Cobb's family support system, including
his mother, Amy, helped the young pro
navigate the path to the Tour level.
january 2017 i flWfishing.Com
whenever he needed any
help, that’s where his grand-
father came in.
that support and pride is
what made the news the
Monday before the 2016
forrest Wood cup so hard for
cobb. his grandfather had suf-
fered a heart attack and was in
critical condition.
“i almost left to go home
when i found out during
practice,” says cobb. “But i
knew him. i knew he wouldn’t
want me to leave.”
so cobb stayed and fished
what he calls the toughest
tournament of his life. he
says his focus was never fully
on the tournament itself.
When the final weigh-in was
done, so was cobb.
he immediately got on
the road back to south
carolina with hope he might
be able to see his grandfa-
ther one last time.
“he hadn’t been coherent
or awake much since the
heart attack,” says cobb. “But
i made it home, and when i
got in the hospital room he
woke up for 15 minutes. i got
to talk to him one last time
and tell him how i did.”
cobb will forever cherish
those 15 minutes more than
the tournament. it also put
into perspective how far he’s
come since he was a 7-year-
old walking around the family
pond and dreaming of being
a professional fisherman.
“i think 7-year-old me
would be pretty proud,” says
cobb, “and i think 47-year-
old me will be even more
proud if i keep doing what
i’ve been doing, learning and
improving.
“When you’re a kid, being
a professional fisherman
seems like a dream job. You
don’t realize it’s the longest
hours you’ll ever work and
more stressful than any day
job. But when things go right,
nothing compares.”
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