
In fishing, Brandon Cobb knows past results don’t dictate future success.
One might think the 35-year-old from Greenwood, S.C., is licking his chops over the 2025 Elite Series schedule since he’s won at two of the venues. While calling it a good schedule and expecting some great tournaments, he tempered his outlook. Winning in 2019 at Lake Fork and Lake Hartwell doesn’t mean much this go around.
“It always is nice to go somewhere you’ve won, but you never know,” he said, admitting it’s not a slam dunk he’ll do well at those places again.
During his appearance as guest analyst on Bassmaster LIVE for the St. Croix Open on Clarks Hill Reservoir, Cobb was asked his thoughts about what to expect this year at the nine Elite tournaments, which begin Feb. 20 at the St. Johns River.
Weather was first and foremost on his mind for the season-opening Florida events. Hearing water temperatures were below 50 degrees, Cobb said he’s rooting for a warmup.
“My first thought about Palatka, I hope it’s not cold when we get there,” he said. “I think it’s the coldest winter in Florida probably ever.”
Florida bass are known to suffer lockjaw in cold, but Cobb said that could benefit the Elites if it pushes back the spawn and reduces fishing pressure.

“When it does warm up, it could be very good,” he said.
Lake Okeechobee is the following week after the St. Johns, and conducive weather could create opportunities for some anglers to bust 100 pounds. Last year in early February, Scott Martin set Opens weight records in winning on his home waters.
Surrounded by a bunch of boats in Harney Pond, Martin caught 33 pounds, 2 ounces on Day 1 for the Opens single-day mark. His 31-7 on Day 3 ended the season fifth-best in Opens, and his 90-6 total holds the Opens and B.A.S.S. three-day tournament records.
“He knows all the good areas there. I had a 30-pound day there, too,” Cobb said of his 32-15 bag that helped him take third in the 2023 Elite. “You’ll see that, but it will be tough because there’s not enough fishable waters. Everybody is kind of in the same four areas that are fishable.”
Tyler Rivet might have created a fifth in 2023. While looking to catch a crappie dinner for his roadmates, Rivet unlocked the winning area in the Kissimmee River.
After March’s Classic, it’s anybody’s guess who will discover the winning area at the April 10-13 Elite on the Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound out of Elizabeth City, N.C. It’s a first-time venue for B.A.S.S., and Cobb and most all the Elites are in the dark.
“Literally unknown,” he said. “I was thinking about going up there at some point, but it’s further from my house than I thought. I saw the schedule, ‘Oh good, North Carolina, we got one close.’ It’s still about seven hours drive.”
Cobb’s limited research found events there have produced surprisingly good weights, but there’s more travel drawbacks.
“I’ve fished tidal waters some,” he said. “I haven’t looked at it much. I usually don’t. I like to go see and try to figure it out, but it’s supposed to be oddly good. It’s better than anybody realizes.
“What I don’t like, I don’t like long runs. I think that place is the type you’re going to have to go far.”
In his 2019 season, Cobb won wire-to-wire at Lake Hartwell, a little more than an hour from his house. That made Cobb among the favorites in the 2022 Classic, but he faltered to 34th. He does like the April 24-27 dates this time.
“That will be a really good tournament. It will be right at the end of spawn, and herring will probably be spawning,” he said. “It will be everything. You’ll see guys fishing the herring spawn and then catching them in a foot of water.”

In May of 2019, the first of five visits to Lake Fork, Cobb cashed in. He caught an 11-1 lunker to win a truck, and it helped him total 37-15 on Day 3 and go on to win with 114-0.
Each time at Fork, winners have earned Century Club belts. Last year, all 10 finalists topped 100 pounds, and winner Trey McKinney fell 1-9 short of the all-time weight mark with 130-15.
“The problem with Fork is we’ve been there so many times, everybody knows everything,” Cobb said. “It’s going to be probably shallow spawn like when I won. It was kind of unknown when I won — we had never been there.
“Now it just fishes so crowded. I think LiveScope is going to make that one. The times before it wasn’t as prevalent. I think you’ll see the shad spawn, but you’ll see a lot of fish get caught later in the day on LiveScope.”
The Elites will be making their fifth visit to the Sabine River May 15-18, and the last Elite there is sore spot for Cobb. He went in leading the 2023 Bassmaster Angler of the Year race but finished 91st and suffered an 84-point swing to eventual AOY Kyle Welcher.
“It was my demise, but it’s like my favorite place to fish a tournament. I like river fishing, and I like when it’s tough. You catch a lot of fish,” Cobb said. “The only thing I don’t look forward to, and I think it’s going to play again, is the release fish factor. I wish we had one mile of off limits.”
A number of the Top 10 fished close to takeoff for recycled fish, including Brock Mosley who won his first Elite with 44-3.
Oklahoma’s Tenkiller Lake is scheduled for June 12-15. In 2019, Tenkiller was the replacement venue for May’s Fort Gibson Lake event washed out by floods. Australian Carl Jocumsen won the late September derby with 54-15.
“I could see it actually be much better in June,” Cobb said. “We were there later. It was tough. It looks like the lake where I can see the offshore bite being decent, brushpiles, not like Tennessee River, but better isolated stuff. It should be better.”
July is an off month for ICAST, but familiar Lake St. Clair kicks off the Northern Swing Aug. 7-10. Past St. Clair winners include Joey Cifuentes, Bill Weidler and Jason Christie, not necessarily known as smallmouth experts.
“It will be LiveScope and everybody catching them,” Cobb said. “Being a non-smallmouth angler myself, I like it, but it’s also kind of like a scratch-off ticket. Everybody goes out and if you scratch off the right area you can win.”
The season concludes on the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wis., again a regular Bassmaster venue where there’s not many secrets.
“That’s another like Sabine, one of my favorites. Those are the two I like best on the schedule,” Cobb said. “La Crosse, a lot of it becomes weather dependent.
“When we were there last time, it was really low. The fishing was good, but I would say it would be a more exciting tournament with higher water. The frog bite, all the grass, last time we really didn’t have that.”
While Cobb hopes to qualify for his sixth Classic after missing it for the first time this year, he has tempered expectations. Going to a place you’ve won might give some confidence, and it means little the next time around. After winning at Fork, Cobb missed cuts in two of the next four events there.
With a 15th-place finish at the Sabine in 2021, Cobb went into Orange, Texas, hopeful to maintain his AOY lead but unexpectedly faltered.
“That AOY year, the Sabine was the one I was looking forward to the most,” he said. “I’ve learned not to put too much stake in that.”