Reigning Forrest Wood Cup champion John Cox too over the lead on day 2 of the Lake Chickamauga Bassmaster Southern Open on Friday as his 25-07 stringer pushed his total to 47-13. He'll go into the final day with a 3 1/2-pound edge over 2nd-place Hunter Shryock.
“It’s amazing how much this area changes from day to day,” Cox said. “A spot I think is going to have clean water will have dirty water, and the next day it’s clean. So I just keep moving.”
Cox’s biggest bass on Friday weighed 8-15, and he caught the fat female on 8-pound-test line. He said the big bass ran with his lure and put up a big fight.
“I had to chase her like a tarpon,” he said. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was having pains.”
The nearly 400 pros and co-anglers competing in the event dodged rainstorms throughout the day, but the intermittently foul weather did little to disturb the extremely heavy bites that have been routine on “The Chick” in recent months.
Shryock, Thursday’s leader, was strong again on day 2 with an 18-14 sack. He also made the top 12 at the first Southern Open of the season on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes in January.
Shryock said his brother (Bassmaster Elite Series pro Fletcher Shryock) texted him Thursday night and told him to stick to what he does best – sight fishing. He followed big brother’s advice and found the big females he needed to punch his ticket to Saturday’s final round.
“I went shallow,” Shryock said. “It’s intimidating when you come to a TVA lake and you see 90 percent of the anglers fishing offshore, and you’re one of the few guys in there still sight-fishing.
"I found a new area that had some new fish in it. I feel like there (are some bass) that still are coming up to spawn. You see some of these fish that are full of eggs. I don’t think it’s the happening deal, but there are enough fish for me. I’ll find my five bites and miss the 40 bites that everyone else is getting.”
Here are the totals for the 12 anglers who advanced to the final day:
1. John Cox: 47-13
2. Hunter Shryock: 44-05
3. Shaw Grigsby: 42-06
4. Michael Neal: 41-00
5. Ish Monroe: 40-00
6. Wayne Hauser: 38-12
7. Sam George: 37-03
8. Brandon Lester: 37-03
9. Justin Lucas: 35-14
10. Bill Weidler: 35-13
11. Josh Douglas: 35-05
12. Wes Logan: 35-05
