SHREVEPORT, La. (May 19, 2011) – John Cox of Debary, Fla., crossed the stage Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces to lead day one of the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on the Red River. Cox now holds an 11-ounce lead over Mike Reynolds of Modesto, Calif., who caught five bass weighing 13-15 in a tournament featuring 280 anglers from all across the country.
Cox chose to fish the tournament from a 17-foot boat powered by a 75-horsepower Mercury outboard with hopes the lighter rig would allow him to access areas the other competitors could not.
“I started off in an area I found in the last day of practice,” Cox said. “I got into a shallow pond and it was loaded. I caught my first five in five flips. I was real lucky there was still enough water to get in there. It worked out great.”
Cox said he began throwing a chatterbait but switched tactics after the chatterbait didn’t produce the results he was looking for. He said he made the switch to a Dandy Baits jig and the change paid off immediately.
“I pulled in and started off throwing the chatterbait and said, ‘Something’s not right,’” Cox said. “So I switched to the jig. You could really throw anything in there.
“It’s all just falling into place now,” Cox added. “Well, today it did. Who knows what the rest of the week will hold. We’ll see. I’m going to do same thing tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on the Red River are:
3rd: Wes Thomas, Hanover, Ind., five bass, 13-7
4th: Gene Eisenmann, Frisco, Texas, five bass, 13-1
5th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., five bass, 13-0
6th: Blake Nick, Adger, Ala., five bass, 12-14
7th: Micah Frazier, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 12-12
8th: Mark Rose, Marion, Ark., five bass, 12-10
9th: Lance Vick, Mineola, Texas, five bass, 12-7
10th: Terry Bolton, Jonesboro, Ark., five bass, 12-0
Reynolds caught the Big Bass weighing 5-2 on the pro side to win $500.
Overall there were 525 bass weighing 880 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 132 pros Thursday. The catch included 73 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup. This year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachita where pros are competing for a top prize of $600,000 – the sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the 2011 FLW Tour Angler of the Year that will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
Mike McDonald of Randleman, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 12-1 followed by Timothy Sisk of Gastonia, N.C., in second place with five bass weighing 11-7.
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Keith Carson, Debary, Fla., five bass, 9-13
4th: Billy Dehart, Burlingame, Calif., five bass, 9-10
5th: Chris Hults, Vancleave, Miss., five bass, 9-8
David Lauer, Lady Lake, Fla., five bass, 9-8
7th: Alan Hults, Gautier, Miss., four bass, 8-8
8th: Jeff Sprague, Forney, Texas, five bass, 8-7
9th: J.R. Wright, Truckee, Calif., five bass, 8-1
10th: Larry Hostetler, Floyds Knobs, Ind., five bass, 7-15
Aaron Beshears of Van Buren, Ark., caught the Big Bass weighing 5-1 in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 245 bass weighing 391 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 106 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 14 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup. The FLW Tour Co-angler of the Year will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors and the winner will receive a new Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
Anglers will take off from Red River South Marina located at 250 Red River South Rd. in Bossier City, La., at 6:30 each morning. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the Red River South Marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Shreveport Convention Center located at 400 Caddo St. in Shreveport beginning at 4 p.m.