Cox's Future Rests Heavily On Cup Outcome

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

There's really no other way to say it. This year's Forrest Wood Cup will determine John Cox's future at the tour level of the sport of bass fishing. It's not a fun position for the Floridian to be in, but it's his reality.

Money's tight with two young children at home. Credit cards are just about maxed out. Friends have been generous with loans. Fishing is all he's got to pay the bills at the moment.

Back, meet wall.

The last time he found himself in such dire straits, he won the Red River FLW Tour in May 2011. While he'd love a repeat performance in a few weeks when the Red plays host to the Cup, he'll be gunning for a Top-5 finish that would net him a $50,000 payday at least.

"This is pretty much everything," he said. "I've put everything I have into it. I sold my other boat and car and I'm getting to the point where even if I win $100,000 each year, it's not cutting it for what it's costing. I've already spent the money I'd put away for deposits (for next year). This will determine whether you see me out there or not."

He's fared well at Lake Okeechobee and guides on the Harris Chain and Kissimmee Chain, but he feels right at home in Louisiana waters.

"I don't think I'd rather go anywhere else for this thing," he said. "It's pretty amazing how everything came together. Now, we'll see if it's meant to be."

Abbreviated Season

Cox qualified for this year's Cup via the 2012 Tour Open points. He pulled down three Top-11 finishes in the four Opens last year and carried some of that momentum into 2013, when he placed 14th at the Lake Toho Bassmaster Southern Open and then 12th at Lake Okeechobee in the FLW Tour opener.

"At the start of the year I was feeling it," he said. "At Toho, I was like the only guy that stayed in Toho and almost made the cut. I thought it was going to be a good year."

Things started to unravel after that. During practice at Lewis Smith Lake, he received word that his then-girlfriend had been arrested in Florida. He returned home to pick up his children and drove back to Smith Lake, kids in tow, arriving the morning of day 1 of the tournament.

Obviously distracted, he struggled in the event and finished 120th. He followed that up with an 85th at Lake Eufaula and then sat out the remaining three Tour events.

"It was a huge change," he said. "When I was out there, I was thinking I should probably be back at the house. At Smith, I hadn't slept in like 4 days. It was hard to think."

Metal Man

While driving home from the Sam Rayburn FLW Tour Open last fall on Interstate 10, the middle supports on the trailer carrying Cox's 2006 Triton snapped and left the boat resting essentially on the trailer's axles.

Cox had planned to sell the boat once he got back home to Florida, but it was obvious it wasn't going to make it with the trailer in such condition. He started calling people who had offered to purchase it from him. The third person he called said he was about 3 hours away, but he was willing to come get it that day, on the roadside.

The cash transaction took place right there on the shoulder of I-10 and Cox used the money to purchase a new 19-foot aluminum boat equipped with a 150-horsepower motor. It's the boat he fished out of the first part of the year and the vessel that he'll use at the Red.

When he won at the Red in 2011, he fished the first 3 days out of a 17-foot aluminum boat with a 75-horse motor. He capitalized on not having a cumbersome fiberglass rig by sliding through a culvert pipe into a remote overflow pond where he found some good fish that had moved in after a flood event.

He's hoping he'll have an upper hand again when it comes to negotiating tight, shallow spaces.

"It really helps when you're worried about getting hung on stumps," he said. "I feel like I can trolling-motor around better and if I get hung, I can back off of it and go around them. With a fiberglass, if you get wedged on top of a stump, sometimes you have to crank the big motor to get loose and that can really mess up the water and disturb the fish. You just can't go fast in those stump fields, no matter what kind of boat you have."

Red-Ready

Like virtually everyone else in the Cup field, Cox spent a considerable amount of time at the Red River before it went off limits earlier this week. He rode around and fished it for 2 weeks and came away with a good bit of confidence.

"I'm excited," he said. "I liked the way it looked. I jacked 'em everywhere. I wasn't thinking the aluminum boat would come into play much, but it might."

He said there are stretches of the main river that are thick with matted grass and hyacinth with decent numbers of fish in certain places.

"It looked like Okeechobee in some areas," he added. "Out of the 14 days I was there, I caught them really good on 3 days. The rest of the time, it seemed like there was a lot of dead water. I was glad to see that because it means unless someone puts in a ton of time, you're not going to find them everywhere."

He said a little bit of rain would open up several more backwater ponds, but he does have one area he can slip into and catch a nice limit. The rest are hit and miss.

"Most of the backwater stuff is too shallow," he said. "The first day I was there, within the first 2 hours, I grounded my boat trying to get into an area. I have 10 spots like that and could only get into one or two of them and there weren't that many fish in those."

He had to rule out running to Pool 3 because the gas tank in his boat is 22 gallons and he'd have to refuel at least once during the 4-hour round trip.

"I talked to a few guys who said it looked incredible so it might come into play," he said. "But it's the same thing in 4 and 5, too. There are areas that look great."

He thinks the weather, current and rainfall – all of which are tied together – will be the three biggest factors heading into the event

"When we had those cool mornings, it made a huge difference. It made it good," he said. "With no water movement, though, it was tough and I can see where guys are going to have trouble catching 7 or 8 pounds. Another key will be how much rain they get and whether it cools the water down enough to turn on the shallower stuff or raise it up so we can get into some places."