Summertime Bass Fishing with George Cochran
Phase Three – Deep Dock Tactics
 Editor’s
Note: George Cochran of Hot Springs, Arkansas, won the
FLW Championship in 2005. In August, 2006, the FLW Championship
will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, on Logan Martin
Lake. Cochran should feel like Brer Rabbit being thrown
in the briar patch because if there’s ever been
a tournament where Cochran’s the odds-on-favorite,
it will be this year’s FLW Championship. When
the Bassmasters Classic was held on the same lake, Cochran
finished 9th, and he also won the Bassmasters Classic
held on nearby Lay Lake in August, 1996, under extremely-hot
weather conditions. The city of Birmingham h as
been good to Cochran’s reputation and his bank
account just about every time he’s fished there.
We asked Cochran how he plans to fish the Dog Days of
August during the FLW Championship when the surface
temperatures will reach over 100 degrees.
Question: O.k. George, it’s the middle of the
day, the weather’s hot, the sky’s high,
and shallow-water fishing has more or less ended. Where
will you go next?
Cochran: I’m going to move out to those deep docks
that are on the ledge on the main lake that may have
15 to 20 feet of depth in front of them. These are the
docks that deep-water bass will move into to try to
find some shade. Then they can feed when they’re
rea dy
to feed. When I’m fishing these kinds of deep
docks, I’ll be fishing the 5-inch Strike King
3X Finesse Worm. I’ll either rig it Texas style
or with a jighead and fish it as a shaky head. On those
main lake docks, the water’s going will be real
clear most of the time. I’ll also downsize my
tackle and use 8-pound-test line, a 1/8-ounce jighead
and the 3X Finesse Worm in a shad color. I’m expecting
these main lake docks to have brush around them and/or
in front of them. These kinds of docks usually hold
more than one fish. They’ll usually hold a school
of bass. Most of the time, I’ll be fishing a Strike
King Finesse Worm shaky-head style. But if I’m
fishing down through brush, I’ll rig the worm
Te xas
style.
Question: You’ve started using the shaky-head
tactic quite a bit now haven’t you, George?
Cochran: Yes, I have, and everyone else has too. Everywhere
that there’s a major bass tournament, we’ll
have heavy bass fishing pressure on that lake because
there are so many people that love to bass fish. In
many tournaments, power-fishing is a tactic that’s
hard to be successful with day after day. So, more of
the pro-anglers are starting to finesse fish because
they get more bites and catch more bass, especially
in the hottest part of the day.
Tomorrow: Slow It Down to Win
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