Day: March 13, 2021, The National Angler

John Cox Extends Lead at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on Lewis Smith Lake

CULLMAN. Ala. (March 13, 2021) – Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida , who led the tournament on Day Two, brought a five-bass limit to the scale on Saturday, weighing 12 pounds even, to stay on top of the leaderboard after Day Three of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Covercraft Stop 2 – Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama.

Rookie Tai Au of Glendale, Arizona, jumped from fifth place into second on Day Three, with a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 12 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 40 pounds, 6 ounces – a 5-pound, 4-ounce gap that could prove challenging on the stingy fishery. Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas , made the biggest jump of the day, starting the day in 28th place and vaulting into seventh place with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces, bringing him into the Top 10 with a total of 39 pounds, 3 ounces.

The event features 163 of the best bass fishing professionals from around the world, competing in a four-day competition for a top cash payout of up to $135,000.

“I want to win so badly on this lake,” Cox said. “I want to win here worse than anywhere else in the country. It would make a lot of really bad memories disappear. But, today was a little miserable. The only keepers that actually took my bait were the five I brought to the scale.”

Cox said despite the struggle today, he’s still not really looking at beds or trying to fish them.

“I saw some empty beds, and a few with fish on them, but the fish were really spooky,” said Cox. “They still needed to be surprised or tricked into biting. There aren’t any eggs down, so they are passed the point of where I’ve already caught them, and now are further in where they want to make their beds.”

Cox said he caught a lot of males today, but they just weren’t big enough to keep.

“I know I’m in the Top 10 and I’m trying to get excited for tomorrow, but I’m so burned out – there have been a lot of boats on a lot of areas today, so I tried to let some of those areas rest and ran around and fished more random stuff to try to get to those better pockets I wanted to fish. I don’t think we weighed one fish today out of any of the actual pockets I was looking forward to fishing.

“I think I’m just mentally and physically drained from fishing so much water and not getting bit. A lot of times through the day, I was thinking ‘I need to change baits – I need to change colors’, but I honestly just think if those fish were ready, they would have taken anything.

“I went to start on a stretch, but threw to a dock randomly and caught one, then threw to the dock again and caught another one, which got me excited – but that was the total excitement for the entire day.”

Cox said he almost ran all the way to the dam around 10 a.m., but changed his mind because he had three bass and thought he would be able to catch two more pretty easily.

“Hopefully it won’t be as crowded tomorrow – today it was nuts everywhere I went, with people on all the spots,” said Cox. “I’m planning to just rig up everything the same tomorrow and see what happens.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition Sunday on Lewis Smith Lake are:
1st:      John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 45-10
2^nd:      Tai Au, Glendale, Ariz., 15 bass, 40-6
3^rd:       Kyle Cortiana, Coweta, Okla., 15 bass, 39-13
4^th:       Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, 14 bass, 39-9
5^th:       Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 15 bass, 39-6
6^th:       Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 15 bass, 39-4
7^th:       Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 39-3
8^th:       Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 15 bass, 38-8
9^th:       Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 38-4
10^th:     Kyle Hall, Grandbury, Texas, 15 bass, 38-1
Anglers finishing 11^th through 20^th are:
11^th:     Chase Serafin, White Lake, Mich., 15 bass, 37-12, $11,000
12^th:     Kerry Milner, Fisher, Ark., 13 bass, 37-3, $11,000
13^th:     Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 36-13, $11,000
14^th:     John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 15 bass, 36-13, $11,000
15^th:     Cody Huff, Ava, Mo., 14 bass, 36-9, $11,000
16^th:     Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 14 bass, 36-7, $11,000
17^th:     Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 15 bass, 35-10, $11,000
18^th:     Jesse Wiggins, Logan, Ala., 15 bass, 34-5, $11,000
19^th:     Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 14 bass, 33-11, $11,000
20^th:     Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 14 bass, 33-10, $11,000
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 186 bass weighing 423 pounds, 14 ounces, caught by 50 pros on Friday, which included 25 five-bass limits.

The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Covercraft Stop 2 – Lewis Smith Lake is hosted by the Cullman Area Local Organizing Committee.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of 162 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The field was cut to 50 anglers on Saturday. Now, the top 10 pros based on their three-day cumulative weight advance to Sunday where the winner will be determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days of competition.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE presented by Mercury, the Pro Circuit Championship, where they will compete for up to $235,000. The 2021 TITLE will be on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Aug. 17-22, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CT on Sunday from Smith Lake Park, located at 403 County Rd 386 in Cullman. Weigh-in will also be held at the park on Sunday at 4 p.m. Attendance is limited to competing anglers, family, essential staff and media covering the event. Fans are encouraged to follow the action online through the MLF NOW! live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .

The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Covercraft Stop 2 – Lewis Smith Lake will feature live on-the-water coverage and a two-hour action-packed television show that will premiere on the Outdoor Channel on Sunday, July 18 from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and re-air on the Sportsman Channel this fall. Fans can catch weigh-ins and live on-the-water action all day Saturday and Sunday, March 13-14 on MLF NOW! beginning at 7:30 a.m. CT at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

John Cox Surges Ahead at Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on Lewis Smith Lake

CULLMAN. Ala. (March 12, 2021) – Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida brought a five-bass limit to the scale on Friday, weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces, to take control of the leaderboard after Day Two of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Covercraft Stop 2 – Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama. Starting the day in fourth place, Cox’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 10 ounces moved him into the top spot heading into Day Three of the event.

Pro Kerry Milner of Fisher, Arkansas, dropped one spot, from 1st place into 2nd, with a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 31 pounds, 14 ounces – just 1-pound, 12-ounces shy of Cox.

The four-day competition features a field of 163 of the best bass fishing professionals from around the world competing for a top cash award of up to $135,000.

Cox said he’d been itching to sight-fish beds, but didn’t allow himself to even look on Thursday or Friday.

“I just know they aren’t ready yet,” said Cox, the 2016 FLW Cup champion. “I’m hoping they get ready before the tournament is over, but there are too many on the move right now and there are way more opportunities to run into them while they are moving than to catch them on a bed.”

Cox said he went into the tournament planning to focus on dirty water until the bass committed to beds, then switch to cleaner water when he could sight-fish them. However, after the last two days’ haul, he will likely stick with what’s working.

“I caught many of Friday’s fish in random pockets that I hadn’t visited yet, so I think just following that pattern and catching them on the move is going to be my best bet,” continued Cox. “The water is warming up so fast – there was almost a 10-degree difference from the beginning of the day to the end – so I’m definitely keeping my options open to any changes in movement over the next two days.”

Cox said he had seven total keepers on Day Two, which was quite a feat considering it was a struggle for most of the field.

“I’ve been throwing a Dirty Jigs Swim Jig with a Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Meaty Chunk Trailer and mixing it up with a frog and a wacky-rigged Berkley Powerbait The General Worm,” said Cox. “I fished different areas of the lake, but basically used the same baits and techniques both days.”

Cox, who has a lot of history on the fishery, said he’s fishing many of the same pockets he’s fished in the past.

“They served me well then and I hope to continue the success through the remainder of this event.”

The top 20 pros after Day Two on Lewis Smith Lake are:
1st:      John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 33-10
2^nd:      Kerry Milner, Fisher, Ark. 10 bass, 31-14
3^rd:       Corey Neece, Bristol, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-12
4^th:       Chase Serafin, White Lake, Mich., 10 bass, 27-13
5^th:       Tai Au, Glendale, Ariz., 10 bass, 27-10
6^th:       Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, 10 bass, 27-8
7^th:       Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 10 bass, 27-7
8^th:       Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 10 bass, 27-6
9^th:       Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 27-0
10^th:     Cody Huff, Ava, Mo., 10 bass, 26-14
11^th:     Dakota Ebare, Denham Springs, La., 10 bass, 26-10
12^th:     Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 25-13
13^th:     Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., eight bass, 25-10
14^th:     Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 25-10
15^th:     Kyle Cortiana, Coweta, Okla., 10 bass, 25-7
16^th:     John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 10 bass, 25-4
17^th:     Braxton Setzer, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 24-15
18^th:     Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., nine bass, 24-9
19^th:     Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 10 bass, 24-8
20^th:     Greg Bohannan, Bentonville, Ark., 10 bass, 24-6
For a full list of results and to see the top 50 anglers that will continue to Day Three, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Birge won the day’s $500 Berkley Big Bass award, bringing a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale.

Overall, there were 535 bass weighing 1,212 pounds even caught by 163 pros on Friday, which included 62 five-bass limits.

The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Covercraft Stop 2 – Lewis Smith Lake is hosted by the Cullman Area Local Organizing Committee.

In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of 163 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight now advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CT Saturday and Sunday from Smith Lake Park, located at 403 County Rd 386 in Cullman. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. Attendance is limited to competing anglers, family, essential staff and media covering the event. Fans are encouraged to follow the action online through the MLF NOW! live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.