After four Elite Series tournaments this season, John Cox comes into the Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork as the Angler of the Year points leader. He’s ahead of second-place Brandon Palaniuk by 10 points as they make the turn in this nine-tournament schedule. The contrast in styles this week bears watching. Anglers interviewed after the three-day practice period, which ended Tuesday, stressed that bass can be caught from dirt shallow to 30 feet deep. Palaniuk said he’s committing deep this week. Cox is always committed to shallow.
“I put a transducer on my boat this week just to see what was out there,” Cox said with a laugh. “I fished two or three hours and never had a bite. I’m probably staying shallow. And I’m probably fishing for six or seven bites. When I get a bite, it’s a good one. I’ve done it before. I’m looking at this one like some of those Kentucky Lake tournaments when everybody was on the ledges and I snuck into the top 10 because I was the only guy who stayed shallow.”
The best part of the shallow bite will be in the first few hours this morning.
“I’m fishing a three-hour derby and everybody else is fishing a full day,” laughed Cox.
