“ The goal of the job is to make money , so I mostly thought about how much I could make if I fished well ,” Cox says . “ I didn ’ t think about the ( entry fee ) number much until payments were due – $ 30,000 was due in February and I think another $ 30,000 in March . That ’ s when it really set in how much that amount was . Sponsor money doesn ’ t come up front – you get that quarterly or monthly – so Melissa and I had to just make it work .
“ That took me back to the days when I first started fishing the FLW Tour and I had to beg ( tournament director ) Bill Taylor for a couple of extra days to pay my entries . I actually felt kinda good about it . It was a big gamble to put that much money up , but I was fishing good and didn ’ t spend too much time worrying about it .”
Coxenomic $ 2 : Flying by the Seat of Your Pants
You can scan Cox ’ s tournament notepad front to back and not find a single word about travel plans . No hotel bookings , no itineraries for Airbnbs , no flight reservations , no estimates on fuel costs . With the exception of a handful of tournaments where they share a house rental with fellow Pro Circuit angler Tom Redington , John and Melissa fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to tournament travel .
They usually stay in hotels , which Melissa frequently books on Expedia while they ’ re driving to each tournament city . They do it that way for two reasons : because they never really know when John will be finished with one tournament to leave for the next , and because that ’ s just the way John has always traveled .
“ It doesn ’ t make much sense to book anything in advance , so we kinda just go with it ,” Cox admits . “ Most of
A day in the life of the Cox family in 2021 .
the tournaments this year were sort of in the same areas ( of the country ), so we ’ ve just bounced from one spot to the next . We don ’ t even know when we ’ re going to get to a tournament , and sometimes you ’ ll get there and there won ’ t be enough parking or power . A few hours before we get there , Melissa will get on Expedia and really scope it out . We can ’ t really do Airbnbs because , well , Airbnbs involves planning to be there awhile .”
PHOTOS BY CHRIS NEAL
Coxenomic $ 3 : Designed for Economy
Cox has banked nearly $ 2 million in tournament winnings in his career by sticking with techniques that universally catch bass . He catches an estimated 90 percent of his fish flipping or Ned-rigging / drop-shotting / swimming / etc ., a Berkley The General , Magnum Bottom Hopper , Jerk Shad , Meaty Chunk , Lil ’ General or Lil ’ Trooper ; the remaining 10 percent come on a hodgepodge of frogs , crankbaits and various other topwaters .
While other anglers might feel compelled to pack every rod and tackle box they own into a boat and truck bound for 24 different fisheries in eight different states , Cox ’ s tackle management is a study in economy .
“ I visually see over 90 percent of the fish I catch ,” Cox says . “ It ’ s always shallow for me – it ’ s a Texas-rigged or weightless The General , a Jerk Shad , a swim jig with a Meaty Chunk on back , that sort of thing . Smallmouth is all drop-shot or Ned rigs with Berkley plastics . I really never threw crankbaits until I won on Sam Rayburn ( in 2020 ). I really don ’ t need a bunch of different gear . I left Florida in February , had all the same stuff in the boat until we hit the smallmouth swing ( in June ), and then took everything out except spinning rods and a few baitcasters that are so tangled up you ’ d have to cut them out with a knife .”
Coxenomic $ 4 : Lessons Learned
Cox ’ s goal heading into the 2021 season was to cash at least a $ 10,000 check at each event . He started the 2021 campaign like a house afire , cashing $ 40,000 worth of checks on the St . Johns and Tennessee rivers , and then claiming a championship trophy ( and
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 43