Anyone catching any smallmouth like these?

[SmartWeed]

I'm curious to learn if anyone else is catching any smallmouth bass from the Snake River with black spots or black coloration. I might have posted this photo a couple of years ago, but here is a smallmouth caught in 2010 that had a half black head. The fish had a head that was half black and half normal color. It's body was normal color.

Two years later, almost to the day, I landed this 17" smallie today. It was black all over. It was perfectly healthy and fought very hard, jumping twice. The fish took a topwater in very shallow water. I had seen it feeding before I cast to it, but was unaware of its coloration.

Note that the stripe pattern is there, but it is covered by a black tone. The fins and tail were also black. Here is a closeup of its head. Note that its eyes are also black. This fish was colored all over in this manner. Here's a closeup of the head.

When I caught the 2010 fish I contacted Idaho F&G and sent them the photo, but they had little information about this. I have discussed this fish with other smallie fishermen around the country and others have been caught nation-wide with similar colorations. No one, however, seems to have an answer as to the cause of the coloration. The fish caught today was the third one I have caught with black colorations this year. Of the others, one had overall black coloration and the other had two black spots.
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