Gerald Swindle is sort of a schizophrenic stick. Sometimes he's dialed in and strings

together a whack 'em, stack 'em string of high finishes.

He did that recently with a 3rd at the Bassmaster American Major, a 7th at the Potomac Elite Series, then a 6th at the Legends.

Other times he lops together an anchor chain of lead balloons – like three consecutive 100th-place or worse finishes in 2005.

But he's doing something right. After he balanced out last year, he ended the season with a Top 10 in each of the four Elite 50s, then struck a 3rd at the Bassmaster Classic.

That's a little bit how his season looks this year, as he picks up momentum near the end of the season. His 7th at the Potomac moved him up from 14th to 8th in the Elite Series points, and so far this season, he's improved from 27th to 8th in the BassFan World Rankings.

He told BassFan that the momentum is there – he's fishing well, he feels loose, and he's ready for Table Rock.

In the Zone

About his three consecutive Top 10s in the past 5 weeks, Swindle said: "I feel good out there fishing – I feel like I've been in the zone a couple of tournaments in a row.

"I'm seeing things – picking up on stuff. I'm fishing nice and relaxed. But I'm very intense, which is weird. I'm fishing more intense than I've ever fished in my career, but I'm very calm – very focused – and fishing slower now than I normally do.

"I've mixed it up too," he added. "It seems like the last couple of tournaments we've been having a little variety. That's what keeps you in the game – when you don't do all flipping or shallow cranking, and you have to pick up something (different)."

And he fished well at the recent Memorial, which was held at the Arkansas River. He made the Top 6 cut and finished 6th.

"We all want to win, but I never had the opportunity there," he said. "An opportunity to win or do better never presented itself. So I'm not disappointed about the finish in that respect. I just never got the bites."

Start, Middle, End

When asked, Swindle drew some comparisons between this season and last. Most notably that in both, he started strong, sort of faded during mid-season, then came back even stronger.



ESPN Outdoors
Photo: ESPN Outdoors

Swindle's take on Table Rock is survive day 1, then look to move up.

But overall, he feels better about his mid-season performance this year. It wasn't Top 10 material by any means – a 61st, 22nd, 79th then 38th – but they weren't all-out implosions like his string of 100ths last year.

"The roughest this year for me was Oneida (79th)," he said. "I hadn't tripped and fallen on my face yet. But I stayed away from those 100ths, which is the key to survival."

Winning The Goal

With his strong performance this year and a resultant 8th-place points standing, Swindle's basically guaranteed a Classic berth. So he's pretty much free to do whatever he wants at the final event at Table Rock a few weeks from now.

Tour talk says it'll be the toughest event of the season – perhaps matched only by the recent Legends. But remember that Swindle's home lake is Smith in Alabama, which is a heckuva lot like The Rock. That didn't help last year, when he finished 131st, but the tough fishing this time should favor him.

"I'll go up there focused and looking for a win like anyone else," he said. "But at Table Rock, you don't come out swinging on the first day because you can get behind and not catch up. You try to fish very patiently, and just try to catch everything that bites the first day and put yourself in position to move up.

"It's a different kind of swing for the fences. We're fishing so deep, I'll be fishing a lot of light-tackle stuff, finessing, and trying to get into the position to move forward.

"My goal is to win and not to settle," he added. "You want to keep pushing yourself. You don't want to go in with the Classic locked up and take it easy. You can't give it less than all you've got."

Notable

> About the similarities between Table Rock and Smith, Swindle said: "Smith is exactly what it'll fish like. It'll be deep, clear fishing – tying on 6-pound line and seeing how far you can let it down. There may be a chance in the morning to possibly catch a big largemouth on top, and a slight chance you can run up the river to stained water and flip up a 4- or 5-pounder. But we'll all be fishing the same baits in 50 feet of water where you have the same chance at a 15-incher as a 4-pound spot."

> He won the AOY title in 2004, when six events were all packed into the spring. About the expanded schedule this year, he said: "I really like the fact that you get to see anglers rise to each occasion. If there's a chink in some guy's armor, you'll find it with a spread-out season. It gives anglers a chance to see it all, and I like the challenge of it."