While the majority of the top anglers from Day 1 of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Fuel Me event made good within the first hour or so, often capitalizing on a shad spawn, there was also a solid contingent of pros right behind them just waiting for the big spawning wave to hit the banks.

Will that be today with the stabilizing water levels and temperatures?

There might be no angler with a better finger on the pulse for that than John Cox (in 11th after Day 1), and he definitely feels it’s happening soon.

Cox was one of a few pros that gave spawning bass a ride to weigh-in on Day 1.

“They want to go so bad,” Cox said. “I think the problem has been the up and down with the water. If it stabilizes, we’ll start seeing new fish coming to the bank. Then it could turn into a whole new lake and a new tournament overnight.”

Cox admits he’s all-in on the sight-fishing game – he’s one of the best in the sport at it, after all – and what he’s really hoping to see today is fish activity indicating the fish are truly committing to spawn, as he said he never saw a fish cruising up shallow or even sunning itself near a dock.

However, if he can start to see that or even see his first fish rubbing in preparation for the spawn, he knows what can happen.

“Everything with the conditions makes me think if it settles down, if we start seeing fish in those staging areas, that’s when guys are going bust big bags,” Cox said. “I would love for them to get on beds and do their thing, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen in the tournament or right after.”