Fishing News - 8/16/00

        From BASS

Tim Horton to Defend BASSMASTER Maryland Title

Charles County, Md. - August 16, 2000 - For the eleventh time in 12 years, the $6 million BASSMASTER Tournament Trail returns to the Potomac River, August 23-26 for the BASSMASTER Maryland Top 150. This season opener is the first of seven qualifying events for the prestigious BASS Masters Classic®, the World Championship of Bass Fishing.

With a $431,450 total purse and $110,000 winner's share, the Potomac event is always a welcome homecoming for America's top professionals, but it will be even more special for Tim Horton of Spruce Pine, Alabama. As a rookie, Horton rewrote the history books last season by taking the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year title in convincing fashion. The 27-year-old bass fishing phenom who started last season's juggernaut with a win right here, can't wait to start his sophomore season.

"I look forward to the Potomac because it's still new to me. It's a great fishery and I like the way the fish bunch up in certain areas. To me, it's fun to fish," said Horton who won last year's Potomac tournament by nearly 16 pounds over his closest competition.

"I'm a lot more secure as far as going away from home and knowing I can afford it. It's a lot better feeling because I don't have that pressure." However, Horton will have to deal with the pressure of finding bass in a tidal waterway that has changed somewhat since his first visit last October.

"It's a totally different place. There's a lot more grass; the water is a lot clearer. And I think the fish will be a little more spread out than last year," Horton observes.

"I really didn't get on anything more than 12 pounds a day in pre-fish.  There were some places I could catch them pretty quick, but I didn't find those 15- to 18-pound places like I was wanting to. The few people I talked to said it was a little less productive than last year, but then everybody always says that."

Known as a "spot" type of fishery where bass group up in very small areas, the Potomac rewards anglers who can locate key zones that other competitors haven't found or fished effectively. In last season's victory, Horton expertly followed this program, finding a small, undiscovered rocky structure that produced his winning catch. But, the notoriety of a BASSMASTER victory alerted local fishermen to its existence, and Horton will most likely have to look elsewhere this time.

"I tried it in practice and didn't do any good on it. I don't expect it to produce much at all. It's been fished a lot, and that's why I think it was so good [last year]," remarked Horton, who feels that the usual assortment of Potomac lures - spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits and jigs - should see plenty of action.

"The fish will spread out some due to the grass growth, but the guy who wins this is the one who finds an area and stays with it. In other words, the way those groups of fish roam and move into certain areas, whoever finds them will win."

         B.A.S.S. Web site: http://www.bassmaster.com.

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