Entry 179-1

November Bass Fishing with George Cochran

Editor’s Note: George Cochran has won over $1 million on the B.A.S.S. circuit and is just shy of winning $1 million on the FLW circuit. He’s a quiet, gentle man who doesn’t get too excited. He talks and fishes slowly and isn’t extremely versatile, which he’ll tell you himself. But he catches bass, wins money and wins the big tournaments. Cochran’s primarily a shallow-water fisherman, and this week, we’ve asked Cochran where he’ll fish and how he’ll find bass during the month of November.

Part 1: Crank It Up

November’s long been one of my favorite months to bass fish because I always can find some shallow-water fish to catch. I’ve won plenty of tournaments in October and November fishing shallow water with crankbaits. At this time of the year, the shad will be moving back in the bays of lakes, and the bass will be following the shad, which means your crankbait pattern will work well. When I go to a lake, I look for the area of the lake where I know the bass will be on a crankbait pattern.

My favorite two crankbaits to fish during this time of the year are the Strike King 4S and the Strike King Series 1 crankbaits. Both of these crankbaits are square-billed, and they’re easy to fish. All you have to do at this time of the year is go into bays or creeks off the main river channel. When you see a school of shad, take these two lures, and fish them around any type of wood or other type of shallow-water cover. Regardless of whether you’re fishing around wood, stumps or rocks, you’ll catch bass on these two crankbaits, especially in the shad color.

I fish crankbaits like I fish spinner baits. I’ll throw the crankbait pass the stump, and reel the crankbait until it crashes into the stump and bounces off. Most of the time, I’ll get the strike when the crankbait bounces off the stump. If the bass are holding in brush, I swim the crankbait around the brush first to get the most-active bass to bite. But if the bass don’t take the crankbait, I’ll reel that crankbait right through the middle of the brush like I’m intentionally trying to get it hung.

Yes, I hang-up a lot using this tactic, but I also catch plenty of big bass at this time of the year, using Strike King crankbaits and running them right through the brush. If I hang my crankbait up, I go get it. Even though Strike King keeps me supplied with plenty of crankbaits, when I’m fishing with a crankbait I like, I’ll do whatever I have to do to get that crankbait back out of that brush.

I think that one reason more people don’t catch more bass this month on their crankbaits is they don’t want to get their crankbaits hung. But I’ve learned if you’re not bumping your crankbait off cover and running those crankbaits through thick cover, you won’t catch bass. Therefore, I’d rather have my crankbait going into that cover and getting hung-up than not have the crankbait in a place where I can catch a big bass.

Next: Swimming a Jig

Contents:

• Part 1: Crank It Up
• Part 2: Swimming a Jig
• Part 3: Mr. Money
• Part 4: The Wild Shiner
• Part 5: The Black Buzzbait