Summertime Bass Fishing with George Cochran
How to Fish the Magic Hour
 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 has 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: What will you be doing that last hour before
weigh-in,  George?
Cochran: During that last hour, most of the fishermen
will be near the check-in spot waiting to weigh-in.
I’ll usually be within a mile or two away in that
last hour. Then if I have any kind of mechanical problems,
I’ll still be able to get to the weigh-in before
the tournament ends. I’ll be looking for brush
piles beside deep points. I want these brush piles to
be where there’s plenty of boat traffic. When
you find cover where you know bass have to live, and
the cover has lots of boat traffic around it, most of
the time, you can be fairly successful in catching a
bass during that last hour. Boat traffic spooks bass
and causes them to move in tight to the cover. That
cover or brush pile is like the bass’s house.
When they get spooked, they want to run into their house,
lock the doors and stay there until the perceived danger
is gone. Now, if that brush pile is in an area that
 doesn’t
have a lot of boat traffic, the bass will often suspend
out away from the brush where they’re not as easy
to catch. One of my favorite tricks to use in that last
hour that I’ve learned from Mickey Bruce, another
tournament angler, is to drive my boat with its big
engine all the way around that brush pile to spook the
bass on the outside of the brush into the brush. Next,
I’ll stop the boat and wait about 5 minutes. Then
I’ll flip a Strike King Finesse Worm and catch
those scaredy-cat bass. That Strike King 5-inch 3X Finesse
Worm is about the size of the bait the bass have to
feed on at that time of the year. I’ve learned
that the small 5-inch finesse worm is your best bet
during those hot days of summer.
Question: Most people curse boat traffic, especially
during that last hour of a tour nament
that they really need to catch a bass. But you say it
gives you an advantage, how?
Cochran: That’s absolutely right, especially if
you’re fishing structure and/or brush piles. The
reason people can’t catch the bass in the brush
piles in the tournament is because the bass are usually
suspended above, below or out in front of the brush.
So fishermen aren’t putting their lures in the
strike zone of the bass. But when you use boat traffic
and boat noise to push the bass into the brush, they’re
in a place where you can fish and catch them.
Question: What do you think your chances are of winning
the 2006 FLW Championship in August in Birmingham?
Cochran: If I were a betting man, I’d bet on me.
I won the championship in 2005, so I’ve got an
awful lot of confidence. I haven’t threatened
to win a tournament this year, but I’ve been fishing
steady, I made it to the championship and I’m
feeling good. I know my knowledge of bass fishing is
at its peak right now after 25 years of fishing the
tournament circuit. Usually, when I’m fishing
a really big tournament like this one, I can bring my
best game. That’s the reason that if I could bet
on who’s going to win the tournament, I’d
bet on George Cochran.
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