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Lawton, Okla. – Most people know 60-year-old Ken Cook for his on the water accomplishments; and his list of achievements is significant. Cook’s career includes career earnings totaling more than $750,000 in earnings in 274 BASS entries. He has six BASS wins to his credit, has qualified for 14 Bassmaster Classic appearance; winning the 1991 version at the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore, Md.
| But, there is more to Ken Cook than a list of angling accomplishments. Cook is also a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a B.S. Degree in Zoology, which led to a 13 year career as a Fisheries Biology. While his career is that of a professional tournament angler, he has founded Tarbone Ranch, a ranch where he raises trophy animals and loves teaching others how to hunt.
Along
with the hunting aspect of his land,
Cook uses his background in biology to
raise trophy whitetail, elk, and he
recently added bison to his ranch, to
retain some of the history of Midwest
plains at home. |
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“I
brought in some whitetail deer from Michigan
to breed with my native deer in a high fence
environment,” Cook said. “The result has
been that some of those first offspring are
as much as three inches taller, and bigger
than the natives.”
Cook sees quality results raising trophy
animals by focusing his efforts on by
concentrating on genetics and by making sure
the animals have food year round. “Late
summer and late fall are high stress periods
because the food supply is low,” he told
The BASS ZONE. “I make sure my animals
have plenty of high protein feed year round,
so they will grow more.”
Cook said that he plans on hosting hunts each year for all of the species at Tarbone, and that he is currently making plans to host hunts each year. “I will have a bull elk hunt and two cow hunts along with two trophy and two management whitetail hunts each year,” Cook said. “I will host one group at a time, and a lot of the focus will be to introduce new hunters to the sport of hunting.”
He said that he finds a lot of joy in being a part of a hunter’s first kill “I love the experience of being a part of that,” he said. “I almost enjoy it more than being able to make the kill myself.”
As far as his career as a professional angler goes, Cook said that he is busy preparing for the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series season, and he is doing that by getting ready to rig his new boat, and prepping his himself mentally.
“I just finished getting last year’s boat (Triton 21x2 with Mercury Pro XS 250) ready for sale, and am waiting for my new boat to get here,” he said. “Triton does a great job of setting them up at the factory, but will add my Biosonix unit and a few other little things I like; but it will be tournament ready when it gets here.”
Along with the preparation of his boat, truck and gear, Cook spends time pouring over the data he keeps. His website has a feature called Pattern Forecast that enables him to know how to most efficiently begin his practice period at each lake.
“Most anglers are either not armed with enough information, or are too reliant on past history to fish each tournament,” Cook said. “I keep data of as many major tournaments as possible, along with my own data, and make it available for anyone to purchase.” |
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Cook said that Pattern Forecast will give anglers the most efficient starting point for their tournament preparation. “My forecasts will show them where the majority of winning weights come from on their body of water during the specific time of the year they are fishing,” he said. “It will give them enough of the pattern information needed to cut down on wasted time in their practice periods.”
Cook said that he is devoting much of his off-season to doing better on the water. “I am trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to competitive trends,” Cook said. “I want to be more cutting edge with my fishing.” He said that he feels the offshore craze of 2007 will continue on into next season.
He said that he plans to devote a lot of time to locating fish with his namesake Picasso Ken Cook Fantasy Football Jig, because of the effectiveness of the pattern. “Dropshotting, cranking on structure and fishing structure with jigs were the prevalent patterns on tour last year,” Cook said. “I think that will continue into next season; my favorite is the watermelon, chartreuse purple tipped with a watermelon candy Berkley Chigger Craw; I can catch fish across the country with that setup.”
For more on Ken Cook, hunting Tarbone Ranch, Ken’s Pattern Forecast and his team of sponsors visit:
www.kencookoutdoors.com.
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