Cobb fishing his Hartwell history

Brandon Cobb was concerned after his pre-tournament practice that Lake Hartwell wasn’t fishing like it ordinarily does this time of year. The 29-year-old Greenwood, S.C., angler knows what this lake is supposed to be like in April, as he’s been fishing it since he was a kid. Obviously, the lake came around to form once the tournament began, as he has led it from Day 1. 

“What’s worked out in my favor is the fish now are acting exactly like they’re supposed to this time of year,” Cobb said Saturday. “They didn’t do it all of practice. But I’m kind of used to what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s like the fish are getting to normal April behavior.”

But even knowing the lake as well as he does, Cobb says there’s simply no way to target bigger bass here.

“I’ve had days out here this time of year when I’d catch 40 fish and have 11 pounds,” he said. “You just don’t ever catch a big one.”

Cobb isn’t having that problem today. While he’s got no giants in his boat, he’s got a limit of 3-plus-pounders in the 15 bass he’s landed so far today. And he’s been steady – catching a 3-pounder an hour from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Cobb’s primary lures have been a Zoom Fluke Stick with a 1/8th-ounce Greenfish Tackle shaky head jighead and a Zoom Trick Worm, fished weightless with a 1/0 hook with a weedguard.