South Carolina angler trades horse lessons for horsepower
Good Week in Texas
While South Carolina pro Brandon Cobb was racing to a record setting win at the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest event on Lake Fork, his bride Amy was back home in South Carolina cancelling the equestrian lessons she teaches at Lander University in order to surprise her husband on stage moments after he was awarded the winner’s trophy and keys to a brand new Toyota Tundra.
Cobb’s winning 4-day tournament weight of 114 pounds included an 11 pound 1 ounce giant bass he landed on Day 3 of competition. It was the biggest bass of the event, and in turn, won him the prize 381 horsepower Toyota Tundra.
“Not only did I catch the biggest bass of my life this week, but I also caught the biggest 5-bass limit of my life with 37 pounds 15 ounces. And on top of that, I got a new Toyota. That’s just incredible,” says the always happy-go-lucky Cobb.
“The fact that Toyota supports B.A.S.S. in so many ways, and then gives away a Tundra on top it all for big fish in this tournament tells you all you need to know about how Toyota does for our sport,” says the grateful and humble Clemson grad, who majored in fisheries and wildlife science.
Cobb caught most of massive limits of fish using a Duel Hardcore jerkbait to fool largemouth that were munching on spawning shad. But he and Amy caught one another while they were in college together at Clemson.
She loves horses, like he loves largemouth. And two years into their marriage on a sunny Monday afternoon on the shores of famed Lake Fork, they celebrate their second Bassmaster Elite victory of the season, a 2020 Bassmaster Classic berth, the $100,000 prize, and a new Tundra.
Now that’s definitely worth cancelling a few equestrian lessons, and booking a fast flight to Texas for.
Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.
