfish, become a biologist, and find out by gutting it. When i was a hardcore deer hunter, one of the easy ways to find out what deer were eating is that after one was killed,  we opened up his stomach, just a thought, and if you thinking I don't want to take a fish out of the water (which is a good thing to consider) remember that it is only one fish.  just a though god bless

It means you have been kissing it to hard before you let it go.  :-*

or it had been feeding heavy on shad or crawfish 8-)

it was just putting on some lipstick gettin ready for the spawn...they gotta look pretty, you know?

I can't really remember where I seen this at but I believe it's from a certain type of protein in the forage they eat. I can't recall what forage it was but it definatley wasn't crawfish. I believe it was in other fish they pray on shad, bluegill,minnows.

The same article had the clown/colored bait theory too. It said that the reason clown colored baits were very effective around the spawn was that a fishes lips/head will turn reddish in color if it is feeding on eggs because of this certain protein. therefore the bass believe a red bait is more of a threat to thier nests and attack it.

Not sure if it's true on not but it makes a little sense.

Seriously, I think it comes from eating a lot..of anything.  Healthy diet, if you will.

I catch them sometimes, too. I have been told it's from feeding in freshwater clam beds and aggressively hunting crawdads. It's the clam shells and the rocks. However, I like the "getting pretty for spawn"  theory better!

This guy had some red lips. Not sure why.

I think the bait in its mouth might shed a little bit of a clue as to "why".  Just from catching lots of bass on the same day with several different baits is what leads to my opinion..they're just eating and being healthy.

BTW, is that a cold water fish or warm?

Cold...for here.

The lure looks like a Matts bluegill which was designed for bedding bass or prespawn.  Supports the theory of dolling up for romance  

The lure looks like a Matts bluegill which was designed for bedding bass or prespawn.  Supports the theory of dolling up for romance  

Yes sir. Matts BG's are great swimmers also. Don't look at them as just a bedding situation bait.

I don't have any idea about red lips. But bloody lips are usually signs of bass feeding on crawfish. I noticed this last year prefising for a tournament and cleaned house with a YUM Crawtube during the tourny.