A Virginia angler caught and released an “extremely rare” golden largemouth bass recently while fishing on the James River.
Jacob Moore was practicing for a tournament when he reeled in a bass that was so pale-yellow, at first, that he thought it was albino.
“I thought I had a saltwater fish on at first, but lo and behold, it was a largemouth – a very different largemouth, though,” he told the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. “I haven’t seen anything like that before. I’ve seen bass with black spots, but I’d never seen an albino one.”
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Largemouth bass are typically mottled green with pale bellies.
Alex McCrickard, DWR Aquatic Education Coordinator, explained in a news release that the bass Moore caught “is a product of a genetic mutation that alters the skin pigments called xanthism. Yellow pigmentation dominates in xanthism, as you can see in Moore’s golden largemouth.”
McCrickard added: “Golden largemouth bass are extremely rare and most anglers have never seen them, let alone heard of them.”
A golden largemouth bass was caught by at Beaver Lake in Arkansas in 2021, prompting Jon Stein, a state biologist, to comment: “Josh needs to buy a lottery ticket, because he just caught one fish in a million.”
Stein was referring to the angler, Josh Rogers.
The bass caught by Moore measured 16.5 inches before it was released back into the James River.
