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Cox claims victory at Chickamauga

Cox claims victory at Chickamauga

Reigning Forrest Wood Cup champion John Cox won the Lake Chickamauga Bassmaster Southern Open on Saturday as a 20-06 bag gave him a three-day total of 68-03. The Florida resident locked up a berth in next year's Classic and garnered a prize haul that included $8,000 in cash and a boat and motor package.

It was the 31-year old Cox's first Open win after nearly a dozen years of fishing the events.

“I’ve tried so long to win one of these Opens; it seems like forever,” he said. “I started fishing the Opens when I was 19. It’s where I started, really, so this definitely is a special thing for me.”

Cox was one of the few anglers who exclusively sight-fished throughout the second Southern Open of the season, though it was an effective technique for several of the tournament’s top finishers. He put himself in contention for the open championship with a 22-06 limit on Thursday, followed by a 25-07 bag on Friday.

His Saturday haul was the second-heaviest sack of the day.

“There wasn’t actually a real window when I would catch them, but they would start biting when it warmed up,” he said. “Then they would back off when (it would get cloudy or rainy as it did throughout the tournament). So, it was really hard to catch them.”

Cox was fishing in extremely shallow water; less than a foot at times. He caught the majority of his fish on a 7 1/2-foot MHX 873 rod with 15-pound fluorocarbon line and a Yamamoto Senko. He pitched a jig from time to time in an effort to locate bedding fish.

“In the beginning of the week, the (bass) that stayed on the banks, their backs were out of the water,” Cox said. “So it was really shallow. As the water came up a couple feet, I just went back to the spots where I saw fish with their backs out of the water. I couldn’t see anything deeper.”

The heavy bag of the day came from Michael Neal, who hails from Dayton, Tenn., and was the hometown favorite. Neal weighed 24-06 and finished with a 65-06 total.

“I wish I had (day 2) to do over again,” said Neal, who spent the tournament fishing Chickamauga’s offshore ledges for post-spawn transitioning bass. “I ran past an area where I caught all my biggest fish yesterday, and all of them today. That’s the only thing I would do over.”

Here are the final totals for the top 12:

1. John Cox: 68-03
2. Michael Neal: 65-06
3. Hunter Shryock: 62-06
4. Shaw Grigsby: 61-00
5. Ish Monroe: 59-06
6. Bill Weidler: 52-12
7. Wayne Hauser: 52-00
8. Brandon Lester: 51-04
9. Wes Logan: 49-06
10. Josh Douglas: 47-14
11. Justin Lucas: 45-02
12. Sam George: 41-15

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