The Calm and the Storm Before the 2015 Toyota Texas Bass Classic
The chirping of birds, a gentle breeze blowing through the trees – that was the peaceful near-silence around me as I sat in professional angler Gerald Swindle‘s fishing boat out on Lake Fork in Quitman, Texas.
The grassy shores surrounding us were water-logged from a morning of heavy drizzle. I had come from Austin the night before the 2015 Toyota Texas Bass Classic media day (May 21) on rolling thunder. For more than four and a half hours, I listened to the storm of bass blowing out of the dual exhausts of my $43,159 (as tested) 2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro review vehicle.
The 35 bass fishermen of the tournament have a much longer path ahead of them. Today through Monday, May 25, they’ll have to criss-cross Lake Fork’s surface, infinitely adjust their gauges and electronic aids, think one step ahead of the bass who have a higher water level to thank for deeper hiding places, and cast their lines into uncertainty. Whoever ends up catching and releasing the highest number of pounds of fish by the end of the Memorial Day weekend will win prize money and the title of winner of the world-class bass fishing event.
Swindle seemed prepared to return home to his native Alabama with both awards in his Platinum-trimmed Tundra CrewMax 4×4. If he wasn’t fixing one of his lures, he was looking through one of the compartments on his craft to find the rod that would give him his best chance of pulling green and white out of the blue.
In his Matthew McConaughey-like southern drawl, Swindle told me one of his strengths as a sportsman is his ability to adapt to changes. He predicted a substantial one in this year’s contest. In 2014, Keith Combs won the TTBC with a total weight of 110 pounds; Swindle thinks as few as 90 could be the winning number for 2015. In my hour or so with him, he brought two fish on board and snagged two others that broke free of his hook and swam off.
Toyota reeled in Swindle eight years ago. That’s when the automaker started nationally sponsoring the 2011 Bassmaster Southern Open Points Champion as an angler. Having owned diesel and gas trucks from domestic manufacturers in the past, Swindle was able to go into the arrangement with an open mind about half-ton pickups.
Nearly a decade later, he’s on his fourth Tundra. He praises its 381-horsepower 5.7-liter V8’s low-end torque (the engine develops a total of 401 lb.-ft.) and top-end towing ability (Swindle’s truck in stock form can pull 9,800 pounds). Swindle needs both – as well as the stopping power provided by his rig’s ventilated 13.9-inch front and 13.6-inch rear brakes – given that his 21-foot Triton boat and trailer weigh roughly 4,500 pounds.
Swindle tows his livelihood behind him from state to state, covering 40,000-50,000 miles a year. He’d been fishing at a competition in California before I watched him practice the skills that have qualified him six times for the TTBC, which is now in its ninth year of operation.
Despite the nap-inducing, sunless weather, Swindle seemed plenty energetic after being on the road for so long. I’m sure the fact that his Tundra’s ride quality doesn’t make his back hurt over the course of long trips had something to do with that.
After about 10 hours of driving my TRD Pro tester to and from the TTBC media day, I found my opinions of it were similar to those Swindle has of his Platinum model. My tester was powerful and comfortable. It seemed to have no trouble getting off the line. I didn’t have to open the front doors first to access the rear seating area. The Tundra’s reduced spring rate kept the truck from nauseatingly wallowing over imperfections in the asphalt.
However, an average fuel economy just north of 15 mpg made me a little queasy at the gas pump. On the highway, it was difficult for wind to get around the Tundra’s mirrors without creating a noticeable amount of noise. “Manually” shifting the dated six-speed automatic was an exercise in delayed gratification as the upward gear changes were not exactly instant.
I’ll have until Wednesday to discover more things I like and dislike about the TRD Pro, but Swindle and his competitors only have until Monday to discover bass in Lake Fork. You can follow Swindle’s progress via Twitter and the highlights of the 2015 Toyota Texas Bass Classic on Facebook.
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