Rare Golden Bass

On this page you will see a most unusual bass. We feel confident in saying it is a one-in-a-billion bass, and certainly the catch of a lifetime. 

It is a Florida strain largemouth, but in a most striking orange-gold color. The fish was caught in Lake Hatchineha.

This is NOT an April fool joke, or a hoax. The bass was in fact, examined by officials of the Florida Freshwater Fish and Game Dept., and pronounced to be an example of a mutation call "xanthism", where the fish lacked certain pigment producing genes in the DNA sequence that produce the dark colors in most bass.

The fact that this bass survived long enough to reach maturity is a statement in itself as to the cover and quality of fishing on the south Kissimmee chain. An orange bass should be at a decided disadvantage in most fishing water, but the amount of weeds and other cover in Hatchineha and Kissimmee seems to have provided the fish with a means of survival. This ain't a starving bass either.

Are there more of these in the waters of Kissimmee and Hatcineha? Who knows. From the photos and mounted size, the bass certainly appears mature enough to have spawned, and where there's one, there might be another or more.

If anybody, anywhere has ever seen one of these fish, we'd love to hear about it.