Eat Well & Win Big with Bass Pro Gerald Swindle

How does 2004 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Gerald Swindle get through long days on the water? His loving wife “Lulu” writes different messages of inspiration on the bag with Swindle’s P. B. & J lunch inside.

Swindle has qualified for yet another Bassmaster Classic – his 11th – and time spent chewing on a P.B. & J continues to play an integral role in his success even when Lula can’t be at a tournament. The dock-skipping Quantum pro may have to make his own sandwich, but Lulu is still very much a part of the daily bread. She writes different messages of inspiration on numerous sandwich bags and sends them from their Alabama home to wherever the Bassmaster Elite Series may be.

What Lula knows is that a huge part of Gerald Swindle’s success or failure—and that of all serious anglers—plays out between his ears. There’s a deep thinker in there, and she makes it her job to make sure the thinker is motivated in a positive fashion. A permanent marker, polyethylene bag, postage stamps, and love are her tools. “She knows my mental trigger points,” says Swindle. “She started writing on my sandwich bags at Kentucky Lake last year, and together, we nabbed three straight Top 12 finishes from that point forward.”

“Self confidence is way bigger than a change in weather or lake level in determining success or failure as a tournament fisherman. She knows that,” said Swindle. More than just subsistence in the form of grape and extra crunchy, it’s a source of inspiration written on a sandwich bag. And it’s working. We’ll see if it continues to work, soon—Swindle will be competing in the Northern Bassmaster Open, September 16 to 18.

Gerald Swindle’s Favorite:
TECHNIQUE: Skipping under docks.

LAKE: Lake Guntersville, Alabama.

LURES: Lucky Craft crankbaits, Zoom soft plastics, War Eagle spinnerbaits, Arkie jigs.

FISHING TIP: One of my favorite things to look for is what I call funnel areas. These are areas where the currents get forced to come together. An easy identifier to this is usually where the water gets faster in an area. This can be a main creek or an area where the water is forced in and out of a pond or bog. Many times this situation occurs on grass flats where the current is broken up and funneled through areas with sparser grass. But let me tell you these funnel areas can be bass magnets.