John Cox has had a stellar morning, by the standards set on nearly every other fishery in the country. Here though, his otherwise impressive 19-pound, 5-ounce bag pales in comparison when put up against the bags of the 30 people in front of him.
Worst of all for Cox, the one guy in front of him in the 2022 Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race is currently sitting in 7th with 23 even. Brandon Palaniuk has done his work on Day 1 to maintain and now stretch his previous 18-point lead over current runner-up Cox.
Reports from on the water say Cox has ventured offshore to collect his near 20-pound stringer, stretching himself outside of his shallow water comfort zone. There’s still time for Cox to catch-up, with three events left including this one. But at this point, it’s looking like Palaniuk will have to slip up for that to happen. And that doesn’t look likely. The prodigy has been on a blistering pace, finishing no worse than 26th so far this year and collecting a 2nd, 3rd and 7th place finish along the way.
So the outlook is a little grim at present for Cox. But I’ll say this with the same gusto of Patrick Swayze in his famous line “nobody puts baby in a corner”… nobody better not go to writing off John Cox.
