John Cox, the 6th-place finisher at the Beaver Lake FLW Tour, admitted that he drove his FLW-supplied boat somewhat tentatively on Sunday. Just 4 weeks earlier, he and marshal Bryan New had been thrown from one of the organization's boats on the final day at Lewis Smith Lake in a seemingly random occurrence.
"I took it real easy pretty much anytime I came up on a turn – especially a left turn," he said. "I'd slow down to about 20 (mph) and just barely turn the wheel."
At Lewis Smith, his boat lurched violently to the left after he'd been traveling at about 50 mph and then let off the throttle. He and New were able to re-board the boat and drive to the nearest ramp. Badly shaken and suffering pain in his neck and back, he opted to conclude his day at that point and accept a 10th-place finish.
He completed the final day at Beaver without incident. He weighed only three fish, but they averaged more than 3 pounds apiece and he lost three others of the same caliber.
Using two MHX rods (the MB843 and MB873) that he built just prior to the Alabama River Bassmaster Southern Open, he threw a finesse worm on a shaky-head in clear water for the first 2 days, then moved up the White River on the weekend and threw a bladed jig in stained water.
The Floridian is in 4th place in the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings with the two tournaments he'd dreaded the most (Lewis Smith and Beaver) behind him.
"I'm super-excited to be where I'm at right now," he said. "In the past I'd never even gotten checks in these clear-water tournaments, and to get Top 10s in both of them is pretty amazing."
