Gerald Swindle's Pattern, Baits & Gear
"I spent 98 percent of my time on one 700-yard stretch, running back and forth," he said. "I was out behind everybody a little bit, off the bank in the 4- to 8-foot (depth) range where there was some scattered milfoil and brush and stuff like that. I got it pretty well dialed in on either the high or low tide. "I knew it was going to be a tough tournament all-around and instead of running here and there to other areas, I stayed in one where I knew fish lived and just fished. Instead of trying to run the tides up and down the river, I stayed put and learned what the fish did on the different tides and spent all 9 hours of the day casting." The morning of day 4 brought the highest tide of the event and he used a topwater popper to catch two 4-pounders from the outside edge of deep trees and a 3 from a corner of a ditch.
Gear:
Shaky-head gear: 6'10" medium-heavy Quantum Vapor rod, Quantum Smoke spinning reel, 10-pound Sunline SX1 braided line (main line), 10-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon (leader), 3/16-ounce VMC Shaky Head jighead, 6" Zoom Trick Worm (redbug or green-pumpkin/blue flake).
Dropshot gear: Same rod, reel, line and baits, 1/0 VMC straight-shank hook, 3/8-ounce bullet weight on top of swivel.
Topwater gear: 6'9" medium-heavy Quantum G4 Gerald Swindle Signature Series rod, Quantum Smoke casting reel (6.1:1 ratio), 15-pound Sunline Armilo Nylon monofilament line, Rapala Arashi Cover Pop (bream).
Main factor in his success: "Staying in one area and not running around a bunch was the best decision I made."
Performance edge: "The Spot-Lock (on his Minn Kota trolling motor). When the tide started coming out, I could sit in the center of the canal and repeat the same cast over and over. It would hold me dead in position the whole time."
Bass Elite Tour Sabine River Patterns 2-5 BassFan 6/13/18 (John Johnson)
