The River Region Bass Fraternity club member relied on the same spot all three days to catch 36 pounds, 2 ounces to win the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats and a coveted seat in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic. In addition to his Classic berth, Horton earned the grand prize of a Skeeter Boat/Yamaha Outboard rig valued at $45,000 and an invitation to fish in next year’s Bassmaster Elite Series.
While other contenders shied away from Horton’s spot since local anglers had told them the water was too low to run there, Horton made the one-hour run and skimmed over thin water at times to reach his honey hole. “I was fishing up at a spillway, and the water has been coming over the spillway when the wind blows out of the north, and the fish were busting up there big time,” said the four-time FNC qualifier. “I caught over 30 fish there Thursday. Yesterday the water wasn’t coming over as good and I just caught but four there.”
Today it took him about 30 minutes to haul in a limit from the spillway. ”I stayed with them until about 1 o’clock and culled for my last time at 12:30.” His best five weighed 9-15, which was good enough to hold onto the lead.
The key to catching his fish in the spillway was to cast into an eddy about the size of a 5-gallon bucket. He was burning a chartreuse XCalibur crankbait and banged it into rocks in about 6 to 18 inches of water. “I could see bass up there busting on shad and I could see their heads out of the water,” said Horton, who also won a Bassmaster Series regional event on the Ouachita River the first week of November in 2006. “I just kept on hammering and hammering them.”
Horton and five other Federation Nation anglers will be competing in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic Feb. 24-26 on the Red River in Louisiana because they finished at the top of their respective divisions in the FNC. The divisional winners headed for the world championship of bass fishing are John Diaco of New Hampshire, representing the Eastern division; Idaho’s Josh Polfer, Western division; Tom Jessop of Texas, Central; Indiana’s Matt McCoy, Northern; and Chris Price of Maryland, Mid-Atlantic.
2011 BFNC Presented by Yamaha & Skeeter Boats 11/3-11/5
Ouachita River, West Monroe LA.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Jamie Horton Centerville, AL 15 36-02 0 $60,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-04 Day 2: 5 09-15 Day 3: 5 09-15
2. Mark Pierce Clarksville, TN 15 31-04 0 $5,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-06 Day 2: 5 10-11 Day 3: 5 09-03
3. John Diaco Rochester, NH 13 29-11 0 $2,500.00
Day 1: 4 11-15 Day 2: 4 07-12 Day 3: 5 10-00
4. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 29-04 0 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 08-05 Day 3: 5 10-06
5. Josh Polfer Nampa, ID 15 27-10 0 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 08-03 Day 3: 5 08-04
6. Tom Jessop Dalhart, TX 15 27-07 0 $500.00
Day 1: 5 08-11 Day 2: 5 08-04 Day 3: 5 10-08
7. Matt McCoy Indianapolis, IN 12 26-08 0 $500.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 3 05-04 Day 3: 4 07-03
8. Jared Miller Norman, OK 15 25-02 0 $500.00
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 07-14 Day 3: 5 06-11
9. Josh Wray Omaha, AR 15 24-10 0 $500.00
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 5 08-09 Day 3: 5 07-09
10. Michael Smith Laurel Hill, FL 14 24-06 0 $500.00
Day 1: 5 09-03 Day 2: 4 04-11 Day 3: 5 10-08
11. Chris Price Church Hill, MD 15 23-11 0 $500.00
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 5 09-09 Day 3: 5 06-02
12. Todd Serfoss Bath, SD 13 23-08 0 $250.00
Day 1: 4 06-13 Day 2: 5 12-03 Day 3: 4 04-08
13. Chris Morrison St. Mary's, WV 14 23-07 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 4 05-05 Day 3: 5 10-03
14. Justy Varkevisser Johannesburg SOUTH AFRI 15 23-05 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 07-00 Day 2: 5 08-04 Day 3: 5 08-01
15. Stephen Dyer Mt Plesant, NC 15 23-00 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 06-15 Day 2: 5 07-09 Day 3: 5 08-08
16. Bryan McNeal Enon, OH 14 22-12 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 07-05 Day 2: 5 06-13 Day 3: 4 08-10
17. Richard McCrone Cream Ridge, NJ 10 21-10 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 1 00-15 Day 3: 4 10-01
18. Heath Martin Louisville, KY 15 20-07 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 04-10 Day 2: 5 08-00 Day 3: 5 07-13
19. Jason Pecoraro Youngsville, LA 15 20-03 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 06-08 Day 2: 5 06-06 Day 3: 5 07-05
20. Jesse Reynolds Muscatine, IA 12 19-15 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 07-14 Day 2: 2 03-07 Day 3: 5 08-10
21. Pat Klausen Lincoln, NE 13 19-06 0 $250.00
Day 1: 3 04-00 Day 2: 5 09-13 Day 3: 5 05-09
22. Daniel Stark Eldon, MO 11 18-01 0 $250.00
Day 1: 2 03-01 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 4 05-00
23. Tom Reynolds Lyme, CT 12 17-12 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 05-07 Day 2: 5 09-15 Day 3: 2 02-06
24. Mike Cumberledge Virginia Beach, VA 12 17-10 0 $250.00
Day 1: 4 04-04 Day 2: 3 05-06 Day 3: 5 08-00
25. Aaron Echternkamp Moses Lake, WA 14 17-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 06-04 Day 2: 5 05-09 Day 3: 4 05-05
26. Carlo Alberto Tenchini Verona ITALY 12 16-08 0 $250.00
Day 1: 4 04-01 Day 2: 5 07-15 Day 3: 3 04-08
27. Skip Sjobeck Randolph, VT 11 15-15 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 06-00 Day 2: 5 08-11 Day 3: 1 01-04
28. Paul Gietka Abingdon, MD 13 15-14 0 $250.00
Day 1: 3 03-02 Day 2: 5 06-02 Day 3: 5 06-10
29. Brian Christianson La Crosse, WI 7 15-11 0 $250.00
Day 1: 1 01-14 Day 2: 1 03-03 Day 3: 5 10-10
30. Jeff Jones Marietta, GA 12 15-08 0 $250.00
Day 1: 2 02-01 Day 2: 5 06-15 Day 3: 5 06-08
31. Ed McCaw Ingacio, CO 11 15-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 1 01-04 Day 2: 5 08-12 Day 3: 5 05-02
32. Darren Thornton Harare ZIMBABWE 11 15-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 1 02-10 Day 2: 5 05-12 Day 3: 5 06-12
33. Thomas Kiefer Fowlerville, MI 9 15-01 0 $250.00
Day 1: 1 01-09 Day 2: 3 04-11 Day 3: 5 08-13
34. Jared Roos Paradise, UT 11 14-11 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 05-09 Day 2: 4 06-10 Day 3: 2 02-08
35. Boyd C Golightly Preston, ID 11 14-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 3 02-10 Day 2: 5 06-04 Day 3: 3 05-04
36. Jay Salisbury Aztec, NM 12 13-07 0 $250.00
Day 1: 2 02-03 Day 2: 5 05-05 Day 3: 5 05-15
37. Aaron Leon Henderson, NV 10 13-04 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 05-08 Day 2: 5 07-12 Day 3: 0 00-00
38. Tony Choe Fairfax, VA 9 13-04 0 $250.00
Day 1: 3 03-15 Day 2: 5 06-08 Day 3: 1 02-13
39. George Cooper Buxton, ME 9 13-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 07-15 Day 2: 1 01-01 Day 3: 3 04-02
40. Destre Dedeaux Meadville, MS 9 12-06 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 05-02 Day 2: 2 02-11 Day 3: 2 04-09
41. Scott Sirakos Houston, MA 8 12-03 0 $250.00
Day 1: 4 06-11 Day 2: 3 03-13 Day 3: 1 01-11
42. Andrew Nitchals Willmar, MN 11 12-00 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 05-13 Day 2: 3 03-01 Day 3: 3 03-02
43. Andrew MacColl CHEPACHET, RI 10 11-12 0 $250.00
Day 1: 2 02-08 Day 2: 3 03-01 Day 3: 5 06-03
44. Gerald Kimzey Willcox, AZ 9 11-08 0 $250.00
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 07-04 Day 3: 4 04-04
45. Curtis Spindler Missoula, MT 9 11-07 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 06-12 Day 2: 1 01-00 Day 3: 3 03-11
46. Jeff Green Gaffney, SC 9 11-01 0 $250.00
Day 1: 5 07-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 4 04-00
47. Nicholas Fitzsimmons Lyle, WA 10 10-13 0 $250.00
Day 1: 4 04-07 Day 2: 3 03-03 Day 3: 3 03-03
48. Edgar Romero Leon MEXICO 9 09-11 0 $250.00
Day 1: 3 03-11 Day 2: 1 01-03 Day 3: 5 04-13
49. Don Edmonds Sacramento, CA 8 09-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 2 02-05 Day 2: 5 05-08 Day 3: 1 01-05
50. Beau Branine Haysville, KS 10 08-11 0 $250.00
Day 1: 3 05-11 Day 2: 5 00-14 Day 3: 2 02-02
51. Greg Heindselman Lewistown, MO 6 07-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 2 03-02 Day 2: 2 02-00 Day 3: 2 02-00
52. Takuya Wakebe Odawara Kanagawa JAPAN 4 06-06 0 $250.00
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 2 03-03 Day 3: 2 03-03
53. Craig Denham Fenlon Falls ONTARIO CA 3 04-02 0 $250.00
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 2 03-02
54. Edward Robak Weymouth, MA 3 03-00 0 $250.00
Day 1: 1 01-03 Day 2: 1 00-15 Day 3: 1 00-14
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BIG BASS
Day
1 Jamie Horton Centerville, AL 05-02 $0.00
2 John Diaco Rochester, NH 05-01 $0.00
3 Bryan McNeal Enon, OH 04-05 $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 28 200 314-10
2 31 206 311-15
3 27 204 315-03
----------------------------------
86 610 941-12