Editor's note: Industry rep Alan McGuckin is in Denton, Texas, for the Toyota Texas Fest this week. He passed along this short piece about Gerald Swindle's take on how the fishing has been at Lake Ray Roberts, site of the Texas Bass Classic, which kicks off today.
Under rainy skies that lacked any evidence of a rising sun Wednesday morning, Gerald Swindle sat tying on lures at a Lake Ray Roberts boat ramp, prepping for his final day of practice. All the while his wife LeAnn stood nearby in rubber boots listening to him express hopes that fishing would improve.
“This will be the toughest Toyota Texas event we’ve ever fished,” Swindle said. “This isn’t nearly as strong a fishery as the four events we’ve had at Lake Fork, or the five we fished at Conroe.”
Indeed, it’s tough to rival the legendary reputation those previous host sites have for kicking out impressive numbers of giant largemouth. Not to mention, Swindle had never cast a lure in Ray Roberts until this week.
“I fished 12 hours yesterday, and had two keeper bites, one 3-pounder, and one 4-pounder – that’s a grind,” Swindle said. “I talked to Jordan Lee, and he said he had seven bites all day – and most every one of them was about 8 inches long.
“There are miles of good lookin’ water on Ray Roberts, but I just haven’t got many bites, and when you see them deeper off-shore on your sonar, it’s one and two fish, not big schools.”
Where to Go?
“I’ll probably try to stick to my strengths, and mix it up shallow,” Swindle added. “Yesterday, I idled through some standing timber to the very back of a creek, thinking I might find some fish that hadn’t been pressured, but given the lack of keepers I caught, and the fact that I never saw another tournament boat until after lunch, tells me I might have outsmarted myself just a bit.”
While numerous Quantum rods and reels sat scattered around Swindle’s boat, when asked what lures he’d lean on most, his starting line-up included a classic shallow water arsenal.
“I’ll flip a Zoom Z-Craw and a Brush Hog on Texas rigs, pitch a 5/8-ounce jig, cast a War Eagle ¾-ounce willow leaf spinnerbait, and a vibrating jig too,” he said.
When asked why such a heavy spinnerbait, Swindle explained that the added weight gets the lure down deeper into the thickest part of the flooded bushes.
Who’s Got The Advantage?
This unique annual tournament is part of a music and outdoors festival that features concerts from top country music as well as 15 of the top anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series, and 15 of the best from the FLW Tour, based on last year’s Angler of the Year points rankings.
Brent Ehrler, the defending champ, is also here, plus seven special sponsor exempt anglers, totaling 38 of the top bass anglers in the world.
“Some of these guys came here for an MLF event, but the water level was 9 feet lower, so they can’t take much from that experience,” says Swindle. “And the Bassmaster Elites have been on the road nearly constantly. In fact, this is the ninth straight week away from home for me, so I’ve had zero time to practice here. If anybody has a slight advantage, it’s probably the FLW guys, because I’m guessing some of them had time to come here and look around before the lake went off limits.
Based on his first impressions of the lake, he’d be satisfied with a limit of 3 1/2-pounders each day.
“I’m not saying you can win with 17-pounds a day, but I’d take 17 a day right now, and feel confident I’d do really well,” Swindle noted. “I’d love to win this event. It’s an awesome event, but based on yesterday’s practice, I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
