Cobb Hoping To Make Second Bfl Regional This Year In Savannah River Division Final On Clarks Hill
Brandon Cobb has made it into one Walmart Bass Fishing league regional championship, now he’s trying to fish his way into a second one.
Cobb, of Greenwood, S.C., finished 4th in the BFL Bulldog Division points standings to qualify for the
Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell Oct. 17-19. He is hoping to at least hold on to his 5th place in the Savannah River Division standings in the two-day final on Clarks Hill this weekend to qualify for the Regional championship next month on Lake Lanier.
“It would be a long shot for me to win the points,” said Cobb. “Even if I got a top five at Clarks Hill some of the other guys would have to slip for me to win it.”
But don’t count him out of it. The points in the two-day final count and Cobb has done well on Clarks Hill in the past. He finished second in a BFL tournament on the lake in 2010, seventh in 2011 and second again this year.
In the past six years he has notched 18 top 10s in BFL competition, including first place in the Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Hartwell earlier this year, and he has wins in other series, too, all while attending Clemson University where he was a member of the Clemson University Fishing Team until he graduated last December. He also won the ABA Division 96 Championship on Lake Greenwood in August 2012.
Since 2008 he has finished no lower than 12th in the points in the Savannah River Division, with three top fives including first place in 2010. Balancing tournaments and school, Cobb has won $34,000 in BFL competition.
He expects fishing to be tough at Clarks Hill this weekend, although the cooler weather this week should get the fish more active and fishing should really pick up over the next couple of weeks, he said.
“All the high water has provided a lot of shallow cover and there is a lot of vegetation, so the fish have plenty of places to hide. The fish are shallow and there should also be some schooling activity in the lower end of the lake, judging from years past,” he said.
Cobb said that normally he would target wood cover in the shallow water this time of year, but with all the vegetation he plans to use reaction baits in those areas to locate and catch fish.
“If I can’t find any shallow fish because of the high water, I will probably look for schooling fish on the points and humps,” he said. “Generally, this time of year the fish set up on the sides of the humps and off the ends of the points in 15 to 40 feet of water, waiting on the herring to come by. I’ll throw a fluke and a topwater lure for those fish.”
Already in the Lake Hartwell regional through the Bulldog Division, Cobb hopes to fish his way at Clarks Hill to the Lake Lanier Regional with an eye on next year.
“I’m waiting to see how I do in those regionals. I’m debating fishing the FLW Tour next year, but if nothing else I will fish the BFLs again.”
The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) – Savannah River Division Final
Sep 28-29, 2013
Clarks Hill Lake
Wildwood Park
