Entry 320-3
George Cochran and the Evolution of Bass Fishing with Tips On How to Make Your Fishing Better
Editor’s Note: George Cochran of Hot Springs, Arkansas, has had a tough year this year. He missed two tournaments this year on the FLW Series because of illness. “I’ve had to go to the hospital twice, but finally, I’m healthy and back fishing,” Cochran says. Even with his illness, Cochran barely missed the cut for the FLW World Championship. Cochran, a two-time Bassmaster Classic champion (1987 and 1996) and the 2005 FLW Cup winner, is still one of the most-competitive fishermen on the pro circuit, even when he’s sick. For 28 years, Cochran has maintained his high level of performance on the BASS and FLW circuits.
Part 3: Keep Food In Front of ‘Em, and Sooner or Later They Will Eat
Question: George, another trait you have that many other fishermen have adopted over the years is historically, you’ll pitch, flip or cast lures to one piece of cover 20 or 30 times before you leave that structure. You sort of have the philosophy that if a bass is holding on that tree, you’ll continue to fish for it until you catch it. Why do you spend so much time on one piece of cover?
Cochran: Just about every piece of cover on every lake is being fished by some fisherman every day. The bass get accustomed to seeing lures come from a certain direction and fall a specific way, because that’s the way every fisherman has fished that piece of cover. We all cast to the obvious spots, usually from the same direction. I’ve learned that by picking a piece of cover apart and fishing it from several-different directions with a variety of lures coming at the bass from different angles, I often can find a way to show the bass a lure coming from a direction and an angle it hasn’t seen previously.
Or, I can bounce the bait off the bass’s nose and make it take the bait. Many times I’ll take a piece of cover, like a stump, and I’ll cast to the stump from every direction I can with one color of crankbait. 
Then I’ll come back through the same area using a different-colored crankbait, making multiple casts. Many times making a number of casts from different angles with various lures is the key to catching the bass every one else can’t catch.
Question: Let’s think about that stump we’ve fished with two-different crankbaits. How many more lures of what type will you cast at that stump before you leave it?
Cochran: Usually by the time the tournament begins, I’ve learned the one, two or three-different lures that are catching the most bass for me. I generally will fish a spinner bait and a crankbait, making multiple cast to the same stump. Before I leave, I always will pitch a finesse worm or a small finesse jig to that stump and shake the bait. I’ll pitch that worm or jig from several-different directions. That bass may be so conditioned to lures coming by the stump that it won’t eat a moving bait. But if you put a shaky-head worm or a small jig right by the stump and shake it as your last cast, oftentimes you can trigger the bass to bite. I always try at least three-different lures on a piece of cover if I believe a bass is holding there.
Question: Okay, how many casts will you make with three-different lures to that same stump?
Cochran: At least 15 to 20 casts.
Question: Do you ever have the bass take the bait on the 20th cast?
Cochran: Yes, I’ve caught bass a number of times on the 20th cast to that same piece of cover. Several times when I’ve made six or eight casts with my favorite lure to a piece of cover and then picked-up another lure and make six or eight casts, I still may not get a bite. Then maybe I’ve picked-up the rod with a worm or a small finesse jig, and as soon as I pitch it to cover, the bass takes it.
