Trophy Bass Pics 2010

[Anonymous]

Well you've fished it enough you should have it pretty well in your pocket. Until the fish pull a 'swim and hide' routine. Which they seem to do every couple years.

[rl206]

nice fish man!

[fishingmachine]

yea i think my spots r summer and fall spots
but im loving fall smallies and hope i can carry that over to the tournament

[BentRod]

Wow, hellacious fish you pulled up there FM. Congrats on those. =d> What kind of depth were they hanging around at?

[tagwatson360]

FM, very nice fish once again.

I notice you are making a lot of references to "spots". Because you're my boy, I will give you a very friendly piece of advice:

As you are finding, the smallmouth are beginning a transition right now from their late summer patterns into their early Fall patterns. The difference between early/mid-September fishing and early/mid-October fishing can be quite significant. I would suggest thinking in terms of larger areas as a whole, the potential fish movement within these areas, to these areas or away from these areas vs. "spots". This shift in mentality alone will pay huge dividends for you with Fall smallmouth. I learned the hard way one year when I had over 30 "spots" holding quality fish for several weeks and they literally all vacated in less than a week in mid-October. I later learned they had moved to nearby muck bottom flats to feed on the migrating crawdads. That was a huge lesson and improved my smallmouth fishing tremendously when I altered my mentality after that big piece of humble pie.

[fishingmachine]

when i say spots im not talking a little 5ft area
i have some areas that r pretty vast and i fan cast em
i have areas like you are saying and those r the spots i refer to lol
those r the areas holding the smallies
but thanks for the advice man

[tagwatson360]

when i say spots im not talking a little 5ft area
i have some areas that r pretty vast and i fan cast em
i have areas like you are saying and those r the spots i refer to lol
those r the areas holding the smallies
but thanks for the advice man

I didn't do a very good job of explaining this concept. That is my fault. Just put it in your mental archives. Dez, help me out here?????

[fishingmachine]

Tag I get exactly what you r saying.

[bassmasterderek]

5.2lb smallie! Sparky's secret lake!

[tagwatson360]

Awesome toad, BMD!!!

[tagwatson360]

Tandem Swimbait Rig Smallmouth

[Crumb]

That is just sick Tag! Man nice fish, but are those still considered bass? Sheesshh!

[SmanOhood]

I believe Tag said nice toad Derek..Then proceeded to show him what's up.Tag..Man or Machine, either way the fish will go down.

[kzoo]

Tag, you should enter the photos in Bassmasters magazine. I saw your triple header on the swimbaits on the other site. Unbelievable photo.

[Edgeran]

Good call Kzoo, that's a perfect picture for the Lunker Club section of the magazine! What a photo!

[Edgeran]

Went to a small local Snohomish county lake Saturday morning (which now just happens to be my favorite small local lake) and was rewarded with two trophy Largies. The biggest being my personal best! Practiced C&R as always.

1st went 6.0

2nd went 6.10

[tagwatson360]

Awesome largies, Edgeran. Very well done!!!

[BassFanatic]

Congrats to all of you guys on catching some pigs keep at it, It's been awhile since I have been out and nice to see quality fish still being brought in

[rjn cajun]

Nice pigs Tag. My PB LMB in Louisianna barely beats those.Don`t know how you do it day in and day out. Again nice fish.

[tagwatson360]

Thank you very much for the kind comments, everyone. It felt good to finally get out a couple times this year. September is way too long to wait to go smallmouth fishing.

Rjn,

I try to fish my strengths, trust my instincts and fish with confidence. I have noticed that the trips that I have that are less successful are the ones where I second guess myself or don't trust my instincts. Bass fishing is predominately mental and sometimes your mind can beat you just as bad as the fish can.

I had the fortunate opportunity to fish with Ron Hobbs, Jr. last year who is one of the most naturally gifted and talented anglers in the country, let alone the State. Yes, he is a master at all the technical aspects of bass fishing (casting, boat positioning, etc.) but the mental game is where he really shines. He trusts his instincts better than anyone I have ever seen and fishes with a tremendous amount of confidence. His phenomenal success speaks for itself. I encourage all of you to attend a seminar when he is speaking or to tune in when he is scheduled to be on the NW Wild Country radio program as a guest or as a co-host.

I think we as anglers tend to over think things and not go with our gut. Spend as much time on the water as you can and always trust your gut. Your gut might not always be right but that's how you learn to trust your instincts instead of second guessing yourself. Also, don't get caught in a rut. Listen to the fish.....

Hook 'em hard,

Tag