ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
George Cochran never has attracted much attention in a crowd, especially if that crowd contains fellow bass-fishing pros such as Rick Clunn, Roland Martin, Jimmy Houston and Gary Klein.
From Hot Springs, Ark., Cochran, 46, is quiet, laid-back, and often described by the B.A.S.S. media as ``Gentleman George.''
Following August's BASS Masters Classic, ``elite'' might be another word to describe him. When he won the 1996 Classic on Lay Lake in Alabama, Cochran became one of only four anglers who has won more than one such title.
Cochran did it by using shallow-water tactics in bathtub-warm water.
Weekend anglers can pick up late-summer fishing tips from his winning presentation.
LURES: The Strike King Premier Pro Model spinnerbait was Cochran's most productive, the same one that helped Mark Davis, also of Arkansas, win the 1995 Classic in Greensboro, N.C. It was a three-eighths-ounce, white/chartreuse model that featured No.4 Colorado and No. 3 Indian gold and silver blades.
His next-best lure was a Riverside Pro Series Pro Rib Worm, grape color with a powder-blue tail.
``This is a new product that will be available in late 1996, and Cochran is one of the 10 professional fishermen pictured on the packaging,'' said Bruce Stanton, a spokesman for Pradco, North America's largest lure manufacturer, located in Fort Smith, Ark.
``I've always been a big worm fishermen,'' Cochran said. ``Most of the time in the dog days of summer, it's hard to beat a plastic worm.''
Cochran believes the tail of the worm holds special importance in summertime fishing.
``On the worm I was using, the tail resembles the tail of a bream [sunfish]. It looks like a bream or a shad that's falling or moving away.''
Other lures that contributed to Cochran's success were the one-third-ounce Cotton Cordell Big O, a white/chartreuse Strike King buzzbait and a Brand X tube-type jig, black with red/green metal flake.
``The Big O is a fish-catching dude, and the faster you crank it in the dog days, the better it is,'' Cochran said. ``It doesn't give the fish a chance to think when you crank faster. They just react and hit it.''
PRESENTATION: Accurate casting is the key to successful shallow-water fishing, said Cochran, who targeted isolated stumps. ``You've got to cast to the shady side of the stump and stop the bait and start it at the right time. That's the most successful trick I was using. A lot of time, fish aren't aggressive, but if you stop the bait and start it in front of them at the key time, it triggers them.''
That's how Cochran was working the spinnerbait and Big O. ``I would come by the stumps with the crankbait, bump it and stop it. That's when they would hit. On the other hand, I could throw the crankbait by the stump and reel right by and they would not touch it. They're not going to move a lot unless they're triggered into it.''
LINE: ``The first cast is the most important,'' Cochran said. ``If you throw two feet to the right and miss and then throw again and hit the stump, you're lucky if the bass hits the lure, because he's already seen it.''
Fishing line is a key. Cochran used 20-pound Super Silver Thread.
``When you've got good, limp, flexible line,'' he said, ``you can cast real smooth and you have confidence your line won't break, then that's everything.''
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) George Cochran. color.by CNB