When the scales closed after Day 1 at the Lowrance Bassmaster Elite on Lake Tenkiller, it looked as though perpetual fan favorite Gerald Swindle was on his way to a disappointing finish. But the two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year dug deep, dusted off his rally cap and hit ‘em with the Tenkiller turnaround on Day 2, weighing in one of the biggest bags of the tournament to jump from 77th place to 10th.
Swindle referred to Lake Tenkiller as a “heart monitor tournament,” meaning he had dramatic spikes in the positive direction followed by some big downturns, like the reading on a heart monitor.
“I had the bites to be leading that event after Day 1,” Swindle admitted. “I was really disheartened to be honest. I had bad breaks in both the last two tournaments (Fork and Sabine) that the world will never see. I was determined to turn it around in Oklahoma, and after Day 1 I had the bites to lead the son of a gun and there I am in 77th.”
Swindle is not usually one to talk about missed or lost fish. The Team Toyota pro lives by the mantra positive-mental-attitude (PMA) and doesn’t dwell on spilt milk. He knows every angler on the Elite field has a story about “almost” nearly every tournament day, and ultimately his fans want to see “G” the entertainer, not G the complainer.
“When I go on stage people don’t want to hear shoulda, coulda, woulda,” Swindle said. “But I’ll be honest with you, I felt like I was gut-punched on Day 1. I weighed my 11 pounds and then had to sit with my wife and try to figure out why. Why am I losing these fish? I know I wasn’t doing anything wrong, just like at Sabine, it just happened that way. And now I’ve got less than 12 hours to pick up the pieces before blastoff on Day 2. It’s in those moments that you really gotta dig deep.”
The 30-year tournament veteran did just that on Day 2, leveraging a stellar bite around marina docks coupled with a pattern around flooded bushes to mount his comeback. Swindle is one of the most accomplished “junk fishermen” in bass fishing and said this tournament fit right into his wheelhouse. He fished what was in front of him while trying to adapt with the volatile weather conditions anglers were dealt at Tenkiller.
“It’s like I was a basketball player and went from not being able to make a layup to draining every shot I took,” Swindle said. “I was flowing and, man, it felt good.”
Employing old-school staples of a white 3/8-ounce Buckeye swimjig tipped with a Zoom Z-Craw Jr. and a Texas-rigged Zoom Brush Hawg in watermelon red around flooded bushes, Swindle continued to climb the leaderboard on Day 3. He caught a few key marina fish on a topwater popper, including one viral 4-pound catch that you couldn’t help but smile watching.
The 56-year-old former Alabama carpenter was quick on his toes but even faster with his commentary, making fans laugh and cheer.
Unfortunately, the same excitement that makes “G-Man” a fan favorite cost him on Day 3, as he unintentionally made a cast with six fish in his livewell after failing to cull his smallest fish. Swindle realized his mistake almost immediately and called the tournament director to turn himself in. He was assessed a 2-pound penalty.
“I wish I had a better excuse, but I just had a momentary brain fart, which happens to us old guys sometimes,” Swindle said with a wry smile. “Hopefully anglers watching can learn from my mistake and from how it was handled. I don’t care if you fish the Elite Series or a Tuesday night jackpot; if you break a rule, you owe it to your competitors, to yourself and to the sport to report yourself. Integrity is everything in life and it’s even more important when no one is watching.”
That 2-pound penalty cost Swindle making Championship Sunday. He ultimately finished in 14th, missing the Top 10 by 1 pound. But Swindle didn’t hang his head — his glass was half-full after an up-and-down three days on Lake Tenkiller.
“Whether it’s fishing or really anything in life, there will always be times when you question yourself,” Swindle offered. “It’s natural. It’s going to happen. I’ll be honest enough to say after debacles at Fork, Sabine and Day 1 at Tenkiller I was right there. I was fighting demons in my head.
“But you know what? You can’t do that. Don’t doubt the process. Don’t doubt yourself. Always learn from mistakes or near misses, but you gotta believe even when it ain’t going right.”
