FISHING
BASS SKILLS
THIS SIMPLE TECHNIQUE HELPS JOHN COX CASH MORE
CHECKS WHEN OTHER APPROACHES WASH OUT
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t’s no secret john cox of debary,
Fla., is among the best skinny-
water bass anglers on the planet.
Ask, and he’ll tell you he is way more
comfortable playing in the dirt – or
real close to it – than in water too
deep to touch bottom with his rod tip.
“i grew up fishing in ponds, canals
and stuff like that,” cox says. “i’ll fish
deep if i have to, but 7 feet or less is
where i make my living. it’s what i
like to do.”
cox is a power fisherman by trade
who has banged out some really big
checks and top finishes using all
sorts of methods ranging from flip-
ping jigs to winding swimbaits and
tossing square-bills and frogs. but
when the bite turns tough, as it so
often does toward the end of multi-
day events with large fields, he’s
always quick to reach for a swim-
ming worm.
“it has saved me more than once
when my other patterns played out
for one reason or another,” cox says.
“i’ll have one rigged in every tourna-
ment. it’s not something that i will
usually start with, but i’ve finished
with it a bunch of times.”
learning to wind a worm the way
cox does might save some of your
outings too.
Where and When
cox honed his swimming-worm
skills on the shallow, grassy waters of
Florida, but he has also used it to
exploit bass on lakes and rivers in
other parts of the country. the tech-
nique will work year-round, but it
shines especially bright during the
spring months when fished in rela-
tion to shallow vegetation, flooded
bushes, stumps, laydowns, docks
and other types of shoreline cover.
“it works best around grass and
pads, but they will also come off of
wood to get it,” cox adds. “the main
thing i look for in either situation is
pretty clear water. if you’ve got a
foot or more of visibility, you can
catch ’em swimming a worm.”
Worm choices
just about any worm can swim, but
those with some signature swag in the
caboose tend to get the most play.
the most popular worm for swim-
ming is probably the Zoom ultra Vibe
BREAKING DOWN SWIMMING WORMS
By Matt Williams
speed worm, which features a u-
shaped tail that creates a distinctive
buzz on the surface and an enticing
vibration as it moves through the
water column beneath the surface.
A new offering cox is excited about
is the berkley powerbait wind up. the
7-inch worm is designed with a meaty
ribbed body that tapers down to a
hard-thumping, boot-style tail – the
kind found on many swimbaits – that
wags side-to-side when in motion. he
used it to finish second at the
February Flw tour stop on lake toho.
“the sound it makes when buzzed
on the surface is totally unique from
traditional swimming worms,” cox
says. “My guess is the sound and
vibration are different beneath the
surface, too. the ultra Vibe is still
going to work, but the wind up is
going to give fish an entirely different
look and sound. i think it will replace
some of the other swimming worms.
For me, it already has.”
cox says he prefers the wind up
during springtime warming trends
when water temperatures are above
60 degrees and the fish are on an
aggressive feed.
fLWfisHing.com i spring 2019