> …he found the herring spawning in pockets off of Rock Creek. The herring would only spawn in the mornings, from about 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. Lefebre says he could visually locate the herring spawn because they would get right up on the bank in shallow water in a big ball and thrash the surface, usually on single boulders at the water’s edge.

> “I would throw my bait up there, and the herring would bump and attack my lure like shad do during a shad spawn. But there was nothing eating them.”

> …the trick to the herring pattern was to return to an exact herring spawn location late in the afternoon, fire a Rapala BX Waking Minnow to the exact spot where the herring had been spawning that morning and big largemouth would suddenly start fighting over his lure. “Make the exact cast with the Waking Minnow to the rock where the herring had been spawning and the bass would blast it.”

Here’s a BX Waking Minnow in the blue back herring color, his main color of a few he had tied on:

> John Cox and his marshal Bryan New were thrown from the FLW-issued Ranger boat driven by Cox around noon during the final day of competition….

> Cox…suffered a gash on his head that required staples and possibly a concussion. Cox also said he almost bit through his tongue. New, who was already nursing an unrelated collarbone injury, suffered a bump on his forehead.

> Cox: “I may have been turning left barely and going 50 mph tops when the boat went into a 360. I don’t even remember hitting the water. I’ve been doing this for a while and the only thing I can describe it being like is when you hit something and knock off the lower unit and the boat spins.”

> Cox and New were launched into the 52-degree water, but their infla PFDs did not deploy and they quickly dropped to the bottom as both were wearing their foul-weather bibs and extra layers of clothing. Cox pointed out that may have saved both from suffering additional and possibly more severe injuries [from the boat/prop]. He said the water was approximately 10 feet deep….

Here’s all FLW had on it that I could find — though that new website is VERY tough to navigate:

> Florida pro John Cox, who started the day in 8th place, was involved in a single-boat accident on Lewis Smith Lake shortly after noon. Cox declined medical treatment following the accident but has voluntarily decided to end his day early. Those are all the details we have at this time…. We’ll update fans when more information is available.