I caught two with that whole-body coloration last year at Black Jack in Giddings. Both were less than a pound like yours.  This appears different than when you find larger bass with black backs (reportedly due to a shaded habitat).

Hi Jim,

It was nice to catch up with you on the phone today. But, I wanted to remind all members that we do not remove Bluegill from our lakes. The purpose of harvesting bass is so that we have more bluegill for the remaining bass to eat. Although virtually no bass could eat a 1.25 bluegill, bluegill this size are generally terrific spawners; creating lots of baby bluegill, which in turn feed the bass. Well fed bass, grow to bigger bass. And our fisherman like to catch big bass. So, lets leave the bluegill in our lakes. 

Thanks

Steve

The bass that was unusually black is what we call melanistic. Although rare it happens with animals and fish. On rare occasions there have been all white or all black animals and fish. Generally melanistic bass have black patches, that does not cover the entire fish. I have seen it only a handful of times. I can't really tell by the photo, but my guess is that this fish has melanistic characteristics. 

Steve, understood on not taking the bluegill, but in this case the owner asked me (and others) to take some.  So we only took two out of dozens.  Wont take any more.