TO GET RELIEF from the Mississippi heat on sultry summer days, Dell Swindle would take her three young sons to the banks of the Pearl River. She would give them minnow nets and let them wade in shallow water on sandy bottoms swept clean by the current.
One of those children was Gerald Swindle. Little did he know these outings would someday help him catch bass as an Elite Series angler. When the young Swindle stepped into the water, the sand felt cool on the soles of his feet. When he stood still, minnows swarmed about him and nibbled his toes.
Swindle remembered those outings years later when he became enamored with bass fishing. Since he knew baitfish related to sandy bottoms, he reasoned that bass should be nearby to feed on them. His logic proved true.
“When I see sand on a river system, I put my trolling
