Tim Horton got the attention of the bass fishing world in 2000 by winning the prestigious BASS Angler of the Year award in his rookie year on the Bassmaster Tour. If that weren’t enough, Horton cinched the points title with one tournament remaining in the season.
Horton, who grew up along the Tennessee River as an avid fan of tournament bass fishing, has never looked back since that great rookie year. This summer, he competed in his sixth Bassmaster Classic in as many years of fishing at the pro level. In addition, because of format changes incorporated by BASS, Horton already has qualified for the 2006 Classic, which will be held next January on Florida’s Lake Toho.
While Horton has made the money in 75 percent of the BASS events he has ever entered, he hasn’t done so with traditional “limit getter” lures or techniques. Horton is a “big fish” fisherman and spends much of his time with a 4.25-inch YUM Vibra King Tube or a full-sized Bomber Fat Free Shad at the end of his line.
Horton excels as finding winning concentrations of bass, whether over a hump in a lake’s open waters or beneath dense mats of vegetation. In open water, he searches both with his electronics and with a Fat Free Shad or a Cotton Cordell Spot. When the bass are deep in the grass, he covers a lot of water with a Vibra King Tube and a flippin’ stick and stays on the lookout for subtle variations in the make-up of the vegetation.
Horton’s abilities to find and catch big bass have led to 11 Top 10 finishes in BASS tournaments, including three victories and two second-place finishes.
His first-place finishes include two in Florida and one on the tidal waters of the Potomac River. One Florida win was on Toho – next year’s Classic venue. In that tournament, Horton beat second place finisher Larry Nixon by 17 pounds, 6 ounces!
Professional bass fishermen view the Bassmaster Classic an “all or nothing” tournament. The winner’s purse is $200,000, but most anglers agree that the endorsement value of winning the Classic easily exceeds 1 million dollars. As significantly, “Classic Champ” is a title that every bass fisherman hopes to someday possess – along with “BASS Angler of the Year,” which Horton has already earned.
The 2005 Classic field consisted of 47 anglers, including qualifiers from the Pro Tour, Open Championship, regional Federation championships, and Elite-50 Series. Horton qualified through the Pro Tour, having ended up 17th in the Angler-of-the-Year standings in 2005.
The Classic was held July 29-31 on Pittsburgh’s famous Three Rivers: the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. It was be based downtown in the Steel City. Fish were small overall, which didn’t favor Horton’s strengths. However, smallmouths were the main attraction, as they are on Wilson and Pickwick, Horton’s backyard lakes. Likewise, Horton’s depth of experience on a large commercial river, where currents, current breaks, tailwaters and fast-changing conditions aided him in securing another top 10 finish.