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Gerald Swindle had plenty on his mind last night as he made a few final tweaks to his tackle in anticipation for the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Lake Chickamauga to begin.

The Team Toyota fan favorite finds himself a few AOY points outside of the Bassmaster Classic cutline with only eight competition days left in the 2020 season. While Swindle desperately wants to qualify for his 19^th appearance in the Super Bowl of bass fishing, he felt a sense of peace leading into Chickamauga.

“I think I’ve thought my stress bone dry,” Swindle joked. “It’s hard to feel super stressed about the Classic when it’s been so tough to get a bite. We hit the fall transitional funk just right with these last three events, and man, they start to wear on you.”

Swindle and the rest of the Elite field gave reports of an extremely fickle Lake Chickamauga throughout practice, which came as a bit of a surprise.  This legendary Tennessee River fishery is undoubtedly full of big bass, but for whatever reason they don’t seem to be biting right now.

“I don’t mind grinding, I really don’t, but I like to catch fish too,” Swindle offered. “There hasn’t been a whole lot of fish catchin’ for me this week. But I’m keeping my PMA (positive mental attitude) because tough tournaments are the easiest ones to win.”

This time of year Swindle usually spends his time 20-feet off the ground chasing whitetails, but this October finds him covering miles in his Tundra and Phoenix Boat trying to claw his way into the Classic cut.

While Gerald hasn’t had much time for his mind to wander during the back-to-back-to-back events, his faithful wife LeAnn (LuLu) isn’t afraid to admit she’s had bow hunting on the brain. In fact, LuLu packed her bow, arrows, and a foam target with her for this Chickamauga event.

“Alabama’s archery opener was yesterday and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready for our yearly escape to the whitetail woods,” LuLu said with a smile.

You see, on top of being his loyal wife and biggest supporter, LuLu takes care of Gerald when he’s competing in tournaments. She brews Black Rifle Coffee and backs him down the ramp in the morning. She handles any sponsor relations during the day, picks him up at sunset, and ensures G’s got a warm meal when he gets off the water.

While Gerald might be the one of the stage, they are a team.

The Alabama lovebirds handle hunting season as a two-person team the same way they approach fishing, except both of them get to participate in the woods. It’s something they look forward to all year long.

“Bow hunting is when I pay back all my ‘work debt’,” Swindle laughed. “I’ll hang her tree stands, wake up first and make her coffee, take care of some of the things she’s usually covering for me. Lord knows she’s earned it.”

The Swindles’ would love to be deer hunting this weekend, but don’t let that fool you to believing they aren’t thinking of the task at hand. They are laser focused on fishing, using archery season as a payoff once they get through the final push of tournament season.

“At the end of the day we’re grateful to be fishing and making up our entire schedule of events,” both Swindles said in unison.

“The B.A.S.S. Tournament Staff did a heck of a job to ensure we got our full season in,” Gerald said. “So for now we’re happy to not be hunting… but after Toyota Texas Fest on Lake Fork those deer are in trouble!”   

The post Swindles’ Thinking About Classic Cut & Whitetail Deer appeared first on Bass365.com.

Practice has begun for Bassmaster Elite Series pros on Lake Chickamauga for what will be their third straight week of tournament fishing. The fall transition has lakes across the country fishing tough right now and early reports sound as though it’ll be another grinder of a derby on The Chick.

Team Toyota’s Brandon Lester said his first day of practice didn’t give him much to smile about in terms of fish catching, but the even-keeled Tennessee native wasn’t shaken. He knows it’s all part of the process.

As backward as it may sound, Lester believes a slow day of practice could be the key to a successful tournament. For every potential area he eliminates from his game plan gets him one step closer to dialing in for day one of competition.

“Eliminating water is always an important part of practice but even more on a lake like Chickamauga,” Lester explained. “There are tons of quality fish in here, but there is just so much dead water this time of year. Learning where not to spend your time is just as important as getting bites.”

Of the areas Lester visited during his first day of practice, he suspects 70% of it can be removed from his tournament plan completely, with 30% of what he saw having potential when it comes time for game day.
Sections of the lake aren’t the only thing Lester looks to eliminate, he’s also trying to hone in on what lures and techniques he needs to spend the lion share of his time throwing. Ruling out certain presentations is an important part of that equation.

“Every rod I can take off the front deck and put back in the rod locker makes me smile,” Lester joked. “I had over 15 rods out all day, hopefully I can narrow that down a bit tomorrow.”

Elite Series pros have two more full days of practice until competition begins Friday morning for the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Lake Chickamauga. Lester intends to spend that time covering as much water as possible; looking for bass-shaped needles in the proverbial haystack this fishery makes up.

“From my house here to Dayton is a ~150 mile drive my Tundra,” Lester said. “I promise you I’ll cover more miles in my Phoenix throughout practice. I don’t want to spread myself too thin, but the winning fish could come from anywhere this week, and I’d love to find them.”

The post 
Lester: Eliminating Water is Important appeared first on Bass365.com.

Jacob Foutz is one of few 22-year olds on the planet who can say they’ve competed in the Bassmaster Classic. The 2017 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Champion represented college anglers on bass fishing’s biggest stage just a few short years ago and now serves as a fishing guide on Lake Chickamauga, the site for this week’s Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite.

In mid September Foutz won a two-day BFL Super Tournament that went out of this week’s venue and he attended college right here in Dayton, Tennessee at Bryan College.

Furthermore, he recently left a workingman’s job at Coca-Cola Consolidated due to his guide business on Chickamauga being busy enough to merit him going full-time with it. Plainly stated, Foutz has spent a ton of time on this fishery in recent years.

Dave Mercer nicknamed Foutz “The Paper Boy” back in 2018, so we asked the former college fishing standout to deliver the news on what Elite Series pros might face this week on “The Chick”.

Q: Will Lake Chickamauga’s famous Tennessee River Ledges be dominant in a four-day tournament this time of year?

Foutz: “I wouldn’t completely write them off, but in my experience the offshore bite struggles when they start dropping the water level during the fall drawdown. They’ve already began that process but we aren’t all the way to winter pool just yet.”

Q: What are three lures anglers at the top of the leaderboard will be throwing this week?

Foutz: “I would personally say a frog but lets broaden that to some kind of topwater, as schooling fish could be a factor. Second would be a punching or big weight setup, and lastly I’d think a bladed jig.”

Q: Based on those lures, do you think Chickamauga’s grass will be a focal point for Elite Series pros this week?

Foutz: “There will definitely be a lot of anglers fishing in and around grass, but this lake offers all kinds of cover guys could catch bass out of. Docks, brush piles, shallow wood, current and rocks all might be in play when the lake is fishing as tough as it is right now.”

Q: What region of the lake do you think the tournament will be won in?

Foutz: “The majority of multi-day tournaments on this lake are won on the lower end, but due to the fickle nature of fall fishing I genuinely believe this event could be won anywhere. There are quality fish swimming everywhere in here; I’m talking dam to dam. But getting five of those fish in the boat everyday will be a chore.”

In summary, Foutz is calling this tournament “wide open”. Recent local tournament weights aren’t indicative of just how many giant bass live in this lake and someone in the Elite Series field is sure to crack the code.

If you are interested in booking a guided trip with Jacob Foutz on this legendary fishery or several others in the area follow this link and set something up! https://www.jacobfoutzfishing.com/

The post Former Carhartt College Champ Previews Chick appeared first on Bass365.com.