Timmy Horton was flat-out confused after day 1 last week at the St. Lawrence River. Practice had been productive and he felt like he was in areas that had quality fish. The only problem was that their smaller counterparts would bite once competition got under way.
He wound up weighing 13-10 and found himself floundering in 94th place.
“It was puzzling,” Horton said. “I had a good practice and felt good about day 1, but fish after fish was a 2 1/2 and they’d have three or four big ones swimming with it. That’s how it went all day. It was a perplexing deal.
“It starts getting late in the day and you know you need those 4-pounders so you fish different and question yourself. You start thinking you have to mix things up.”
On day 2, he stayed focused on smallmouth and finally connected with a big one early on. Again, it had companions swimming with it.
“I said, ‘These are the ones I have to have,’” Horton recalled. “Over the next 90 minutes, I caught three or four more.”
By the end of the day, he’d amassed 21-10 and shot up 52 places to make the cut in 42nd. He tacked on 20-15 on Saturday to finish 22nd and complete a 72-spot comeback. He’s now up to 58th in points with a legitimate chance of making the Angler of the Year championship.
“It feels good,” he said. “Going into the Classic timeframe toward the end of the season, I’ve been out of it the last few years so it’s exciting to have a chance in the next two to do well.”
The first couple of days he relied on an Azuma Bray Z jerkbait before switching to a Bass Pro Shops finesse worm drifted on a dropshot rig. Like others, he found out that he had to bounce around to find active fish.
“On Saturday, I went back to where I’d caught them Friday and never caught one,” he said. “So I went to a place I’d caught them in the past, but I didn’t have any bites there in practice. I went back and caught 20-15. On day 2, none of my fish were deeper than 10 feet. On Saturday, they were all deeper than 20. The way they move is crazy.”
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on the angler who makes the most significant single-day move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
