In early 2008, pro angler Gerald Swindle watched his big brother Tony, a strapping hammer swinger in his early 40s, die of pancreatic cancer.
Tony was surely among a list of Swindle’s best friends, definitely a fan of G’s career, and undoubtedly a ground wire to perspective for the rest of G’s Life.
Last year, fans and fishing industry folks like Terry Brown reached out to Gerald for support.
Support of a Chicago-area firefighter named Kevin Oldham, who loves to fish.
And is dying of pancreatic cancer.
Gerald’s told me numerous times — that the first phone call to Kevin was one of the hardest things he’s ever done.
I’ll let prolific writer Don Barone tell you the details in the attached link.
Warning: if you have a pulse, your tear ducts are about to rain as you read db’s words.
Angels & Heroes (click to read the heart felt story)
Yesterday, at day two’s weigh-in of the Bassmaster Classic …
B.A.S.S. officials approved Gerald’s request to have Kevin ride shotgun with him in his boat as he was pulled into The New Orleans Arena.
Tears fell.
Lots of them.
And bass fishing’s funniest and most talkative man fell speechless on stage.
With microphone under his chin, Swindle’s silence green-flagged admiration and applause.
And let me tell ya, holding focus on that Canon while your nerves tremble with emotion and your viewfinder floods with tears ain’t easy.
I just held the shutter button, and hoped.
Here’s a few frames from a moment that left most in an arena of 10,000 people with flooded tear ducts and better hearts.
Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.
