COCHRAN LOOKING FOR "ONE MORE"

Story by Matt Pangrac - Photos courtesy of FLW Outdoors Communications

Hot Springs, AR - After a stellar 2010 campaign on the FLW Tour where George Cochran finished 16th in the Angler Of the Year standings, logged five consecutive Top 50 finishes, cashed a check in every Tour event and competed in the Forrest Wood Cup, it appeared as though Cochran would burn through the 2011 FLW Tour Majors en route to a berth in the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita in his hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

Cochran started out hot in 2011, recording a 19th place finish at the first Major of the season on Beaver Lake and backing it up with a 41st place finish at the second Major on Hartwell.  While it appeared that Cochran had picked up right where he left off in 2010, the Hartwell tournament would be the last Major that Cochran cracked the Top 75 in.  As a result, he missed the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.

“I was really disappointed when I didn’t make the FLW Cup on my home lake this past year but that’s fishing.  I’ve been doing this for over 30 years and I’ve had a lot of great years,” he said.

Up and Down
Cochran’s 69th place finish in the 2011 AOY standings extended an interesting pattern of AOY finishes in FLW Tour competition dating back a decade.  The veteran Arkansas pro has made a habit out of excelling every other year with few exceptions. 

Between 2001 and 2011, Cochran’s AOY finishes are as follows: 30th, 112th, 35th, 110th, 16th, 41st, 79th, 25th, 104th, 16th, and 69th.  With the exception of 2006 and 2007 where he finished 41st and 79th, Cochran has consistently followed a sub-par season with a solid season.  If the pattern continues in 2012, he’ll qualify for his 10th Forrest Wood Cup and have the opportunity to win his second FLW Championship.

“The only problem about getting old is that you’re not as consistent as you used to be,” explained Cochran. “That’s frustrating for a guy who knows how to catch fish. With the veteran anglers who have been around for a long time, there’s a tendency to get into streaks.  Once you get your momentum going, you think that you’re going to do well in every tournament.  Then there are the bad years where it seems like everything that you do is wrong.  That’s what I had happen this past year.

“I’m really excited about this year and health wise I’m feeling really good,” he continued. “When you get my age you want to make the most of what you have left.  I’ll be 62 this year and I want to make it back to that FLW Championship because I’d really like to win one more world championship.”

My goal all my life was to win a Bassmaster Classic when I fished on the B.A.S.S. side.  After I won two of them I switched to FLW and I won an FLW Championship so my goal for this next season is to win one more FLW Championship and get two on each side. 

Switching Gears
While Cochran would like to use the 2012 season to secure his second Forrest Wood Cup, he really hasn’t put much thought or preparation into the rapidly approaching season.  That fact has little to do with his enthusiasm and more to do with a career long routine. 

“One of my closest friends is Larry Nixon and we hunt and fish together all year long,” explained Cochran. “We put all of our fishing stuff up in September as soon as all the championships are over and don’t hardly even pick up a rod all fall and winter.”

Cochran reserves the colder months for recuperation and hunting.   “All I do is hunt deer and kill ducks,” he said with a smile.  To be honest with you, this time of the year I do so much hunting that I really haven’t even looked at the schedule but I know that it’s a good schedule because I looked at it about six months ago.”

It’s a tradition that Cochran has followed since he was about 20-years-old.   “It clears my mind and when you get my age, my arms and hands are all worn out so the break gives them a chance to heal up and rest and get ready for the upcoming year. As soon as January is over, my entire mindset changes and all I think about is fishing.”

Passing it On
Having extended tenures with both B.A.S.S. and FLW, Cochran said that over the past decade he has seen an incredible boom in knowledge among both young professional anglers and weekend anglers in general.   

“There are a lot of great young fishermen coming up with B.A.S.S. as well as FLW and that just shows you that these young fishermen on both circuits are becoming the ones to watch now,” he explained. “They’ve watched guys who have been successful over a long period of time and they’ve studied their habits and the way that they like to fish.  The younger group coming up is more education and sharper and the tools that they use are a lot better than when I started.”

Cochran said that the same is true for the weekend bass angler who doesn’t rely on tournament winnings to pay the bills. “The average angler is a lot more educated and they’ve studied a lot more with the internet and the way that everything is now.  They’re a lot more knowledgeable than ever before.  Even the questions that they ask are very sharp.  It used to be that people just didn’t have a clue.  Now the majority of anglers as a whole know more than the crowds did even just 10 years ago.”