$ 100,5000 payday ) at the Smith Lake Pro Circuit tournament in mid-March .
But the schedule bit him for the first time shortly thereafter .
Cox finished 79th at Pickwick Lake six days later after a forgettable first day where he caught one fish for 3-9 .
“ I was just exhausted at Pickwick ,” Cox admits . “ I ’ d actually had a couple of days off between Smith and Pickwick , but I had put so much mental energy into winning at Smith that I was still dead tired . I made some terrible decisions that first day … just terrible . My brain was tired , I guess .”
Cox rallied with 13-5 on Day 2 , but almost as soon as he walked off the stage , he jumped into the truck with Melissa to start the 561-mile drive from Florence , Alabama , to Brookeland , Texas , the site of Bass Pro Tour Stage One on Sam Rayburn Reservoir . Nearly 10 hours ( and multiple Red Bulls and McDonald ’ s Frappes ) later , the Coxes pulled up to the tournament staging area on the south end of Rayburn , 90 minutes before John was to meet his MLF official and cameraman .
He took an hourlong nap , picked up his official and shooter , and launched onto Rayburn for his first-ever day of competition on the Bass Pro Tour .
The day started well – Cox caught a 3-1 almost immediately – but then unraveled when he decided to put his boat back on the trailer and drive to a spot way up the Angelina River , where he won the 2020 Pro Circuit tournament on Sam Rayburn . Upon arriving after a 60-minute drive , Cox discovered that his honey hole was fenced off and unfishable – a fact that he would ’ ve known if he had practiced for the tournament .
“ Man , that day really slapped me in the face ,” Cox says . “ I was so confident because I had won there , but I really tried to do too much – especially without practicing . Right then and there I realized that I had to change the way I fished and practiced . I can ’ t just go run stuff .
“ The tournaments I ’ ve done the best , I ’ ve picked a small area , fished it really thoroughly the first day , and then expanded on it the next day . My practices are really short when I get them . I know now that I can ’ t get too crazy trying to look at multiple ( areas ). If I fish with no practice , I can ’ t be making those dumb , big moves .”
PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA
Coxenomic $ 5 : Playing out the Season
Cox hit one more speed bump in May with a 96th-place finish at Neely Henry ( just two days after he cashed a $ 30,000 Top 5 check at Bass Pro Tour Stage Two on Lake Travis ), but appeared to hit a consistent groove on the back stretch of the season . He rang up nearly $ 81,000 in winnings between Mother ’ s Day and the Fourth of July , settled into the Top 20 in Bass Pro Tour AOY / REDCREST 2022 standings , put himself in strong position to fish at least one MLF Cup in the fall , and climbed into the Top 30 for 2022 Heavy Hitters qualification . He ’ s had his family along for much of his three-tour walkabout – either flying them in for distant tournaments or having them tag along on shorter drives (“ shorter ” being under 10 hours in Cox ’ s vernacular ) – and already deemed the season a success with three more regular-season tournaments remaining as of this writing .
“ I knew going in that just to survive ( the season ) would be a win ,” Cox jokes . “ But I think we ’ re doing good . I wanted to do better in some of those tournaments and I know I missed on a few opportunities , but overall , I think the season went quite well . At the end of it all , if we can break even when Melissa and I tally up all the entries and expenses and subtract that from the winnings – and then keep the sponsor money – I ’ ll consider it a good year . Hopefully I ’ ll have qualified for a Cup or two , made REDCREST and Heavy Hitters and maybe made a couple more Top 10s .
“ I didn ’ t think my family would go for it when I sprung the schedule idea on them , but they all said , ‘ Do it , do it !’. At that point , I kinda had to do it . I got pretty tired a few times and thought , ‘ Maybe I ’ m crazy ’ a few times , but it ’ s also been a lot of fun . I don ’ t know if I ’ ll ever do it again , but , man , what an experience .”
44 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021