Fish color

Quick question. I see a lot of pics on here where the fish are just colored up as all get out. none of the fish we catch have near the color that some of these do. Wondering why?

It has a lot to do with the water they live in. For instance a largemouth bass caught in the gin clear waters of Lake Murray here in SC will have pale green and black markings, whereas one caught from one of our black water rivers, like the Edisto, will have much darker and more pronounced markings.

What kind of fish pictures you been seeing? Bluegills are like the "peacocks" of freshwater. Maybe you saw some pics like this?...
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If it was a different species then knowing what kind will help get you an answer. Most of the time I find that the fish have better color when caught in the sunlight for some reason.

The color of a fish depends on many factors. Water clarity, chemicals in the water, diet, uv rays, and the fishes hormones during the spawn can change its color.

When it comes to Crappie, coloration depends on time of year, water clarity, and location. In the Spring, male Crappie release a hormone that will turn them almost completely black. This happens to both Black and White Crappie, and is why they are so aggressive during the spawn. Water clarity plays a big part in coloration as well. Fish that are in dingy or muddy water, or deeper water where the light penetration I low, will tend to be paler than those caught shallow, or in clear or lightly stained water. Last thing is location. Lakes in the South typically have crappie that are greenish\white, whereas some areas in the North have Crappie that are a beautiful golden color. Hope this helps.

That makes a lot of sense cmj cause a lot of the pics I see that stand out so strong are guys from Northern states.

I believe it has a lot to do with light penetration. I keep my pond fertilized for plankton blooms thus cloudy. This prevents light penetration under a few feet to keep aquatic vegetation down. I have healthy fish in my pond but they are very pale in coloration compared to fish I catch around here in clear water creeks or lakes. It seems the clearer the water the more color to the fish.

There's a large pond near where I live in Arkansas that stays like chocolate milk year round, regardless of rain, runoff, etc. which results in very low light penetration. Deepest water is about 10' to 11'. The crappie I have caught and seen caught from that body of water are very, very pale compared to crappie caught at the same time of year from other bodies of water that are clearer with more light penetration. I agree with cmj about the factors, but light penetration is definitely one of them, in my experience.