THE LATEST NEWS

The 2020 Bassmaster Elite Series season officially kicks off tomorrow morning here on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. Last year’s season opening tournament on this very same fishery proved to be a big bass bonanza, but the Elite Series anglers were singing a different tune for this weeks derby. Reports of the St. Johns being “tough” and “a grinder” were widely discussed.

While Bassmaster Elite Series pros are famous for sandbagging about their practice days, one thing they all have on their minds for this week’s tournament is weather. The forecast for Thursday through Sunday has a little bit of everything. With high winds and sunshine on Thursday, followed by rain and a substantial cold front moving in Friday.

It’s no secret Florida bass behavior is extremely susceptible to changes in the weather, so we asked Team Toyota pros Brandon Lester and Matt Arey along with Carhartt pro Caleb Sumrall what to expect.

Q: How will the erratic and inconsistent weather affect this four-day event?

Caleb Sumrall: “Weather is everything this week. These Florida fish are trying to get shallow and spawn, but the weather dictates when they’ll do it. The guy who wins this event will likely have to change what they are doing every single day. You’re going to have to play the conditions and make fast, confident decisions.”

Matt Arey: “Florida fish are constantly on the move this time of year. I think the changing weather will put a lot more fish in transition areas than usual, which makes staying on them tough. The weather each day will dictate where guys need to focus their efforts, and I’m guessing it’ll change day by day.”

Brandon Lester: “Thursdays forecast (high winds) will make boat positioning and sight fishing extremely difficult, which is usually what dominates the tournament after day 1 on this fishery. After that, we’ve got a cold front which will make the fishing all around tougher in my opinion. The weather is going to have a big affect for sure.”

Q: How much weight per day will it take to make the top 12 this week?

Caleb Sumrall: “I’m going to say 16-lbs. a day will be good this week.”

Matt Arey: “17-lbs. per day… realistically probably more.”

Brandon Lester: “15-lbs a day.”

Team Toyota pro Gerald Swindle was one of the final boats to pull up to the Palatka City Dock and Boat Ramp as the last light faded Tuesday night, marking the end of the Elite Series official practice for the Aftco Bassmaster Elite on the St. Johns River. As always, his faithful wife LeAnn (aka “LuLu”) was waiting in the Tundra to help expedite the boat loading process.

The two time Bassmaster Angler of the Year is starting out his 2020 fishing seasons with plenty of change, and both Swindles agree they are starting this year fresh.

“Man I am coming at this season with a whole new perspective,” Swindle said with blatant honesty. “I’ll be straight up with you – 2019 was a tough year on me, tough year on both of us (referring to LuLu). With that being said, I think last year has allowed me to appreciate my career more.”

Its often said that good times are made better after experiencing some not-so-good times; and it’s true. For better or for worse it seems to take a few nasty days of rain, wind, or cold for us to truly appreciate the warm sunny days. You can dwell on or complain about those not-so-good days and let that negativity find rent in your head, or you can use the adversity as a lesson.

Swindle returned to the Bassmaster Elite Series this year and is entering into his 23rd year of fishing professionally with optimism and focus. His passion for fishing and competing still burns as bright today as it did twenty-three years ago, and Swindle believes he is more driven this year than ever.

“I can focus better now than I could at the start of my career,” Swindle explained. “I embrace the grinder’s mentality nowadays in tournaments when that may have spun me out 20 years ago. Now I can keep my head down, fish my strengths, and stay on target for the full day. Sounds simple but that right there is important.”

The “G-Man” is coming into this season with a few performance-related goals as always, but different this year are a couple well-defined ambitions he and LuLu have that are bigger than “just fishing”. Swindle may be bass fishing’s funniest man, but those who know and follow him have seen his genuine, reflective, and serious side, too.

“My number one goal for the year… Be Happy,” Swindle said sincerely. “LeAnn and I talked a lot about it this off-season and had time to think about it in a deer stand. Being happy is most important for both of us.

“Goal number two is to build relationships and try to be a positive role model for some of the younger Elite Series guys this year. I feel like I have a responsibility to help guys coming up on the off-the-water side of fishing. No one taught me the business side of this gig when I started. No one told me where to stay or the best places to eat when we roll into a new town. I want to lend a helping hand with those kinds of things.”

Swindle’s personality and on-the-water accomplishments put him in rarified air in the bass fishing history books, but he’s not done yet. With a renewed appreciation and focus on things like being happy, staying confident, and elevating his peers –his 23rd year of chasing bass may just be his best one yet.

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Faith in his area rewarded Matt Robertson with his biggest limit of the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Southeastern Regional on Lake Okeechobee and delivered the winning three-day total weight of 59 pounds, 14 ounces.

For his victory, Robertson, the angler from Kuttawa, Ky., who became a fan favorite for his onstage antics during last year’s Bassmaster Classic, earned $5,000 and a spot in the 2020 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship on Pickwick Lake.

Robertson, who finished first on the Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation team, started strong on Day 1 with a fourth-place limit of 19-14. He followed with 17-8 on Day 2 and reached Friday’s Championship round in third place. Adding 22-8 on Day 3 allowed him to surge ahead with a winning margin of 3-1.

“The last few days, I caught quantity and not quality,” Robertson said. “Today, I only caught about 15 fish. But when my second fish was a 5-pounder, my gut told me it was going to happen.”

Committing all three days to the south end of Lake Okeechobee, Robertson said he stayed in a 600-yard area the entire time. This area had a mix of pencil reeds, flat reeds, Kissimmee grass and hyacinth — and with very little company, he was able to cover water at his leisure and hunt for aggressive prespawn bass.

With practice delivering a few giant bites, Robertson said he felt confident he was around the right caliber of fish. His hope was that these fish would become more available once the weather stabilized in the wake of a cold front that passed through prior to the event.

“I knew those big ones would move in, so I stayed in there all day,” Robertson said. “I had it all to myself. One other boat came in each afternoon for about 20 minutes.

“I’m a run-and-gun guy, but I dropped the trolling motor. The first day I caught 60 fish, the second day I caught about 40. Today, I caught (fewer) but they got bigger. I think those big females were moving in to spawn.”

Robertson caught his fish on a Strike King 4.75 Rage Swimmer in ayu rigged on a 5/0 swimbait hook and a 1/8-ounce bullet weight. A burning retrieve produced best.

“I didn’t try to get dialed in on one thing, I fished it all,” he said. “I just went up and down stuff and, man, I got the bites. My biggest one was about 6 pounds.”

Essential to Robertson’s presentation was 65-pound Strike King Tour Grade braided line. He said he would have preferred to use fluorocarbon, but he didn’t want to risk a heartbreak amid the heavy Florida vegetation.

Bryan Gunter of Ninety Six, S.C., looked like an unstoppable force the first two days, but he saw his bite dwindle in the Championship round. Sacking up a 20-pound Day 1 bag put Gunter in third place, and adding 23-8 on Day 2 gave him the lead going into the championship round.

His final effort turned up 13-5 and Gunter slipped to second with a three-day total of 56-13.

“I caught my biggest fish by flipping pencil reeds and bulrush with a Zoom Speed Worm and a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver; and I caught numbers by fishing a Gambler EZ Swimmer or a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper over eelgrass flats,” Gunter said.

David Gorman of Canton, Ga., finished in third place with 56-7. Mounting the event’s biggest comeback, Gorman placed 51st on Day 1 after catching 10-3 limit. He roared back the following day with the tournament’s third-heaviest catch — 23-5 — and rose to 10th. Adding 22-15 on the final day pushed Gorman to a third-place finish with 56-7.

“I was fishing needle grass and arrowheads in 1 1/2 feet of water and burning a Gambler Big EZ swimbait in the copper field color on a 6/0 screw lock hook with a 1/4-ounce weight,” Gorman said. “In practice, it was all bucks (male bass) and in the tournament, the big mamas started coming in.”

Jeff Lugar of Cross Junction, Va., won the Big Bass award with his 9-10 largemouth.

Jim Topmiller of Orlando, Fla., won the nonboater division with 36-2. Topmiller took the lead on Day 1 with 14-10, held his position the next day by adding 9-1 and closed the door in the final round with a limit of 12-1.

“Today was tough; I didn’t have my two big ones until about 1 o’clock, and they came pretty near one another on a Berkley Grass Pig swimbait rigged on a 4/0 VMC swimbait hook with a 1/8-ounce (weighted shank),” Topmiller said. “I caught the earlier ones on a Berkley Burner Worm rigged on a 5/0 hook with a 3/16-ounce bullet weight, pegged.”

Mike Caul won the Big Bass competition among nonboaters with a 9-8 largemouth.

The event is being hosted by Okeechobee County.

2020 B.A.S.S. Nation Title Sponsor: TNT Fireworks

2020 B.A.S.S. Nation Platinum Sponsor: Toyota

2020 B.A.S.S. Nation Premier Sponsors: Abu Garcia, Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Talon, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2020 B.A.S.S. Nation Supporting Sponsors: Carhartt, Garmin, HUK Performance Fishing, Mossy Oak Fishing, Nationwide, Rapala

2020 B.A.S.S. Nation Grass-Roots Sponsor: B&W Trailer Hitches

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 515,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2 and The Pursuit Channel), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship, new Huk Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.