In his fourth season on Major League Fishing's Bass Pro Tour, Ohio pro Cole Floyd notched his best season yet, wrapping up the year in 4th place in the points standings. He ended the year with a tear, notching five straight Top 10 finishes, and credits his confidence from starting with two solid finishes and fishing to his strengths as the reasons for his success.
The Bajío pro shared a recap of his season as well as the sunglasses that helped him finish so well against some of the best bass anglers in the world.
Starting Strong
The season began on Lake Conroe in Texas and then moved to Florida's Harris Chain of Lakes. Floyd had solid showings in both, finishing 14th and 27th to kick off the year on the right path.
"At Conroe, I used my forward-facing sonar period each day and caught the bulk of my weight doing that. Then the rest of the day was fishing in the grass," he said. "At Harris, I was catching them on shell beds and power fishing with baits and techniques that I'm very comfortable with."
Floyd shared that he uses several different Bajío lenses and primarily two lens colors: green mirror and rose mirror. "I like the rose mirror when it's cloudier, which was important at that first event," he said. "It's also a really good lens color when you are looking at your electronics screen so much, since they are so bright and clear."
A Down Event Before His Top 10 Run
The next event of the year was on South Carolina's Lake Murray, where Floyd had his worst finish of the year, a 42nd place. The next regular season event after that was in Tennessee on Lakes Chickamauga and Nickajack, and he ended up in 3rd place.
"Murray was my worst event of the year, and I just never got on the right bite," he said. "Then, when we went to Tennessee, I was able to turn it around, and that was a fun event. I was catching almost everything on topwater, but also mixed in a lipless and vibrating jig."
Those events featured changing weather, and he alternated between his rose and green mirror lenses. "The green mirror is perfect for when it's really bright out, and you still get great contrast to see things in the water. That was important for Tennessee when a lot of the fish were on baitfish, especially that early morning shad spawn deal."
Ending the Season on a Good Note
After that, Floyd's regular season finishes were 7th, 4th, and 4th, and he mixed in another Top 10 finish at Heavy Hitters with yet another 4th place showing. He credits most of those finishes with his ability to fish how he likes, frogging and flipping. The exception was Kentucky Lake, where he went old-school ledge fishing.
"The Kentucky Lake event was a lot of fun because I went to college around there and used to fish it a bunch," he said. "It's good to see the lake coming back because I saw it hit rock bottom when I was living there, and now, seeing it fish so well again, was really pretty cool."
Floyd mixed in some old favorites, like a Strike King 6XD, to do well. "I caught most of my fish there on ledges with big crankbaits and stuff, just like Kentucky Lake used to be," he said. "That was a great event just because of all the memories I have there, and I was really happy to see it doing good again, because it's such a legendary lake and a perfect place for a bass tournament."
The other events were sprinkled from the Potomac River in Maryland to Saginaw Bay in Michigan and Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, and at all of them, he stayed shallow and fished his comfort zone. "It was a lot of frog fishing, and the schedule really set up well for me because it seemed like each place had everything I was looking for," he said. "I also caught quite a few fish flipping and mixed in a swimming worm in a lot of the grassy areas, all things that I love to do."
Again, Floyd mixed different lens colors depending on the weather. "That's a cool thing about Bajío, they have a ton of different lenses and some really cool and unique ones," he said. "I like the variety of the lenses, and they have a bunch of different frames that I like, and all are very comfortable on my face, and the lenses are so clear, it's incredible."
Each year on the Bass Pro Tour, Cole Floyd's Angler of the Year finishes have improved, and he's looking to move up even higher this year. This year, the Bajío pro plans to fish his strengths once again.
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