SHEFFIELD – Pro angler Tim Horton is predicting plenty of big bass will be caught May 14 as student anglers from throughout Alabama converge on Pickwick Lake to fish for college scholarships.
The fourth annual Timmy Horton High School Bass Anglers Challenge on Saturday, May 14 offers $20,000 in college scholarships. The tournament, for students in grades 7-12, will be staged out of Riverfront Park in Sheffield. It is open to students in public, private and home schools. Students will compete in two divisions, grades 7-9 and 10-12. The entry fee is $25 per angler.
“Pickwick Lake has been on fire this spring,” said Horton, a Bassmaster Elite Series angler and outdoors television personality from Muscle Shoals. “By the time we get there in May, the big smallmouth and big largemouth will be coming off the bed and looking for something to eat. The kids are going to catch a lot of big fish. It’s going to be a great tournament.”
The tournament is organized by Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau in Tuscumbia. Susann Hamlin, president and CEO of the tourism bureau, said the tournament offers students an opportunity to help pay for continuing their education beyond high school while fishing on one of America’s premier bass lakes. The scholarships can be use at any university, college or technical school.
Curtis Gossett of Pell City, whose son Zeke Gossett won a $2,500 scholarship at the 2013 Timmy Horton High School Bass Anglers Challenge, said the tournament is great for students and for parents. “The kids love it because they get to fish on one of the best lakes in the country. The parents love it because the kids can win scholarships to help pay for their college tuition.” Zeke Gossett is now a member of the fishing team at Faulkner University in Montgomery.
Susann Hamlin, Tim Hortin and Ashley Taylor
Prizes and scholarships will be awarded to the top five individual anglers in each division. In addition, prizes and scholarships to Northwest-Shoals Community College will be awarded to the top anglers who live in Colbert, Franklin Lauderdale or Lawrence counties.
“The scholarship money that Zeke won made a whole lot of difference for him and for our family,” Curtis Gossett said. “He used the money to attend Jefferson State Community College while he was still in high school, to get a head start on his college degree.”
Students do not have to be a member of a fishing team at their school to participate. Students will fish from boats operated by adult captains.
Competitors will receive and a pre-tournament meal on Friday night and a souvenir fishing buff. Highlights from the tournament will be televised nationally on World Fishing Network.
Entry forms are available at FishPickwickLake.com
For more information about the tournament, or lodging, contact Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau at (256) 383-0783, (800) 344-0783 or colberttourism@comcast.net.
