Cox regrouped after New York

John Cox was the happiest angler of the 85 who crossed the stage at the Day 1 weigh-in, and it wasn’t just because he caught the first-place bag of 24-12. After the New York tournaments at the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, Cox was in an uncharacteristic slump. He finished outside the top 40 in both – 49th at St. Lawrence and 69th at Champlain.

“It feels great coming up here and hammering ’em,” Cox said yesterday. “My two tournaments in New York were rough. I didn’t get checks. I don’t know the last time I haven’t got two checks back-to-back like that. It was an awful feeling. It was really bothering me.

“I just tried to regroup and here we are – catching some giant smallmouth bass.”

The 34-year-old DeBary, Fla., angler is considered among the best pros in the country. Most of his success has been on the FLW circuit, where he’s won over $1.4 million. So it was surprising to see Cox’s slow start on the Elite Series. He was 33rd at both the St. Johns River and Lake Eufaula to start the season. Yesterday’s big bag and big smile were more like what was expected when Cox came to the Elite Series