Drew Cook ended Day 1 at the St. Johns River 10 spots out of last place – 84th in a 94-man field. He weighed three bass totaling 4 pounds. The fact that he’s competing on Championship Sunday is remarkable.
“Absolutely, that’s my biggest comeback ever,” said Cook, who rebounded with a 21-pound, 11-ounce bag on Friday and 17-11 on Saturday, which could have been so much more. “I had the opportunity at a really big bag. I lost one about six pounds first thing this morning. My next cast I had one about the same size that knocked my topwater out of the water three times and then jumped completely over it.”
Cook lost another big fish on a crankbait in the last half-hour as he was heading back to the weigh-in. Yes, he’s thrown a topwater lure and a crankbait, but Cook has caught most of his weight sight-fishing with a wacky-rigged worm and a Fighting Frog.
What’s possible today, with yet another weather change at the conclusion of a week full of them?
“I know in practice, whenever the weather was bad, they were really biting,” Cook said Saturday. “If we can get that going again, I feel like everybody is going to have better bags. If we don’t, I can still catch them up on the bank, sight-fishing.”