John Cox's Pattern, Baits & Gear
John Cox sat atop the standings after each of the first 3 days, although never by much - his biggest lead was 1-10. He spent the tournament in the St. Clair River after discovering that all of the places he wanted to try on the lake were covered up on the first day of practice. "There were people everywhere," he said. "I had spots marked where I wanted to look for grass, but I couldn't pull up on anything that didn't have at least five boats on it. Some of them had 30. "Once I got in the river, there were only a few people in there."
He fished seawalls and current seams and caught weigh-in fish from a wide depth range (3 to 20 feet). "I think the biggest thing was not giving up and just continuing to grind on them," he said. "It was the first time I'd really gotten to grind on smallmouths and run spots and bounce around." He had a 5 1/2-pounder in his final-day bag, but caught only six keepers that day and was forced to weigh two that were under 3 pounds.
Gear:
Dropshot gear: 7' medium-action Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier MGX and MGXtreme spinning reels, 8-pound Berkely Fireline Crystal (main line), Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon (leader), 3/8-ounce teardrop-style tungsten weight, size 2 straight-shank hook, Berkley MaxScent Flat Worm (brown back or white) or Berkley PowerBait Jerk Shad (white or watermelon red).
Bassmaster Elite Lake St. Clair 2-5 Patterns - BassFan 8/26/20 (John Johnson)
