I remember the 1st time I met Jamie Alan Horne. It was in Feb. of 2008 at Lake Norfork. I was in an everstart tournament there and did well and Jamie and I were paired together to fish the top 10 on the 3rd day. He and I met and when he asked what boat we were fishing in and I told him a Bass Cat, I remember his exact words… “all right man, a BassCat guy. We are going to do good man….” I can still hear the exact tone in his voice just like it was yesterday. He was so excited to have a Bass Cat guy as a partner to fish with the next day and he was about as hard core BCB as you could get. He asked me if I had a place to stay and I told him “no” and he said “well if you are a bass cat guy, you must be a pretty good dude. Ill pay for a room and you are welcome to stay with me”. We went and got dinner together and stayed up late trading fishing stories and getting ready for the tournament in the morning. He was the kind of guy that you couldnt help but love and we quickly became friends. We stayed in contact and traveled to some other tournaments together later in years. He was always so excited when I came to town and wanted to introduce me to all he knew as his friend and fishing buddy. Jamie had a way of making you feel special and you knew that he was always there for you. He loved fishing at any and all levels, but he lived and breathed to fish 2 tournaments a year…. 1) the BCB Invitational, and 2) the AR Big Bass Bonanza, with his wife. He had one of the olded Bass Cat boats around and you would have thought it was fresh off the assebly line the way he loved that thing. I remember him telling me about it and saying he was goin to put his name on it… and boy did he ever! I cant even begin to tell you all of the hilarious stories and jokes that we traded on and off the water. Some of the worst days of fish catching I ever had were with him (although we had several outstanding trips) but those were always some of the best because he knew how to make them fun. He was the guy you loved to go fishing with because you knew you were going to have a blast and laugh all day whether you caught anything or not. Guys like Jamie Alan Horne are rare and very special and I am glad to have been blessed with his friendship for the 5 short years that I knew him. Tight lines and rough thumbs buddy. The next big ones for you!
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