DOUBLE CALL TO BAG BIG BUCKS
The Secret to Winning With Gerald Swindle-Part II
Dreading Lake Guntersville
Editor's
Note: Thirty-four-year-old Gerald Swindle of Hayden,
Alabama, this year's BASS Angler of the Year, has lived
the American dream in the last 12 years. As a $12,000-a-year
carpenter, Swindle dreamed of earning a living as a
professional bass fisherman. This year, Swindle already
has earned more than $1/2-million in his chosen sport.
If he stays on track, he may earn $1 million before
December 31, 2004.
The next stop for Gerald Swindle in his quest for 2004
Angler-of-the-Year was Lake Guntersville in northeast
Alabama. When most professional bass fishermen go to
Lake Guntersville in northeast Alabama for a tournament,
they head to the lake with a great deal of excitement
and anticipation. Historically, Lake Guntersville has
produced a large number of really-big bass for just
about every major tournament that fishes there. Many
anglers dream of fishing a tournament at Lake Guntersville
because they know, even if they don't win,
that more than likely, they'll come in with a big bag
of bass and look good going through the weigh-in. But
Swindle didn't look forward to the Lake Guntersville
Tournament at all. "I've always gotten my butt
kicked at Guntersville," Swindle explains. "For
some reason, some of the worst tournaments I've ever
had have been on this lake. So, I really wasn't excited
at all to be fishing at Guntersville."
On the first day of the tournament, Swindle caught
18 pounds of bass fishing a lipless crankbait and made
the top 25. However, he admits, "I had a horrible
day of fishing. I found a big school of big bass, but
I lost every big fish that bit my bait. After the weigh-in,
I was so frustrated that I couldn't get my mental concentration
right to be prepared to fish the next day." On
the second day, Swindle seemed to totally lose his bass-fishing
ability. He couldn't find bass or catch them. None of
his lures or strategies worked. He just couldn't pull
his fishing together or this water in this weather condition.'
However, that little voice kept telling me to find that
bait, tie it on, and start casting it. I sat there in
the boat for two or three minutes and argued with myself
about that stupid crankbait. Finally, I said, 'I'll
tie the bait on, make a few casts and then be done with
it.' On the very first cast with that goofy-looking
red crankbait, I caught an 8-pound largemouth. That
one fish with the three other bass I had in the boat
put me in 30th place for the tournament and kept me
in the top 10 in the Angler-of-the-Year race.
"Yet I still wasn't thinking of the possibilities
of winning Angler of the Year. At that time and at the
end of that tournament, I was just hoping to fish well
enough to be selected to fish in the Elite 50 Tournament
circuit that BASS had introduced this year. I knew that
if I could stay in the top 10
in the Angler-of-the-Year race, I'd have an opportunity
to fish in that Elite 50 Tournament circuit. I believed
that earning the right to compete with the Elite 50
was the very best I could do. This year was the first
that BASS had picked 50-bass fishermen and announced
to the world that these fishermen were the best in the
nation. I really wanted to be one of those 50-best bass
fishermen in the world, and there was some really-good
prize money offered to the anglers who competed in that
Elite 50 Tournament circuit. At the end of the Lake
Guntersville tournament, I was happy that I might have
a chance to compete with the best 50 bass fishermen
in the nation."
TOMORROW: TURNING THE TABLES AT TABLE ROCK
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