It took four sessions of fishing over 2 days at three different lakes in Arkansas, but Roger and Corey Cook were up to the challenge in winning the Bass Cat National Team Championship on Tuesday.
The father-son duo weighed 14 fish for 26.90 pounds across four rounds at Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake and took home an all-expenses paid trip to Lake Picachos in Mexico for the win.
“It was a great event and we are really glad to see the Cook family do well,” said Bass Cat president Rick Pierce. “Seeing fathers and sons together is part of what we live for. Time on the water with family is a part of our tradition.”
It’s the second straight Bass Cat Nation Team Championship win for Roger Cook, who won last year’s tournament while fishing out of his friend Stan Green’s boat. Green graciously offered his spot on the winner’s trip to the Amazon to Corey and refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.
The Cooks desperately wanted to fish this event together this year, but there was one problem – neither owned a Bass Cat. Fifteen-year-old Corey solved that dilemma by purchasing a 1999 Pantera III from a seller in Alabama in March.
“He worked hard to purchase the boat just to have a chance of qualifying,” Roger said. “That makes the whole progression extra special.”
Last month, they won the Lake of the Ozarks Bass Cat Owners Tournament (LOZBCOT) to qualify for this week’s event.
While Corey isn’t old enough to tow the boat anywhere – his mom drives him to the lake to compete – he’s rapidly building a strong reputation in Ozarks-region competitive circles as a stick to watch out for.
The Cooks moved up gradually, from 3rd place after Monday morning’s session at Taneycomo, to 2nd Monday afternoon. They took over the lead Tuesday morning at Bull Shoals and then slammed the door with a limit that weighed a tournament-best 11.65 pounds Tuesday afternoon. The big bag gave them a 4-pound win over the Texas team of Lee Morris and Josh Priest, who led after day 1.
Last year, Cook and Green also caught the best limit of the tournament at Norfork. Once again, the victory came on the strength of ½- and ¾-ounce green-pumpkin jigs, but the winning team had to adjust their sights to different types of cover and structure to claim the win.
At Taneycomo, they fished isolated grass patches. In Monday’s session at Bull Shoals, their most productive areas were brush piles in 15 to 20 feet of water off main lake points, but when they returned on Tuesday they did better in boat slips over 8 to 15 feet of water with adjacent shade patches. That same pattern prevailed at Norfork.
Further details of their winning strategy and the other competitors’ experiences will be available later this week on the Bass Cat Boats Message Board. As Pierce dreams up another challenging format for next year’s event, the Cooks will look ahead to their Mexican adventure and to the possibility of defending their title once again in 2016.
