How Cole Floyd won the Beaver Lake MLF Bass Pro Tour

Is it me or doesn’t it seem like Cole is in the hunt pretty regularly? Before his win this weekend, so far this season his best finish was a 16th at Ivie/Brownwood, TX. But last year he had a 3rd, a 7th and 2 4ths in a row to end the season. And in 2024 he had 2 top 10s.

Pretty dang solid for a guy who admits he doesn’t fish a whole lot outside of pre-practice, practice and tourneys. Here’s how he got his first red trophy.

Going in and practice

> “The #1 thing is I was gonna go and fish shallow. That’s what I like to do, and my gameplan was to look for dirty water. It’d been getting some rain and stuff, so I knew there’d be some dirty water up the rivers.

> “I didn’t see much of the lake. I basically spent all my practice up the White River – fishing up the War Eagle and the White both. That’s where I spent all my time. I figured out as much as I could and went from there.

> “Obviously it’s the spawn. You know you’ve got fish guarding fry, some fish spawning, not as many pre-spawn fish. Up in rivers those fish are a little more behind…[heavier pre-spawners] just helped tremendously. Wesley [Strader, who got 2nd] was catching the same kind of quality I was.

> “I was catching pre-spawn fish and fish that were just setting up to spawn.

> “I was targeting little channel banks, little spawning cuts and pockets – not deep water, anywhere from 3′ and less. Banks with wood laying down on it, some were protected. …50-100 yard sweet stretches.

> “You wanted a hard bottom, but most of that lake’s got a hard bottom. it’s a mountain lake so it’s loaded with rock.”

Tournament

> “We got a big storm on our off day. Day 1 I ran up there and and the water was just blown out. …I dropped my bait in the water and couldn’t even see it. It was just mud. So I went to plan B, which wasn’t a great plan.

> “I ran outta there, got into some cleaner water, fished all day, struggled and ended up with 15 lbs.

> “The 2nd day I fished the 1st period and a half…then ran up there to check that water again. It started clearing up just a little bit, and that’s when I smashed 45 lbs late in the day and made the Knockout Round.

> “[Day 3] I ran up there and had high hopes of catching them. I got on my best stretch and it was better than it was [the day before]. I had 35 lbs the 1st period…I had 45 lbs in 2.5-3 hours of fishing. I went practicing after that.

> “I stayed in that area and just expanded on it. I wanted to learn as much as I could within a couple-mile stretch of river [the War Eagle mostly, but also the White].

> “I was catching them swim-jigging…a lot of fish on a Strike King Thunder Cricket, some on a frog. The Knockout Round morning was when I really caught em…on a frog. The morning was  little bit warmer.

> “The final day I had frost on my front dock…my main bait was a swim-jig.

> “[Day 4] I went to my best stretch…caught a couple on a frog right off the bat…but they were smaller fish, little bucks.

> “I picked up a swim-jig, and that’s what I caught the majority of my fish on. I did mix in that Thunder Cricket.

> “It started off pretty good. I had a good 1st period…everything was going smooth. I had a couple good stretches saved…so they were fresh. I felt good about it and had a really good day of fishing.

> “I thought I pulled away with it but Wesley was just smashing them too. It ended up working out.”

Baits

He said he only caught a few on the frog – by far the most weight was on the swim-jig and bladed jig.

> 1/4-oz Strike King Hack Attack Swim Jig – white with a white Strike King Scounbug, and gp with a gp Strike King Rage Bug, 50-lb Strike King Contra Braid, Lew’s Custom Pro Reel (8.3), 7′ 3″ MH Lew’s Custom Lite Magnum Hammer Rod.

> Why 1/4-oz: “I watch every one of them eat my bait – whenever I’m throwing a swim jig. If you think about it, up in real shallow water like that, those fish want to feed up. They don’t want that bait down close to the bottom, in my opinion.”

> 3/8-oz Strike King Thunder Cricket – b/b in dirtier water with a b/b Rage Bug, and white with white Rage Bug (“the Rage Bug keeps my bait up higher – I see a lot eat my ChatterBait too”), 20-lb Strike King Contra Fluoro, same reel but 7.5, same rod (“I use that rod for everything basically”).

He said he was just casting to the bank and working it back. He pumps the swim-jig “a lot” – quick pauses with the reel.

Electronics

None:

> “I was fishing in 2′ or less.”

Shoutouts

> “Definitely my title sponsor R&L Carriers, and all my other sponsors. And my family, my wife and everyone.”