Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Pale LMB

I'm just wondering if I have a problem. I'm catching LMB that are a pale green color, lighter than a dollar bill color. Some have red blotches about the size of a pencil eraser,not all bass have this. Not all bass are off color either, I'd guess 1 out of 10. We've had over 3 weeks of 90 degree plus temps and I'm wondering if the increased temps have caused this. All LMB are very lethargic and the bite has been horrible which I'm pretty sure is weather related. We are continuing to cull small LMB to attain balance, but they have seemingly slowed in growth as compared to early spring and last year. Am I over analyzing this situation? I would appreciate any input you can provide.
Thanks
Mark

The experts will ask for pictures if you have them. And any other facts you may have.

Pale fish normally come from muddy waters.

I agree with RM fish color is usually directly related to water or spawning..

Photos say a million words.

Yeah no doubt. I fish a lake here by me that you can't see past 10 inches and the bass out of that lake look like crappie! The clearer your water the better color your fish will have. Now with that said it's best to try and find a happy medium. Like most say on here about 18 inches to 2 feet is good. The bass in my pond are VERY colorful because you can see 5 feet down in my pond, but that's not always a good thing either, and thats a whole other story.

You guys have so much info, it is such a pleasure learning from everyone here!


Thanks for the great info about coloration. Without taking over the thread, can you talk as to why the coloration changes with water clarity please? Is it a mating issue, sunlight issue, or maybe a camo issue?

See these on fish coloration and chromatophores

Start with the 2nd thread link.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...true#Post103943

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...=true#Post85635

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...=true#Post74247




What about these colors ?

Those are some nice looking LMB right there.

First...thanks for all input here. It's definately not muddy water, the normal clarity is 40+ inches and right now it's anywhere between 20" and 30" with a bloom that has turned from green to brown over the last 3 weeks. Water ph runs 8.5-8.8 and alkalinity was 70 the last time I checked it. I'm out of town right now and won't be home till tomorrow night. Hopefully I can catch one the albino wannabees and I will post a pic asap. Good info ewest....thanks!
mark

Not saying that your PH is the problem but that pH reading seems a little high for LMB. Maybe they are just somewhat stressed out because of the higher PH? LMB do better in a PH range of about 6.5 to 7.8. Like I said not sure it that's your problem or not im just saying?

What kind of soil you got there? It has a great impact on fish color. Have you ever seen the same fish sort caught in swamp pond and in a really clear lake? The first will be really dark.

But probably high water temperature may affect the color also. This weekend I was fishing roach (dunno whether you know such fish but it doesn't matter anyway). Normally they got orange fins but my fish were pale - really pale. Usually they get pale after being dead for some time. Probably that's because of warm water there...

I tend to see more darkly colored fish in acidic waters. Perhaps the higher pH has an opposite affect making the bass lighter?

The pond has a clay bottom, there's quite a bit of muck in some areas, the pond is 15 years old. The water is crystal clear when no bloom is happening. The ph figures were a typo (oops! that's what I get for posting when I should have been sleeping) should have been 7.5 to 7.8.All the other values were correct though. I was out of town for a few days and havn't been fishing. I will try to post a pic tomorrow. Thanks!