Cox Holds On To Edge Good Buddy Carson

By MLF Communications Staff

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – As the MLF NOW! livestream ended on Saturday afternoon, the weights were still too close to call as the Top 3 pros were in a virtual tie as the broadcasters signed off with the anglers headed toward the weigh-in. However, after the final fish had been weighed at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park, it was a familiar name atop the leaderboard.

John Cox of DeBary, Fla., weighed in five bass totaling 17 pounds, 9 ounces to hold onto his lead and win the MLF Invitational and the top payout of $80,000. Cox’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 55-14 edged out his longtime friend and tournament partner Keith Carson, also of DeBary, who weighed in a three-day total of 14 bass for 54-13, good for $50,000. Nineteen-year-old pro Marshall Robinson of Landrum, S.C., son of Bass Pro Tour angler Marty Robinson, finished in third place with 53-13 to earn $20,000.

“Me and Keith have fished together for a long time and I’ve dreamt of this day – when me and him would be 1-2 in a tournament. And here we are,” an emotional Cox said on-stage. “I truly love this. I am just so thankful. The fact that we get to do this for a living is unreal. Me and Keith used to paint apartments together. I can’t believe we’re here – this is just so unreal I feel like I’m in a dream right now.

“When we left the house this morning, I told him we could be coming out of here with 130 grand to bring back to DeBary, and now here we are,” Cox continued. “This has been just an incredibly awesome week.”

Cox spent the week sight-fishing, finding bedding bass and fry-guarders. Often tucked oddly behind docks or under cables, Cox finesse fished with his signature Abu Garcia Pro Series rod, an Abu Garcia Zenon spinning reel, Berkley FireLine and a 10-pound-test Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader. For baits, he rolled with either a wacky-rigged Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General or a Berkley PowerBait Jerk Shad.

One of the differences for Cox may have been that he was fishing for less-pressured bass.

“I don’t think there were that many where I was at,” he said. “What Keith was saying he was seeing, there were a lot more fish. I think a lot of the other guys might have been fishing over there. Where I was fishing, they were few and far between, it kind of opened it up to where I had a lot of it to myself. We were talking in practice about making something out of nothing. That’s what I did, I just tried to run into five you can catch.”

Still, even as a good sight-fisherman, Cox couldn’t really dial it in.

“I tried to figure a pattern, but every time I thought I figured a pattern, it didn’t play out anywhere else,” he said. “I didn’t catch more than one fish in a creek until today.”

The win was bittersweet for Cox. Although he was thrilled to earn the top payout and automatic REDCREST qualification, he was disappointed that his best friend didn’t get the first major win of his career.

“I felt stuff at that weigh-in that I’ve never felt at any other weigh-in before,” Cox said. “I wanted Keith to win because he’s my buddy. I always want him to do well.

“It’s bittersweet, but it felt good to win, and to get to go to REDCREST. That’s huge. When I heard that, I was like ‘Please let me win.’ Every time I miss one of those, it’s terrible. I watched it at Lake Norman this year and I was heartbroken I wasn’t there.”

The season-long Invitational Angler of the Year (AOY) will also earn a berth into REDCREST and the Top 8 anglers in the season-long Invitational AOY point standings will qualify for the 2024 Bass Pro Tour. After four events in the six-event circuit, Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., leads the AOY race with 777 points. Junction City, Wis. pro Matthew Stefan sits in second place with 735, while Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Va. is in third with 733. Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa. is in fourth place with 724, while Bass Pro Tour angler Michael Neal rounds out the Top 5 with 719.

Day 3 (Final) Standings

1. John Cox -- 20-01 (5) -- 18-04 (5) -- 17-09 (5) -- 55-14 (15) -- $82,500

2. Keith Carson -- 14-15 (4) -- 20-12 (5) -- 19-02 (5) -- 54-13 (14) -- $50,000

3. Marshall Robinson -- 18-09 (5) -- 19-05 (5) -- 15-15 (5) -- 53-13 (15) -- $20,000

4. Drew Gill -- 19-01 (5) -- 18-10 (5) -- 16-02 (5) -- 53-13 (15) -- $18,000

5. Ron Nelson -- 18-03 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 19-05 (5) -- 52-07 (15) -- $17,000

6. Andy Newcomb -- 13-14 (5) -- 19-06 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 49-15 (15) -- $16,300

7. Andrew Nordbye -- 21-08 (5) -- 13-12 (5) -- 14-06 (5) -- 49-10 (15) -- $15,000

8. Shaw Grigsby -- 10-11 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 18-13 (5) -- 46-09 (15) -- $14,000

9. Martin Villa -- 14-14 (5) -- 15-06 (5) -- 15-14 (5) -- 46-02 (15) -- $13,000

10. Matthew Stefan -- 19-09 (5) -- 8-03 (5) -- 17-09 (5) -- 45-05 (15) -- $12,000

11. Grae Buck -- 13-09 (5) -- 13-12 (5) -- 18-00 (5) -- 45-05 (15) -- $10,000

12. Tai Au -- 17-03 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 12-00 (5) -- 44-00 (15) -- $10,000

13. Tom Redington -- 13-05 (5) -- 19-02 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 43-11 (15) -- $10,000

14. Jordan Collom -- 11-03 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 43-08 (15) -- $10,000

15. Jared Lintner -- 12-06 (5) -- 15-05 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 43-03 (15) -- $10,000

16. Robby Lefere -- 15-07 (5) -- 14-05 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 42-13 (15) -- $10,000

17. Brock Reinkemeyer -- 14-01 (5) -- 14-00 (5) -- 14-08 (5) -- 42-09 (15) -- $10,000

18. Joshua Weaver -- 13-03 (5) -- 14-10 (5) -- 14-06 (5) -- 42-03 (15) -- $10,000

19. Jordan Hirt -- 18-09 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 41-10 (15) -- $10,000

20. Michael Neal -- 13-14 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 12-09 (5) -- 41-09 (15) -- $10,000

21. Derik Hudson -- 16-02 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 12-00 (5) -- 41-03 (15) -- $10,200

22. Connor Cunningham -- 14-00 (5) -- 16-09 (5) -- 10-07 (5) -- 41-00 (15) -- $10,000

23. Troy Stokes -- 14-04 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 40-12 (15) -- $10,000

24. Charley Slaton -- 19-10 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 8-09 (4) -- 40-08 (14) -- $10,000

25. Mark Rose -- 14-09 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 13-11 (5) -- 40-05 (15) -- $10,000

26. J Todd Tucker -- 14-08 (5) -- 12-02 (5) -- 13-08 (5) -- 40-02 (15) -- $10,000

27. Joe Grafeman -- 15-13 (5) -- 9-13 (5) -- 14-06 (5) -- 40-00 (15) -- $10,000

28. Kyle Schutta -- 14-05 (5) -- 14-11 (5) -- 10-11 (5) -- 39-11 (15) -- $10,000

29. Thomas Wooten -- 16-03 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 9-08 (5) -- 38-15 (15) -- $10,000

30. Brian Latimer -- 13-09 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 38-11 (15) -- $10,000

31. Brad Jelinek -- 13-06 (5) -- 13-05 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 38-08 (15) -- $8,000

32. Dylan Hays -- 16-09 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 7-13 (5) -- 38-07 (15) -- $8,000

33. Cody Parker -- 12-02 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 38-05 (15) -- $8,000

34. Jaden Parrish -- 16-13 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 8-15 (5) -- 38-04 (15) -- $8,000

35. Bobby Bakewell -- 13-14 (5) -- 14-00 (5) -- 10-05 (5) -- 38-03 (15) -- $8,000

36. Kyle Palmer -- 15-05 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 10-06 (5) -- 38-03 (15) -- $8,000

37. Tyler Stewart -- 12-05 (5) -- 15-03 (5) -- 10-11 (5) -- 38-03 (15) -- $8,000

38. Jeremy Southerly -- 14-03 (5) -- 14-02 (5) -- 9-12 (5) -- 38-01 (15) -- $8,000

39. Dakota Ebare -- 11-03 (5) -- 14-07 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 37-09 (15) -- $8,000

40. Kyle Hall -- 11-13 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 10-13 (5) -- 37-08 (15) -- $8,000

41. Rick Chenoweth -- 12-09 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 11-00 (5) -- 37-06 (15) -- $8,000

42. Hunter Eubanks -- 13-05 (5) -- 12-04 (5) -- 11-09 (5) -- 37-02 (15) -- $8,000

43. Austin Culbertson -- 14-12 (5) -- 11-00 (5) -- 11-02 (5) -- 36-14 (15) -- $8,000

44. Colby Schrumpf -- 15-01 (5) -- 10-09 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 36-14 (15) -- $8,000

45. Mike McClelland -- 12-04 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 9-08 (4) -- 35-11 (14) -- $8,000

46. Cody Pike -- 17-02 (5) -- 9-15 (5) -- 8-08 (5) -- 35-09 (15) -- $8,000

47. Joe Bennett -- 15-01 (5) -- 16-03 (5) -- 4-04 (3) -- 35-08 (13) -- $8,000

48. Kyle Weisenburger -- 12-10 (5) -- 13-06 (5) -- 9-08 (5) -- 35-08 (15) -- $8,000

49. Andrew Behnke -- 9-04 (5) -- 16-09 (5) -- 9-01 (3) -- 34-14 (13) -- $8,000

50. David Walker -- 13-13 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 2-03 (1) -- 29-04 (11) -- $8,000