MONROE, La. — Last night Jamie Horton was hamming it up and having a good time during the welcoming dinner presented by Toyota Trucks.
Dressed in University of Alabama attire, Horton posed with Louisiana’s Jason Pecoraro, who was in LSU garb, for a photo taken in recognition of this weekend’s college football showdown between the top two teams in the nation.
This morning, it was back to business for Horton, who leads the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats. Horton said he slept well last night until about 3 o’clock when he started worrying — about the Alabama-LSU game. Maybe he was also a bit concerned about today’s prediction of sunny, calm weather, which is a stark contrast to the cloudy, windy morning yesterday when he caught most of his 16-4 limit.
“If I catch them early like I did yesterday I think I will still be able to catch them today,” said Horton, who believes the bite will be tougher once the sun shines. “If I can catch 8 pounds I will be tickled to death.”
The four-time Fed Nation Championship qualifier plans on going all out again today rather than holding back any fish for tomorrow.
“I am going to catch everything I can catch,” he said. “I am probably going to see a lot more boats today, because you just can’t hide out here. That is why I caught everything I could catch yesterday.”
Horton believes he can go back to his best spots because the fish will replenish there.
“I am mixing it up," he said. "Instead of fishing a lot of an area, I fish one or two pieces of the right type of cover and then I move on.”
Today’s weigh-in is slated for 3:30 p.m. CT at the Forsythe Park boat ramp at 2201 Riverside Dr., in Monroe, La.