Tannic Water Bluegills and Their Distinct Dark Colors

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

 I have often been amazed at the many adaptations that nature has made for the survival of individuals and species alike. One of these that is really interesting to me is the Coppernose Bluegill's color in dark tannic stained waters. I've fished these type of waters my entire life from growing up as a kid in Louisiana and my years living in the Carolinas and extreme southeastern Virginia.....The dark waters derive from the acid seeping from thousands of Cypress trees and their decaying needles which are a staple on the black waters. Many of these regions have never been disturbed existing for hundreds of years back to the days of the native Indian tribes and beyond.....Take for example the "Pocomoke" river in eastern Maryland which is Indian for black water......or the thousands of acres covered by the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and south into northeastern North Carolina.....Santee Cooper lakes are 170,000 acres of lakes and canals that are considered by many as tannic down in South Carolina.....Not only have the fish adapted to the lower oxygen conditions associated with the swamps but they have ultimately adapted their color markings in these regions to ensure their ability to not become a prey item as easily and also be able to catch food and raise their young.

 

How many of you fish tannic waters and do you also find that your bluegill are very dark in these areas......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

The fish start out lighter in the colder waters of the Winter and become darker through the summer as the water warms up and the tannins leech into the water more rapidly......

You can actually see the difference in early Spring as the trees bloom and the water temperatures begin to rise......

As the light penetration lessens through the season, these fish will become darker and darker....

[dick tabbert]

Great reading Jeff and the pictures to boot. Always interesting to have another fisherman's perspective even though we don't have coppernose up here its all interesting. Than you for your input and pictures stuff like that always leads me to want more and more.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

It's time for the dark coppers as our tannic waters take on their deep dark colors of spring and summer......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Talk a little here about the distinct color markings in tannic water.......

[Nathanael Deloach]

My area in Mn is known for what we call "coffee stained waters" for much the same reasons as the cypress trees stain your area water we have an abundance of cedar swamps and decaying trees that stain our waters. An interesting comparison to our waters is that gills in our stained waters tend to be very lite and pale in color where our clear waters tend to have the more vibrant and deep color gills. It's cool to see the diversity in our favorite species with fish in your stained water doing the opposite in color as the fish in our stained water.....