In MLF Comeback for the Ages, Horton Storms Back to Take Elimination Round Triumph

Sometimes, saying that a round of tournament fishing was one for the ages might be regarded as a bit of a reach, a stretch, an overkill.

But not this time as Alabama pro Timmy Horton staged one of the most startling and epic comebacks in the growing history of Major League Fishing.

And this time, it came at a tremendously opportune time as the first ever MLF General Tire World Championship event is being held in Nacogdoches, Texas as the CBS Sports network television cameras look on.

Fishing on 692-acre Lake Naconiche, a small timber and grass choked reservoir a couple of dozen miles north of the East Texas town that serves as an epicenter to the region’s vaunted bass fishing action, Horton overcame a deficit like few others have.

By the time his come from behind effort was done, Horton had stormed from dead last place – nearly 25-pounds down – all the way up the SCORETRACKER LIVE! leaderboard into first place.

What’s more, he did so on the strength of an offshore crankbait bite as he capitalized on a big school of East Texas bass that allowed him to weigh a total of xx-pounds, xx-ounces, a single day record in MLF competition.

In addition to ending MLF angler Aaron Marten’s brief tenure as the owner of that record (after his own epic performance last fall in Minnesota), Horton’s come-back heroics propelled him out of Round One and on into the Sudden Death semifinal round later this week.

All in all, it was a special day for Horton, and then some.

“Yeah, it was,” said Horton with a weak and weary smile. “I don’t know what to say.”

When I asked how his comeback happened, Horton pointed to the tough day on the water earlier this week that left him in last place.

“It’s one of those deals, had I been in contention, or right there within 10-pounds (of the lead), then I would have stayed right there on the bank with everybody else,” he said.

“I’d have been throwing at targets just like everybody else was,” he added. “And it would have been a tough deal to go out and have the kind of day that I had.

“Getting down so much, I knew I had to do something special and get offshore.”

In the history of MLF, many anglers have talked about doing that, but few ever had done it, venturing away from the bank and offshore in search of a school of big bass riches.

Put simply, Horton – the 2000 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and a five-time tournament winner in B.A.S.S. competition – felt like he didn’t have any choice heading into the day’s action.

And then during his ride-around period, he struck electronic gold as he looked down at his boat’s graph.

“Luckily, we had that long ride-around,” said Horton. “About the third or fourth place that I stopped and idled on, I found that place. I started to go look at more and I thought ‘No, they are here.’ I could see on my depth finder that they were here and I just stayed with them.”

Boy were they ever there, leading Horton to make his historic comeback.

Amazingly, no one else discovered the school that Horton was on – or at least they didn’t go there at the start – and no one tried to come in and horn in on the red-hot action that propelled the Alabama pro up the SCORETRACKER LIVE! leaderboard.

“You know, I think had an offshore pattern been happening, you might have seen some of that,” said Horton. “But I think that especially the way the guys got dialed in the other day (on the bank), everybody was catching them after the first day was over with except me.

“Aaron made a move at the end of the first day and Edwin did too,” he added. “They were in a lot different position (coming into today) than me (because I was so far down).”

In other words, Horton knew he had nothing to lose as he decided to reach for his Duckett Fishing crankbait rod and swing for the fences.

When the day began, Horton was simply hoping to work his way into a battle for the third and final qualifying spot.

But it didn’t take too terribly long for him – and the rest of the field – to begin to believe that an even higher finish was possible.

By the time he reached the third period, Horton was looking for the win.

And he wouldn’t have to look too long either.

“When we started the third period, it was still tight for me to make it into the Top 3,” said Horton. “But I had that huge deficit that I had just climbed back from.

“Then it just started clicking,” he added. “They started firing on that big crankbait. I (had initially) hit a place where I had caught three or four early on in the first round, including a three-pounder, and it got quiet on me for about 10 minutes (there in the third period).

“But then I hit another nearby place and it was just (a fish) on every cast. They were about 20 yards from where they had been on the first day. I had a three-pound plus on every cast for about seven or eight casts (in a row). I caught 25 or 30 pounds right there in just a few minutes (worth of time).”

“It was just incredible, it was awesome.”

When the sun came out, the bass positioned themselves on the bottom where Horton could really dredge them up with his Profound Outdoors Timmy Horton Azuma Z Boss 20 deep diver in Casper Shad and Ole Blue colors.

“I run those straight out of the box, we tricked them out when we designed them,” said Horton. “I was using a 7-foot, 11-inch Duckett Fishing Timmy Horton signature series cranking rod that I designed with a Lew’s BB-1 Pro, with the big wide spool, along with Bass Pro Shops 14-pound test XPS Fluorocarbon.”

If there was ever any doubt about Horton’s prowess with a deep diving crankbait, any such thoughts should have been put to rest with his thrilling performance on Lake Naconiche.

Why is he so good with a crankbait rod in his hand? He shrugged, smiled and offered the most honest answer that he could.

“I don’t know, I’m just addicted to it I guess,” said Horton. “It gets me into trouble a lot, especially in Major League Fishing.

“But I’m starting to like this deal (cranking offshore in MLF events) because these guys don’t get off shore,” he added.

“Kevin (VanDam) and some of these other guys are the best that there are at it (deep cranking), but you can really get behind in a hurry (here in MLF). So the guys are not committing in this format to go off the bank.

“But (as we’ve seen) in Alpena, Eufaula, and now here, it has really worked for me and I’m really getting confidence in it being ok to get behind because when you do find them (offshore), you can catch up in a hurry.”

Just as Timmy Horton proved here on Lake Naconiche, posting a second day comeback for the ages, one that broke the MLF single day record in the process.

And all because he started the day in last place, far behind the others.

Exactly where he needed to be, as it turned out.