Indiana Fisherman Reels In Insanely Rare Neon Orange Smallmouth Bass

A man holding a fish

For any casual fisherman, it’s a pretty good day to catch a bass or two, enough to say it was a successful trip and worth the patience.

With that being said, one Indiana fisherman caught him a nice smallmouth bass…

But turned out to be the catch of a lifetime.

According to The Kansas City Star, Josh Chrenko took a trip from his home in Indiana to the Muskegon River in Newaygo, Michigan earlier this month.

It was just a normal day on the river for Chrenko, until he reeled in something bright orange. Turns out, it was an incredibly rare orange smallmouth bass.

His buddies videoed his prized catch, where you can hear Chrenko say:

“Caught my first ever orange smallmouth. I am not making this up. This thing isn’t like kind of orange. It’s like neon, goldfish orange.”

In the Facebook post, he also mentioned he had no idea these things even exist.

Chrenko, who is an avid smallmouth bass fisherman, weighed in on just how special of a moment this was for him:

“For someone that lives and breathes fishing for smallmouth, this is one I’ll remember my entire life.”

According to the site, Chrenko spoke with an Indiana ecologist in an effort to figure out how this smallmouth was neon orange.

The ecologist explained that the fish has a condition called Xanthochromism, which causes the fish’s pigmentation to turn a bright yellow color.

Chrenko added that it’s insane that the fish was able to overcome so many odds to stay alive, considering its bright orange color makes it difficult on the fish, as everything is earth tones.

According to Premier Angler, the chances of a fish being born with this condition are 1-in-10,000.

He also posted a second video of him tossing the insanely rare catch back into the water.

Whatta day.

 

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