Cox Was Surprised His Main Area Held Up

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

John Cox knew he was onto something good when he ran his Crestliner aluminum boat way up Cotaco Creek during practice for the Forrest Wood Cup at Alabama's Wheeler Lake. A small, jungle-like stretch with a substantial amount of duckweed harbored a good number of fat largemouths that he figured he could mine for 2 days, then he'd have to scramble around on the weekend in an effort to compile a couple of 10-pound sacks.

He put a hurtin' on those backwater fish on Friday and Saturday en route to building a 6 1/2-pound lead in FLW's championship event. He went back on day 3 and caught a mediocre stringer that kept him in the lead – but just barely. He was sure the place was wiped out at that point and he made other plans for day 4.

A difficult first half of the final day, however, prompted him to return to Cotaco. It was there that he caught the two fish (one a 4-pound-plus specimen) that completed his limit. His 11 1/2-pound stringer – half a pound more than he'd scaled the previous day – was more than enough to secure the victory.

Cox, the easy-going, 30-year-old Floridian called "Tin Man" on the circuit because of his boat choice, is arguably the premier bank-beater in the sport today. He fishes shallow water exclusively – his rig is devoid of electronics – and that rarely hinders him. He's logged two straight finishes of 7th or better in the Angler of the Year race (including a 2nd in 2014) and when he gets an opportunity to win an event, he usually capitalizes.

His Cup victory was his second top-level win of 2016 – he also prevailed in the second regular-season stop at Lake Hartwell – and third of is career. It garnered him $300,000.

Following are some of the details.

Practice

Cox did a fair amount of Internet work before coming to Wheeler, trying to determine options for applying his specialized skill set. He had more backwater possibilities than anyone in the 50-angler field due to the lighter weight of his boat.

He looked at a lot of places on Google Earth, but in most cases was unable to discern what he needed to see, as aerial photos showed nothing other than the canopies of trees covering the furthermost portions of the creeks. He had to wait until he got there to go and look for himself.

"I had a few (from previous visits) that I wanted to check, but I just started at the ramp and ran to the backs of all of them," he said. "I had my brother with me, who doesn't really fish, and when we got (to Cotaco), he cracked like a 5-pounder and lost a really big one – I saw that one jump and it was huge!

"That was in more of an earlier stretch. When we got back to where I fished (in the tournament), I tied on a spinnerbait with a piece of rubber on the hook and I got 10 solid bites. That helped me realize what was in there.

"I didn't throw the spinnerbait in the tournament, but it's a huge tool for me in practice," he continued. "If they'll eat that, then there's a lot of fish there."

Nonetheless, the estimated the population to be bout only 2 days' worth. Fortunately for him, it proved to be a bit more fruitful than that.

He said the key to his main stretch, which extended from about 200 yards, was the presence of duckweed, the smallish, flowering aquatic plant that rises to or just beneath the surface.

"The other creeks all had fish, but there was no way to make them react. If it had the duck weed, I could make them bite."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 16-11
> Day 2: 5, 15-10
> Day 3: 5, 11-00
> Day 4: 5, 11-08
> Total = 20, 54-13

It didn't take Cox long to compile the day-1 bag that would give him a lead of nearly 2 pounds over the field.

"The first day I went through I only fished until the smallest one I had was 3 pounds, and then I got out," he said. "The second day I leaned on them a little bit harder because I didn't think I'd be going back."

A frog was his primary offering, but he also caught some on a buzzbait. He had to make all sorts of awkward casts under and around the vegetation, sometimes looking like a man standing in front of the opening of a small cave on a tree-covered mountain, tossing rocks inside to see if an animal stirs.

He bailed on the place in favor of another tributary midway through day 3 after he'd caught his 11 pounds, and at the weigh-in he saw his lead reduced to just 9 ounces as Todd Auten scaled 17-10. In hindsight, he figures he probably could've upgraded that day if he'd stayed put.

The first part of day 4 was a severe struggle. The first creek he visited failed to surrender a single bite, and he was forced to pull out a Senko at stop No. 2 to pick up three very small keepers.

He returned to Cotaco for the final 3 hours of the day and added the two fish that provided his winning margin. However, he had to endure the frustration of losing two big bites about 50 feet apart, one of which spit out his frog and one that busted his line.

"It was an amazing week," he said.

Winning Gear Notes

> Frog gear: 7'4" heavy-action MHX FP885 rod, Lew's Tournament Pro G casting reel (6.8:1 ratio), 50-pound PowerPro braided line, Jackall Iobee Frog (black or bluegill).

> Buzzbait gear: 7'3" medium-heavy MHX MB873 rod, same reel, 20-pound Seaguar AbrazX fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce homemade buzzbait (white).

> Senko gear: 7' medium-light MHX SJ842 rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier spinning reel, 10-pound Berkley FireLine Fused line (main line), 10-pound fluorocarbon leader, 1/0 Gamakatsu hook, wacky-rigged 5" Yamamoto Senko (watermelon seed).

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "Finding that spot – I didn't think it was the winning area, but it was."

> Performance edge – "Having that Crestliner boat made a huge difference – that's the only way I was able to get back where I was. Also, that FP885 rod is dialed in for frog-fishing."

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