At the start of the day, John Cox sat in third place of the Progressive Angler of the Year race. He had spent the majority of the season higher than that, but has since slipped a bit. Cox set out this morning 51 spots behind leader Brandon Palaniuk and only 10 points back of David Mullins, who is sandwiched in between.
The race that was starting to look like a runaway for Palaniuk has tightened up significantly, as the impassable Palaniuk’s defenses now look permeable after posting a poor performance to start the day. Alliteration aside, it is getting interesting out there.
Cox just boated a solid fish to cull a much smaller one. He sits in 15th, unofficially 15 places (and inevitable points should the tournament conclude this way) ahead of Palaniuk, who is in 30th with only two fish. Mullins has actually slipped a little in regards to Palaniuk, sitting in 38th on the day. But still holds second in AOY with a small 2-point lead over Cox.
Again, all of this is extremely unofficial, even more so than usual with some 50ish anglers not even having marshals today and the vast majority of the field experiencing spotty cell service at best.
Still, Palaniuk has definitely opened the door a bit midway through Day 1 on Oahe.
