Cox continues to rule at Okeechobee
Articles at FishingPoints.com
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – Lake Okeechobee has never really been known as a sight-fishing lake. Usually other techniques such as casting to reed clumps, flipping holes or reeling plastics over Kissimmee grass have been more productive methods of catching bass than actually seeing fish on beds and catching them.
Don’t tell John Cox of Debary, Fla., that, though. Because Cox, a self-proclaimed sight-fishing fanatic, is having a big time at the FLW Series Eastern event this week, catching visible bass off beds on the Big O.
In the last two days, Cox has weighed in the two biggest stringers of the tournament: 25-1 on day one and 22-14 on day two to take a large lead with 47-15.
“Pretty much all I’m doing is sight-fishing,” Cox said. “I’m not casting and reeling or flipping holes; I’m just trolling and looking, and when I see a good one, I fish for it. If the fish seems interested, I’ll stay after it. If not, I move on. Most of these females are biting pretty quickly. The longest time I spent on a fish today was maybe 20 minutes.”
In case you’re wondering, Cox is not catching fish that he scoped out during practice. He prefers to find them on the fly; it’s actually part of his strategy.
“Today, I didn’t even return to the place where I caught them yesterday,” he said. “I covered new water, looking for new fish. I want to find new ones that have just moved up because they are by far easiest to catch.”
When asked about lure specifics, Cox only laughed and candidly answered, “It doesn’t really matter. When you find a fresh bass, they’ll bite it, no matter what the bait is.”
|