I found Tim Horton had a bit of free time during the 2012 Bass Master Classic Media Day and asked him what he thought of the Classic being back on the Red River. Horton was just beaming when he said he was excited and ready to get started in the morning. I mean look at the smile in the photo; this guy was pumped and said “man it’s the Classic you better be excited to be here!”
Horton’s plan was right in line with everything I had heard from the dock talk going around the room, and in line with the areas I’d look for if fishing that weekend. Back water was only second to clear water being talked about and sought by all the anglers. Horton was optimistic with his prefishing but did comment that the water was still rising. Folks needed to be prepared and ready to adjust for that, and all the muddy water that came with it.
When asked how many events Horton had participated if any on the Red River before now he thought it was 6 but might have been 7 and that became the game over the course of the interview. Do you plan on fishing pool 4 or 5? “Well” Horton said, “I’m going back to the room and flip a coin.” Both have the potential to pull this off, my prefishing was ok in 4 but had some good fish in 5. So what things are you keying on in this event? “Areas need to support 3 days of fish and allow me to adjust in or out based on pressure and weather.” So to an angler this means he looks for a shallow water spring bite but with deep water close by to pull out to if needed or deep water for staging fish with a flat close by he could follow the fish as they move! What types of baits have worked best for you so far? Moving baits like cranks, traps, spinnerbaits but you can’t over look the flipping bite as the river is full of cover and with the front coming in it could make the fish pull in tight. However, if the wind is up and the temps don’t drop too bad for too long, a reaction bite will be the way to go.
Horton was a lot of fun to chat with and remained so over the course of the event. For those that saw him in his throw back B.A.S.S Jumpsuit adorned with sewn on sponsor patches and stitched name tag he was in great spirits and spent a lot of time offering encouragement and congratulations to competitors back stage just as the local anglers do here at the dock after a fruit jar or neighborhood tournament. Once again it was obvious these guys are just fishing. Please don’t take that statement as an insult to the ability or making light of the hardships these people have or have to deal with, in the contrary it’s a personal observation and firsthand account of the majority of their statements about what they do and why they do it,,,, in the end it’s fishing.
See You On the Water!
Ronald S. Fogelson
Administrator Ultimatebass.com
