SHREVEPORT, La. (May 21, 2011) – John Cox of Debary, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to maintain his lead at the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on the Red River and advance to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 40-11, he now holds an 8-pound, 8-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.
“It was slow today,” said Cox, who now has led the first three days of competition. “I went to go into the first hole I wanted to go into and there was somebody in there, so I left and started running around. I hit a pond and caught five real quick.”
Cox said he began catching fish at 10 a.m. and had a limit in an hour. He said he put down his Power-Pole and fan cast to hydrilla to catch his limit. Cox said he caught a 3-pounder and culled once and his action was done for the day. He then left to find more fish for the final day of competition.
“Every fish I caught was on something different,” Cox said. “I caught one on a spinnerbait, one on a jig, one on a Fluke and one on a worm.
“Everything was just falling into place throughout the day,” Cox added. “I was just making the right calls.”
Cox fished the first three days of competition from a 17-foot boat powered by a 75-horsepower Mercury outboard with hopes the lighter rig would allow him to access shallow-water areas the other competitors could not. Cox said he made a two-hour run each way to his fishing spot on the first two days but opted not to make the run in case the water level was too low to access the pond that brought him early success in the tournament.
“I almost got gas about 9 o’clock and made the run because I hadn’t had a bite yet,” Cox said. “It was going through my head, but I didn’t. I was glad I just stuck it out.
“Now that I’ve found that other area I feel pretty good about it,” Cox added. “There’s good fish there; they’re just hard to catch. There are 3-pounders in there. As long as I catch a couple of fish … ”
Clint Brownlee of Tifton, Ga., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 32-3.
Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:
3rd: Mark Rose, Marion, Ark., 14 bass, 30-9
4th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 29-3
5th: Gary Yamamoto, Palestine, Texas, 15 bass, 27-7
6th: Christian Romans, Carrollton, Ky., 15 bass, 27-4
7th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 27-4
8th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 14 bass, 26-14
9th: Mike Reynolds, Modesto, Calif., 14 bass, 26-10
10th: Jon Strelic, El Cajon, Calif., 14 bass, 26-4
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 15 bass, 25-9, $11,553
12th: Travis Fox, Rogers, Ark., 14 bass, 25-3, $11,553
13th: Jim Moynagh, Carver, Minn., 13 bass, 25-1, $12,053
14th: Glenn Chappelear, Acworth, Ga., 13 bass, 24-12, $11,553
15th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 24-11, $11,553
16th: Mike Wurm, Hot Springs, Ark., 14 bass, 23-15, $11,086
17th: Gene Eisenmann, Frisco, Texas, nine bass, 23-1, $11,086
18th: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 23-1, $11,086
19th: Kevin Hawk, Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 22-15, $11,086
20th: Terry Bolton, Jonesboro, Ark., 11 bass, 20-13, $11,086
Overall there were 85 bass weighing 143 pounds, 3 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 12 five-bass limits.
Keith Carson of Debary, Fla., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 24 pounds, 12 ounces followed by Jeff Sprague of Forney, Texas, in second place with 14 bass weighing 22-7 worth $6,977.
“I’m still shaking,” said Carson, who is John Cox’s practice partner. “Each day I had to adjust to what I was fishing. The first day I was down in pool four and yesterday I was in pool five and then today I fished with Brent Ehrler in pool four again. So I just had to do my own thing.”
Carson said he caught about 30 fish the first day of competition using a crankbait in grass. On the second day Carson used a topwater frog on lily pads in pool five.
“It was just ridiculous,” Carson said. “They were just jumping all over (the frog). I even lost a couple of 4-pounders yesterday.
“Then I fished with Brent Ehrler today and he really made me work for it,” Carson added. “I think I only took two sips of water all day. I kept casting and casting. I caught my last keeper with five minutes to go.”
Carson said he used a crankbait on the final day of competition to secure his victory. He said as Ehrler slowly picked apart a piece of structure, he would cast repeatedly until he found a piece of structure under the water and then worked that structure with the crankbait.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Billy Dehart, Burlingame, Calif., 12 bass, 20-6, $4,644
4th: J.R. Wright, Truckee, Calif., 12 bass, 20-3, $3,710
5th: Timothy Sisk, Gastonia, N.C., 11 bass, 19-13, $2,777
6th: David Lauer, Lady Lake, Fla., 11 bass, 19-8, $2,310
7th: Mark Denney, Somerset, Ky., 13 bass, 19-3, $1,844
8th: Timothy Lane, Momence, Ill., 13 bass, 18-15, $1,657
9th: Aaron Beshears, Van Buren, Ark., nine bass, 18-13, $1,814
10th: Tony Nation, Springdale, Ark., 13 bass, 17-13, $1,470
Overall there were 52 bass weighing 79 pounds, 5 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included four 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 Walmart 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.
The top 10 pros will take off at 6:30 Sunday morning from Red River South Marina located at 250 Red River South Rd. in Bossier City, La. 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.