Long before Gerald Swindle became a bass fishing legend, he made a name for himself on the sports teams at Locust Fork High School in north Alabama.
Being a good athlete, Swindle was asked to play a lot of roles at the small school – shortstop, second baseman and pitcher on the Hornets’ baseball team; point guard on the basketball team; running back, return man and kicker on the football team.
But even then, with so many Locust Fork jerseys to wear, everyone who knew Swindle knew the jersey he really wanted to slip over his shoulders was that of a pro bass angler. And so it was that after graduating from Locust Fork High in 1987, Swindle tried his hand at local jackpot tournaments. He fished his way into bigger derbies and eventually banked $150,000 after winning an FLW event in 1998 on Arkansas’ Beaver Lake.
That was the first in a career filled with shining moments, but the latest highlight is one that hit closer to home – literally.
Swindle was inducted into the Blount County (Ala.) Sports Hall of Fame on March 5. The ceremony was held at Anchors Church in Oneonta, the county seat which is only miles from the ballfields where Swindle starred as a teenager, from the Swindle family farm where he learned a tireless work ethic and the Locust Fork River where his passion for fishing began.
“Being inducted was a really special thing,” Swindle said in a phone interview a few days after the induction. “And I’ll be honest, it was more emotional than I thought it would be. (Blount County) means a lot to me. I went to a small school, but this is a big honor.”
For sure, Swindle was selected to the Blount County Sports Hall of Fame because of his fishing prowess, which includes Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles in 2004 and 2016, 18 Bassmaster Classic berths and more than $2.5 million in prize money earned.
But according to Hall President Gregg Armstrong, Swindle’s upstanding reputation as a sportsman was a key reason the board of directors made him a unanimous selection for enshrinement.
Only 47 people or teams with ties to Blount County have been selected to the Hall since the charter class was inducted in 1997, and Swindle is the only angler among the group.
“Character is a big part of being chosen for the honor,” Armstrong said. “It’s about accomplishments too, but if you don’t have character, you’re disqualified. Gerald is a great guy, and it shows in the way he treats people. He’s an excellent speaker, and he gave a great speech. Not everybody knows how hard he worked to get where he is today.”
Swindle was nominated for the honor by his brother, Ernie, who also presented him at Anchors Church on March 5. Gerald talked about growing up in Blount County and life on the farm with his two brothers and their parents, Tommy and Dell. It was a humble upbringing, but the family supported Gerald’s goal to become a professional bass angler. It was a dream that first took flight when Swindle was in grade school and Tommy took him fishing on Locust Fork.
“From the first day I went fishing, it’s what I wanted to do,” Swindle said. “There was just this weird dynamic of how I wanted to get better at it. I’d cast for hours and hour and hours. I’d cast into a cup. I’d cast into a bucket. I’d spin a lure between legs of the table, bounce it off a chair. All that started at Locust Fork, in Blount County.”
Growing up on a farm wasn’t easy, of course, but work always came first for the Swindle family. Gerald recalled Tommy Swindle reminding him of that before he could go fishing, and in particular, before a Locust Fork homecoming football game.
“We had the game that night, but he told me to make sure I was home after school to bail hay,” Gerald said. “A buddy of mine helped me out. We got a rash, but we got the work done and got to the game just in time. It wasn’t a big deal to work before playing. That’s just the way we did things.”
Armstrong remembers Swindle as a jack-of-all-trades athlete at Locust Fork High. He graduated a year before Swindle in 1986, and they played together on a Hornets team that won a county baseball championship.
“Gerald was a really good athlete, just good at everything,” Armstrong said. “He was very competitive in all three of the sports.”
Swindle said baseball was his favorite sport to play, and added that it’s not a coincidence the game requires tools he’d eventually bring to professional fishing.
“You don’t have to be the biggest guy to be good at baseball,” he said. “It’s a mental game. You can play small ball and win against guys that are bigger and faster and stronger than you. That kind of thinking bled over into fishing for me. You have to be persistent.”
Armstrong said most people at Locust Fork High sensed Swindle would be a success.
“Gerald would tell you he was going to make a living fishing, and you believed him because he was so committed to it,” Armstrong said. “There were a lot of days that people don’t know about when he was working to become a better angler. He had the drive, and now he’s one of the best there ever was.
“We’re proud of Gerald. I think he’s one of the best choices we could make for our Hall of Fame,” Armstrong said.
For more information, check out the Facebook page, Blount County Sports Hall of Fame.
