When Elite Series pros part ways with a sponsor, what do they do? Many fans would assume that they just dial up another company, and poof, they’re sponsored. That wasn’t the case for Gerald Swindle as he decided to hit the free-agent market and go crankin’ on his own.
The 2015 season gave Swindle the opportunity to test out a wide variety of crankbaits that he felt most comfortable with when it came to offshore fishing. By season’s end, the Alabama angler had a handful that he felt rose to the top of the pile.
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“I sat down and debated about it, and I thought I would love to fish one year as a free agent,” Swindle said. “I wanted to fish baits I was curious about or that I didn’t understand or throw much.”
In no particular order, he found that these five baits helped him probe underwater structure across the country this year. The Rapala DT 14 featured great castability, and because of its wooden nature it is also silent. Whether it was clear water or muddy water, he believes in this bait throughout the year.
“There are days when bass bite it better than any other,” he said.
One of the most used crankbaits on the Tennessee River over the last few years has been a Strike King 6XD, and yet, Swindle can’t get enough of the deep-water plug. Castablilty is another feature that he likes in this bait, and he also believes in the ease of achieving maximum depth.
“With 10-pound line you’re bumpin’ 15 to 18 feet on every cast,” he said.
His “MVP” or Most Valuable Plug for the BASSFest event on Kentucky Lake was “hands down” the Strike King 10XD.
“This is the mack-daddy, the big pimp of deep crankin’,” Swindle said. “This thing pulls up the bottom of the ocean.”
This crankbait has blasted onto the scene over recent years and it has undoubtedly changed the strategy of anglers who hope to probe deep, untapped schools of giant bass.
“This is a full-man’s crankbait, but it will get you a big bass,” he explained. “It looks intimidating in the pack, but trust me it’s not. I throw it on 14-pound line.”
Swindle said that it casts very well, but heeds a warning that due to its size it could snap off if the line is too light. It can easily reach 22 to 25 feet of water on a long cast.
His two final choices from the 2015 season both share similar features that make them different than most deep diving crankbaits. The 6th Sense Company makes a plug that they call the Crush 500DD series.
“It has a totally unique sound, and is a little thinner than other baits,” Swindle continued. “The [500DD] offers a big, deep-diving bill. On 12-pound line this bait will bump 20 feet on a modest cast.”
“There were days when I would line up all of these and throw them, and this bait would get bit better than others, while some days it was the other way around. As a free agent, that was one of things I did was just go throw them. Whether it was sound, style or vibration.”
His last crankbait choice of the year was one that he called”sneaky, sneaky bait” because of the features that separated it from others.
The Spro Little John DD, developed by fellow Elite Series pro John Crews, featured a slim profile with superior castability that gets the job done. When bass wouldn’t fall for a hulk-style plug, Swindle utilized the finesse nature of this bait to reel in kicker bass.
“It has a little sound to it, but it wasn’t over the top,” he said. “It seems to be a great finesse-style crankbait for structure fishing.”
When it came to the equipment used to sling these deep-diving plugs, Swindle relied on a cranking setup that was designed by the king of cranking, Kevin VanDam. Swindle used the Quantum 7-foot, 10-inch KVD cranking rod, paired with a Quantum 5.3:1 gear ratio.
“There were times when I would try to use a 6.6:1 or a 6.3:1 gear ratio if I was trying to burn it, but always remember when you go to these giant plugs that a high-speed reel will work you to death,” he explained. “I used the whole rod-and-reel combo that KVD designed. You may have heard of him—he has won a lot of money cranking.”
The laid-back angler with the reputation of throwing the kitchen sink in every tournament didn’t pull any punches and fished baits that he believed in the most. Swindle spent his time fishing with baits that flat out caught bass and he didn’t bother with what brand it was, but rather how many fish he caught with it.
