By MLF Communications Staff
John Cox of DeBary, Fla., weighed a five-bass limit of St. Lawrence River smallmouth totaling 24-12 to take the early lead after day 1 of the St. Lawrence River MLF Pro Circuit in Massena, N.Y. Cox holds a 7-ounce lead over Joey Cifuentes of Clinton, Ark., who caught five bass weighing 24-05.
“I am in absolute shock to be leading this thing,” Cox laughed after weighing in. “I’m not kidding – this was probably the worst practice that I have ever had before. Coming into today I was thinking, ‘If I can somehow catch 18 or 20 (pounds) and maybe catch a couple tomorrow I could get out of here with a check.’ And I would have taken that. I was shooting for 50th place. So to weigh what I did today is just unreal.”
Cox said that he caught just seven fish on the day – all before noon.
“I didn’t catch many, but the ones that I did catch were the right ones,” Cox said. “Tomorrow I’m going to try to do what I did today and just bounce around and hit some new areas. I tried so hard to make those areas that I fished in the Bass Pro Tour event here last month work, but I couldn’t catch anything. They’re not even the same areas anymore – there is grass growing in now and it’s just changed completely. I had to change everything up and treat this place like I’d never fished it before.”
Cox spent the afternoon scouting new areas and trying to find a couple of spots that could possibly carry him through the remainder of the four-day tournament.
“It looks so good when I weigh in 24 pounds, and it was a lot of fun today, but I’ve got nothing for tomorrow,” Cox went on to say. “All I can do is keep trying to find new stuff, but honestly I think I’ll be lucky to catch five again.”
Matt Stefan of Junction City, Wis. (5th place) won Thursday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass award, weighing a 6-08 smallmouth.
The full field of 154 anglers compete in the two-day opening round. The top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition on Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
Anglers take off at 6:30 a.m. ET from the Massena Intake Boat Launch located at 1415 State Highway 131 in Massena. Weigh-ins will also be held at the boat launch daily at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the action online through the MLF NOW! live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Day 1 Standings
1. John Cox -- 24-12 (5)
2. Joey Cifuentes -- 24-05 (5)
3. Ron Nelson -- 23-07 (5)
4. Miles Howe -- 22-10 (5)
5. Matthew Stefan -- 22-07 (5)
6. Alex Davis -- 22-00 (5)
6. Erik Luzak -- 22-00 (5)
8. Michael Neal -- 21-08 (5)
9. Tom Monsoor -- 21-02 (5)
10. Justin Lucas -- 21-00 (5)
11. Scott Dobson -- 20-11 (5)
12. Jason Abram -- 20-09 (5)
13. Randy Ramsey -- 20-07 (5)
14. Aaron Britt -- 20-00 (5)
15. Jason Lambert -- 19-13 (5)
16. Brett Hite -- 19-09 (5)
17. Justin Cooper -- 19-08 (5)
18. Cody Pike -- 19-07 (5)
18. Troy Stokes -- 19-07 (5)
20. Mike McClelland -- 19-06 (5)
21. Ryan Salzman -- 19-04 (5)
22. Wesley Strader -- 19-02 (5)
23. Spencer Shuffield -- 19-00 (5)
24. Evan Barnes -- 18-14 (5)
25. Kurt Mitchell -- 18-11 (5)
26. David G Williams -- 18-08 (5)
27. Corey Neece -- 18-06 (5)
28. Pete Ponds -- 18-05 (5)
29. Keith Poche -- 18-02 (5)
30. Todd Walters -- 18-00 (5)
31. Kerry Milner -- 17-15 (5)
32. Scott Wiley -- 17-14 (5)
33. Jacopo Gallelli -- 17-12 (5)
34. Cody Meyer -- 17-11 (5)
34. Brad Knight -- 17-11 (5)
34. Josh Butler -- 17-11 (5)
37. Skeet Reese -- 17-10 (5)
38. Kyle Weisenburger -- 17-07 (5)
38. Jesse Wiggins -- 17-07 (5)
40. Daryl Biron -- 17-06 (5)
41. Billy Hines -- 17-05 (5)
41. Clabion Johns -- 17-05 (5)
43. Chad Grigsby -- 17-03 (5)
44. Greg Bohannan -- 17-02 (5)
45. Joshua Weaver -- 16-15 (5)
45. Zack Birge -- 16-15 (5)
47. Lance Crawford -- 16-13 (5)
48. Darrel Robertson -- 16-11 (5)
49. Mike Surman -- 16-10 (5)
49. Dave Parsons -- 16-10 (5)
49. James Niggemeyer -- 16-10 (5)
52. Scott Ashmore -- 16-08 (5)
52. Miles Burghoff -- 16-08 (5)
54. Casey Scanlon -- 16-07 (5)
54. Bradford Beavers -- 16-07 (5)
56. Jimmy Reese -- 16-04 (5)
57. Chad Warren -- 16-03 (5)
58. Chase Serafin -- 16-02 (5)
59. Jim Tutt -- 16-01 (5)
60. Joseph Webster -- 15-13 (5)
60. Jared McMillan -- 15-13 (5)
62. Jason Wilson -- 15-12 (5)
62. Jon Canada -- 15-12 (5)
64. Casey Ashley -- 15-11 (5)
64. Jason Vance -- 15-11 (5)
64. Tyler Woolcott -- 15-11 (5)
67. J Todd Tucker -- 15-10 (5)
67. Kyle Hall -- 15-10 (5)
69. Jim Neece Jr -- 15-09 (5)
70. Brian Latimer -- 15-08 (5)
71. Ramie Colson Jr -- 15-07 (5)
71. Tai Au -- 15-07 (5)
73. Gary Yamamoto -- 15-05 (5)
73. Kevin Martin -- 15-05 (5)
73. Grae Buck -- 15-05 (5)
76. Jim Moynagh -- 15-03 (5)
76. Laramy Strickland -- 15-03 (5)
78. Jason Reyes -- 15-02 (5)
78. Dakota Ebare -- 15-02 (5)
78. Mitch Crane -- 15-02 (5)
81. Jeremy Lawyer -- 15-01 (5)
82. Rusty Salewske -- 14-15 (5)
83. Troy Morrow -- 14-11 (5)
84. Josh Bragg -- 14-10 (5)
84. Lane Olson -- 14-10 (5)
86. Darrell Davis -- 14-09 (5)
87. Matt Reed -- 14-08 (5)
87. Adrian Avena -- 14-08 (5)
87. Takayuki Koike -- 14-08 (5)
90. Mark Fisher -- 14-07 (4)
91. Lawson Hibdon -- 14-06 (5)
92. Jon Englund -- 14-05 (5)
93. Jamie Horton -- 14-04 (5)
93. Kyle Cortiana -- 14-04 (5)
95. Steve York -- 14-01 (5)
95. Colby Miller -- 14-01 (5)
97. Tom Redington -- 13-12 (5)
97. Bill McDonald -- 13-12 (5)
99. Braxton Setzer -- 13-11 (5)
99. Joe Wieberg -- 13-11 (5)
101. Richard Lowitzki -- 13-10 (4)
101. Brandon Mosley -- 13-10 (5)
103. Ryan Davidson -- 13-09 (5)
103. Josh Douglas -- 13-09 (5)
103. Jason Blair -- 13-09 (5)
106. Colby Schrumpf -- 13-06 (5)
107. Kyle Gelles -- 13-05 (5)
108. Kurt Dove -- 13-04 (5)
108. Dylan Hays -- 13-04 (5)
110. Tyler Stewart -- 12-15 (5)
110. Jason Lieblong -- 12-15 (5)
110. Jacob Wall -- 12-15 (5)
113. Cody Huff -- 12-13 (5)
114. Tommy Dickerson -- 12-12 (4)
114. Zell Rowland -- 12-12 (5)
116. Charlie Evans -- 12-07 (4)
116. John Voyles -- 12-07 (5)
118. Bobby Lane -- 12-06 (5)
118. Derrick Snavely -- 12-06 (5)
118. Matt Becker -- 12-06 (5)
121. Dicky Newberry -- 12-04 (4)
122. Blake Smith -- 12-03 (4)
123. Dion Hibdon -- 12-02 (4)
123. Nick Lebrun -- 12-02 (5)
125. Clark Reehm -- 12-01 (5)
126. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 11-15 (5)
127. Larry Nixon -- 11-13 (5)
128. Chris Lane -- 11-10 (5)
129. Clayton Batts -- 11-07 (4)
130. Terry Luedtke -- 10-10 (4)
130. Cal Lane -- 10-10 (5)
132. Grant Galloway -- 10-09 (4)
133. John Hunter -- 10-08 (3)
134. Cody Nichols -- 10-07 (5)
135. Jimmy Washam -- 10-05 (4)
136. Ron Farrow -- 10-02 (4)
137. Terry Bolton -- 9-14 (4)
138. Ricky Robinson -- 9-08 (3)
139. Cole Floyd -- 9-02 (5)
140. Tim Frederick -- 8-15 (4)
141. Shannon Abbott -- 7-13 (2)
142. Jordan Osborne -- 7-07 (2)
143. Rusty Trancygier -- 7-05 (2)
144. Randy Despino -- 7-04 (3)
145. Shin Fukae -- 7-01 (2)
146. Danny Kirk -- 6-11 (3)
147. Mark Blevins -- 6-06 (2)
148. Jake Ormond -- 6-05 (3)
149. Scott Towry -- 6-02 (3)
150. Robert Nakatomi -- 5-09 (2)
151. David Walker -- 5-07 (3)
152. Chris Neau -- 2-00 (1)
153. Lendell Martin Jr -- 1-13 (1)
