With the regular season of the FLW Tour wrapped up for 2018, it’s time to start looking ahead to the big show: the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita Aug. 10-12. This year’s field sports 56 of the top pros in fishing, and one of the easy Cup favorites is South Carolina pro Brandon Cobb.
Cobb recently completed his fifth season as a Tour pro, and with another solid Tour campaign –12th in the points – he’s on his way to a fourth Cup appearance. The first Cup Cobb competed in was the 2015 event on Ouachita, where he posted a third-place finish and essentially kick-started his career. He followed up with a ninth-place finish at the 2016 Cup on Wheeler Lake and another third-place finish last season at the Cup on Murray.
Cobb’s on a Cup hot streak and has converted all that championship success into a stable pro fishing career.
“In my mind I think that first Cup really kicked off my professional career even though I had been fishing professionally for two years before that,” Cobb says. “I don’t really think that just because I did well there a few years ago means I’ll do well again because Ouachita isn’t an easy lake, but I am excited to fish it again.”
While the 2015 Cup helped push Cobb into the spotlight, the reality is that his upbringing in South Carolina really set the stage for him to excel – especially in tough tournaments.
“My strength is catching fish no matter the conditions. August is always a tough time of the year, and that’s why I do better then, because I like fishing for just a few bites.
“I grew up fishing a lot by myself in July, August and September, which in the South are extremely tough times of the year, and I’ve just always understood that time of year more and understand the fish a little better.”
Hot days, a limited number of bites and scattered fish are ideal scenarios for Cobb, as he’s shown over the last few years.
“My mentality when I fish is just to worry about where can I catch a bass,” he says. “Once I do that, I worry about No. 2. I just like to try and pick off individual fish, which is why I focus on just one bass at a time and usually why I don’t do as well in the spring when guys can get on big groups of bass staging in one certain area.”
Aside from Cobb being so in tune with summertime bass fishing, another reason he has such a great track record at the Cup is that he doesn’t put a lot of pressure on himself.
“All season I’m worried about whether or not I’m going to make the Cup. But at the Cup, I don’t really feel like there is any pressure on me,” he says. “I enjoy the Cup because if I don’t find anything in practice I can just go fishing and try new stuff in the tournament without worrying about cashing a check or not [since everyone is guaranteed a payday]. I can keep an open mind, and I like that.”
At just 28 years old, Cobb is about as cool as they come when handling the spotlight of major tournament bass fishing. And though he says he feels less pressure fishing in the Cup, don’t think he doesn’t replay some of his close calls, especially last time at Ouachita.
“That first Cup on Ouachita, I believe that if I was as experienced as I am now at dealing with the high level of stress and all the other things that go on during the Cup, I feel like I would’ve won that tournament. I was just inexperienced with the situation. I made mistakes at that one, and at Murray, to be honest. It’s kind of frustrating.
“But this is a new year, and I’m ready to go out and see what happens. Who knows what could happen if I execute and learn from my past mistakes. I’m ready to get the tournament started, that’s for sure.”