By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

When Brandon Cobb looks back over his fishing career – many years from now, he hopes – he can always say he was there when the college bass fishing craze started to take root.

He was part of the group of Clemson University students that founded the school’s bass fishing team, but having graduated in 2009, he never got to realize all of the benefits that college anglers enjoy today.

“It was just getting big when I got there,” he said. “It’s definitely cool to know what’s it turned into from when I was there.”

Right now, though, Cobb, a South Carolina native, is more concerned with what his pro career might turn into. Nearing the end of his second season as an FLW Tour pro, he likes the track he’s on. After cashing checks in three of five events in 2014 (he missed the Pickwick Lake event because it conflicted with the BFL All-American, in which he competed), he skillfully avoided the sophomore jinx this season.

With five Top-45 finishes, he wound up 17th in points, flying mostly under the radar all year, and punched his ticket to his first Forrest Wood Cup. At 25, he’ll be among the youngest competitors in this year’s Cup field.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve been wanting to compete at the pro level,” Cobb said. “It’s been a dream of mine.

“I’d definitely love to do this as long as I possibly can. If I don’t make it for 5 to 10 years, I won’t run myself into the ground. It’s my dream to do this and I’ll do it as long as I can.”

Schedule Led to Jump

Cobb was competing at the BFL level in 2013 and decided to move to the Tour level after seeing two South Carolina lakes on the 2014 Tour schedule – Lake Hartwell and Lake Murray (Forrest Wood Cup).

“If there was ever a year to do it, that was it,” he said.

He kicked off his pro career with a forgettable 154th-place finish at Lake Okeechobee, but bounced back with a 36th at Hartwell and a 29th at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. He was 66th at Beaver Lake to snag a third straight paycheck.

“I’m still trying understand Florida so that’s why Okeechobee hurt me,” he said.

That forced him to make a choice between going to Pickwick for the fifth Tour event or compete in the BFL All-American at Wilson Lake. In his mind, it was an easy call.

“I decided with where I was sitting in (Tour) points, I opted for the All-American,” he said. “I would’ve been a longshot for the Cup and I didn’t want to let the opportunity to say I fished the All-American slip away.”

He placed 20th at the All-American and closed out his rookie season on Tour with a 78th at Kentucky Lake.

“I didn’t consider it a great success,” he added. “I felt it was okay for my first year. I realized I was still getting used to the multi-day format. I had a very good and very bad day in every tournament.”

Florida Revenge

Cobb said a big lesson he learned as a rookie was being able to identify areas that could stand up to multiple days of fishing pressure.

“I know if I could maintain my good day, I’d have the cut made,” he said. “I had to understand how to find enough fish for multiple days and manage fish. It’s just part of the learning curve

“On normal lakes, you can run a pattern, but Florida and ledge lakes, it took a while to understand the ledges and grass and find multiple areas to fish.”

With this year’s opener at Lake Toho, he opted to compete at the Lake Toho Bassmaster Southern Open in January to get more experience on the big-bass factory. He posted a respectable 24th at the Open and went on to finish 34th in the Tour opener.

“I didn’t do great, but that was the one I was having nightmares about,” he said. “Doing well in the Open gave me confidence going back. I didn’t fish the same areas or similar stuff. I just bed-fished, but knowing what I was looking for helped.”

He followed up with a 41st at Smith Lake and had a career-best 13th at Beaver Lake, which favors his deep, clear-water background. Finishes of 44th and 38th at Lake Eufaula and Lake Chickamauga, respectively, locked him into the Cup before he stumbled a little with a 71st at the Potomac River.

“I had a great year,” he said. “A lot of times with being so new, I’d find myself often fishing fish that have potential to finish high. I realized I have to take more risks. I’d been playing it safe to do well for points or to make a check.

“Just looking back after some tournaments, I realized I did well, but there are always things I regret. I could’ve caught one more kicker to get inside the Top 20 to have a chance at a Top 10 or a win.”

While he’s excited to spend a few days at Lake Ouachita before it goes off limits, the fact that he’s actually qualified for the Cup hasn’t quite hit him yet.

“It probably will when I go to practice there,” he said. “It’s definitely something I’ve wanted to do since I started fishing. The potential of the event and the money is awesome. Publicity wise, it’s the biggest event to me in bass fishing. The potential is unreal to think about.”