By Mike Schoeffel
Gerald Swindle, the 2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year, paced back and forth in front of an enormous tank stocked full of bass.
The Alabama native propped his right sneaker up on the tank. And then, looking and sounding a little like Ricky Bobby, the “G-Man,” as he’s known to some, unleashed some wisdom to the crowd of 100 or so people who had gathered to watch him speak.
“You know how to get better at catching fish?” he asked. “Catch more fish.”
Swindle’s hour-long speech was the most well-attended event of the first day of the Richmond Fishing Expo, which was held at the Farm Bureau Center. The expo, which is in its 11th year, ran from Jan. 19 through Jan. 21 and featured over 90 vendors from 18 states. Everything a fishing enthusiast could possibly lust for — lures, rods, pontoon boats, and cookie dough ice cream– was available for purchase.
The event is put on every year by Southeast Productions, a family business based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, owned by Les Gray and his brother, Russell Gray. Southeast Productions currently presents nine fishing shows per year, eight of which are held in North Carolina.
The Richmond Fishing Expo is the only Southeast Productions show outside of the Tar Heel State. It was held in Richmond for five years before moving to Doswell in 2012. Les Gray said Doswell’s central location is key: he’s noticed a considerable influx of customers from the northern part of the state since moving the show there, while retaining long-standing expo-goers from Richmond proper.
“We’ve found a home here,” said Les Gray. “The Farm Bureau Center has opened up a whole new market for these vendors that they hadn’t seen when we were hosting the show in Richmond.”
One of those northern-based attendees was Chad Groveton, a Stafford County native and first-time expo-goer. Groveton called the show a “fisherman’s paradise,” and he was hoping to find some “high-quality, reasonably-priced lures” before heading home later that day.
Groveton also witnessed Swindle’s speech, which he called “an experience.”
“He’s part fishing pro, part Larry the Cable Guy,” he said. “He had a lot of informative and interesting things to say. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained.”
Swindle has appeared in 15 Bassmaster Classics and caught over 7,700 pounds of fish during his career, according to his official website. He was one of numerous professionals giving seminars throughout the weekend, including John Crews and Jonathon Van Dom.
Swindle’s speech, given in an deep and authentic Alabama accent, overflowed with a Southern-fried mix of humor and wisdom, including the following gems:
“I’ve got two sets of knees and both of them are bad.”
“You can ask me a question at any time, because I don’t know what I’m going to say next, anyway. I don’t take notes, I take medicine.”
“I spent six hours in an elite series tournament I paid $5,400 to enter chasing a pack of seagulls feeding on cigarette butts. That’s the God’s honest truth. I was fishing behind a chainsmoker. These birds were diving on Marlboro Lights.”
“This game, what was that thing, finding Pokemon or Poke-Sean, or whatever, this thing rushed the world and everybody said ‘I’m out chasing purple shoo-doos’. I said: ‘You need to be chasing a job.’”
Swindle talked about fishing, too, philosophizing about the sport and its place in modern society.
“The cool thing about what we do for a living is that it can be passed down or passed up,” he said. “You’re never too old, you’re never too young. Fishing doesn’t discriminate. Weight, height, size, it doesn’t matter. Fishing is for everyone.”
About half-an-hour before Swindle’s speech on Friday afternoon, Vicky Childress, a Chesterfield resident who has been fishing since “I was a little bitty thing,” caught several bass in the Western North Carolina Trout Fishing Pool. For the cost of three dollars, she spent five minutes coaxing numerous trout to bite her lure.
“It’s easy fishing,” she said. “You know you’re going to catch something, which is more than you can say about fishing in a pond.”
All-in-all, the yearly expo is about offering fishing enthusiasts an escape, of sorts, from the stresses of daily life. If the show accomplishes that goal, Gray said, then he and Russell are doing their jobs.
“People don’t have to come here and buy anything,” said Gray. “It’s a feel-good type of show. Regardless of what’s going on around them in the world or community, they can come out here and just think about fishing.”
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