A photo of David Rotigel's catch

Caught By

David Rotigel
1/4/2016 12:58:01 AM

I named her "Spot".

Catch Details

Smallmouth Bass

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Hair Jig
1 ft. 5 in. in.
12 ft.
Everyone

Comments
7K+

    1. Scott S 0
      That's a great looking smallmouth....love the color
    2. Brian K 0
      David - thanks for the reply. No one knows what causes this exactly but as I'm sure you know, it's only temporarily. People think it's either from toxins ...more introduced into the water or from fish being handled previously and released. I lived in Missouri and used to fish a deep quarry that's stayed cool throughout the summer and had smallmouth. They would get black spots in the fall and there were always a ton of geese sitting in the water during migrations. Toxins introduced into water from goose poop causing this? That was my experience but who knows
    3. Tim Steinmetz 0
      That's really crazy! What a cool looking fish!
    4. David Rotigel 0
      Yep, lots of geese seen on the Susquehanna River from late fall through early spring. I see most of them in the air flying north or south, but occasionally see ...more them on the water.
    5. Christopher Pereira 0
      woah neat
    6. Brian K 0
      Conservationists call this hyper-pigmented melanosis. No one knows exactly why this happens. David, question for you; do you see a lot of geese move through that ...more area in the fall?
    7. Nick Dahmen 0
      I have seen a bunch of smallies like that
    8. David Rotigel 0
      That one came from the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg PA. About 1/2 of the bass have this blotchy bass syndrome, but most at not nearly this bad. This only happens ...more when the water is cold. None of the bass I catch in the summer have any black spots.
    9. Arthur Huttemeyer Sr. 0
      Looks like it was playing in the paint can
    10. B Kummerer 0
      May I ask what body of water it was? I've never seen this in a smallmouth.
    11. Rich Pardy 0
      Dang that a crazy looking smallie, I thought it was a grouper at first when I seen the thumbnail.
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