'black Bass' (picture)

[trapshooter]

When I was a kid my dad always used to call smallies 'black bass'. After catching this 20" back in Oct I can see why.

 

It came out of a small lake near Temagami on a 4" storm swim shad. The fishing was real good that day even though it was during that Oct snow storm we had. We couldn't miss fishing rock/weed transitions... plasitcs, cranks... 4 feet or 15 feet, didn't matter.

 

Anyhow, here she is. Dark eh?

 

 

Also, this is my PB smallie (er, black bass). Released to fight again another day.

 

Edited - probably a good idea wayne

Edited January 7, 2007 by trapshooter

[Joey]

Nice bass , looks like you were thirsty that day too

 

Cheers.

 

Joey

[trapshooter]

Guilty!

 

haha Joey, good eye.

[irishfield]

Beauty fish..and as Joey says. This might be one of the few times I'd support some photoshop on OFC!

[Joey]

I'm just jealous, that's all

 

Joey

[iceguy]

Nice black bass trap shooter. That's a darkie for sure, Look's like it's lives over some mud or something. Love the Temagami area.

[Pigeontroller]

Wow, never seen one that dark.

[mason05]

Last year in Algonquin we got a few bronzies or "black bass". That one sure is dark though. Beauty HOG Shooter!

 

Corn Nug

Edited January 7, 2007 by Corn Nug

[Raf]

Nice bass Ben. Extremely dark colours. Here is one my GF caught on Georgian Bay in the fall, not quite as dark but dark nevertheles

 

 

This was a very happy moment in the boat as a couple of casts before that she lost another biggun at the side of the boat.

Edited January 7, 2007 by Raf

[Joey]

Oh, well now I look like a freak Nice editing

 

Joey

[irishfield]

Good stuff TS...gotta instill safe fishin to the youngsters around here (and some of the adults...LOL)

[trapshooter]

Okay, picture edited! haha.

 

They were .05's anyhow! lol

 

Joey - don't worry, I think everyone 'gets the picture'.

Edited January 7, 2007 by trapshooter

[Bear]

Sweet dark HOG for sure even better when it's your PB

[trapshooter]

Raf - Another Dark HOG!! Congrats to your GF on that beauty. What did it measure?

 

It's funny, on Lac Suel (NW ONt.), which is extreemly dark water the smallies are very light in colour.

[Raf]

I think its the clear water that makes 'em so dark?? I noticed that fish out of muddy water usually have that 'bleached' look to them.

 

We did not measure or weigh that fish but I am certain it was 5lbs and about 21-22". She definately showed the boys how its done that wknd.

[Guest gbfisher]

Another DARK one from the complete oppostite side of the island Raf was fishing, in VERY clear water.....this passed summer.

 

 

Incidental catch...

 

[OhioFisherman]

Nice fish! and very dark, wierd how that happens. We have got light ones and darker one from the same area and in some lakes the seem to run the same shade.

[trapshooter]

Another nice one GB. Gonna have to change the title of this thread to Monster Dark Smallies. lol.

[Whopper]

Great pic's on the smallmouths trapshooter, Raf and gbfisher. Those are some real fatties!

Until I got the essox vodoo (fish with teeth) about five years ago the smallies were my favorite target.

Kinda of funny though how different areas have different names for the same fish just like the pikeral vs walleye deal, down here if someone said black bass you would assume they were talking about largemouths and smallmouths were branded as brown or bronzebacks.

Thanks for sharing some nice pics!

 

Whopper

[Garyv]

No matter what their colour is they are just my favourite to fish for. Pound for pound you just can't beat the action they give you and on light tackle are just a blast. I have posted this before but if you want to really have fun try fishing them with a noodle rod and 2 to 4Lb test. One point of caution don't reef back to set the hook or you'll have flying fish going over your boat.

[charlesn]

Like most ambust predators, smallies will adapt to the colour of their surroundings in many instances. That would be my guess for a late october dark fish. In the spring when they are up doing their business, they can turn dark as well possibly due to hormonal changes, or maybe somewhat of a sun-tan. Not sure if they have pigmentation in their skin that would allow it to be affected by prolonged sun exposure in the shallows.

 

Nice fish!

 

It is also my favorite finned creature.

 

Charles

[setomonkey]

Nice bass!

 

Does anybody know how long it takes for a fish to change colour? I've caught some bass in murky waters that were really pale, and I've also caught really dark fish like the ones in the pics.

 

Mike

[charlesn]

Mike,

 

I have seen first hand that it takes as little as a couple hours. In the spring, we catch pale fish on Erie and if it goes in the livewell for a picture, it will come out all "coloured up" in a few hours. If you took a picture when you first caught it and then again after it was coloured up, you'd think it was two different fish.

 

Charles

[Whopper]

Mike charlesn is correct! A lot of my local waters are very stained and years ago when I did the tournament thing holding pale fish in the livewell would result in a nicely colored fish in just a short time.

 

Whopper

[fishindevil]

WOW...congrats to everyones huge smallies/black bass, they are all huge by any standardsthats for sure,and like those the smallies from the ottawa river are the darkest ive ever seen as well, its strange that they look very different colors from different water bodies

Edited January 7, 2007 by fishindevil