We followed John Cox through yet another bridge into the far back of a tributary with a waterfall running into it. He’s still looking for dirty water and hitting obvious super-shallow targets.
The water here is 58.5 degrees, while it was over 59 where we saw Jared Miller a few hours ago, much closer to the main lake. There’s plenty of color in the water to hold heat, and the sun is strong, so he may be betting on the come.
It feels like a different lake than the Green Pond area, or even the lower end of the lake. What he really has going for him is that there are no other competitors in here with him — the closest we saw was miles back downstream. If these fish are willing to bite, and ready to replenish, he could be the king of this domain — and of the whole weekend.
Sure, Hartwell is a huge playing field with multiple patterns firing, but we’ve already seen multiple competitors on one roadbed. The obvious, accessible stuff gets hit hard. Cox may not win, but it won’t be because he has to fight to get on the juice.