I heard once that the darkness/brightness of the color of a bass can tell you whether they have been holding deep or shallow.  Is this true? Or is this just a genetic triat within the population?

I just heard this on one of the fishing shows I watch.  I think it was KVD who said it.

not sure about depth, but i know they change colors with their surroundings.

bass in murky water are pale, bass in clear water will be darker, and bass holding in weeds and other dense veggies will be darker.

not sure about depth, but i know they change colors with their surroundings.

bass in murky water are pale, bass in clear water will be darker, and bass holding in weeds and other dense veggies will be darker.

Yes, this is the school of thought and is proven every time we land a fish from deeper water that is not crystal clear. Most of the time we are fishing clear and shallow, the fish are rich in color but as the suns rays are blocked more from cloudy water etc. their color pales out somewhat. The longer a fish stays in completely shaded areas, the lighter he gets. Right on!  

Big O

www.ragetail.com

Thats awesome. I always kinf of thought this was crazy, but it seemed to be true when i caught fish out of different areas.  Thanx for the info

It not only depends on depth of water, water clarity, & vegetation  

wow, interesting... i'll have to look out for that next time

Do they change if they move to another area?

I have caught light and dark in the same place

I have two in the same fish tank and both have completely different colors. One is dark with defined markings and one has almost no markings at all. But the one with no marking sometimes gets a little more defined but the darker one always has pretty defined markings.

I don't know if it is exactly the same thing, but my understanding is that it is somewhat due to the amount of melinen (sp?) that the particular fish has.  Just like some people are more dark complected than others, fish are the same way - but it is affected by the amount of sunlight they are exposed to.  The same is true for those black spots that some fish have that are sort of like large freckles because of the make up of that fish as opposed to another one that doesn't have any.

Bass can lighten or darken their hue to help match their surroundings.

I have two in the same fish tank

I know this is way off topic, but I hope that those two bass are in a Five hundred gallon tank or bigger, if not.... :-/.