LEWISVILLE, Texas — This coming Sunday afternoon, Kyle Busch will travel around Texas Motor Speedway in his No. 18 Toyota Camry at roughly 140 mph.
But on Wednesday, Busch slowed to half that speed, boating at 70 mph in Bassmaster Elite Series angler Mike Iaconelli’s Bass Cat for the sake of bass fishing for a good cause on Lewisville Lake near Dallas.
Iaconelli was joined by Elite pros Terry “Big Show” Scroggins and Gerald “The G-Man” Swindle in accepting Busch’s invitation to help to raise money for the Kyle Busch Foundation. The charity organization funnels money to five orphanages across the United States. Busch often invites the children to attend races as his guests throughout the NASCAR season, and then each December, the foundation donates a significant portion of the funds to assuring the kids have a brighter Christmas.
In addition to the boats and professional guidance that Ike, Big Show and G-Man provided, anglers from the Dallas area such as Scott Kelly, Brady Winans and Brannon Long were also invited to be a part of the cause. Most of the seasoned anglers were paired with one of the event’s supporting sponsors for a team tournament complete with officials from B.A.S.S.
With all the parts in place, the only thing left was the weather. Extremely strong south winds gusted over 30 mph across Lewisville Lake to make fishing a challenge.
Tournament winners Dax Davis and Darren Heavner caught their 15-pound, 14-ounce limit of fish extremely shallow, using squarebill crankbaits around flat points facing the gusty winds. Brady Winans and Lance Peck finished second with a creel of 13.90 pounds.
Jackie McLarry was teamed with Gerald Swindle. They finished third with four fat bass weighing 12 1/2 pounds. McLarry, who is a good angler that fishes often, talked mostly about fellowship when asked about his day.
“My favorite part of the day was meeting Gerald and realizing that he’s just an ordinary guy like me,” said McLarry. “I noticed Gerald was constantly looking around. At one point he saw birds feeding on a naked shoreline and ran the boat over there and caught a 4-pounder. He’s a real pro, and he’s an asset to the sport — that’s what Gerald Swindle is,” bragged McLarry after meeting Swindle for the first time just nine hours earlier.
Busch noted the winds in thanking the generous participants. “It was definitely a little windy out there today, a little rough, but relaxing in a way too. I could get used to doing more of this.”
In the end, the winds brought plenty of generosity and fellowship. It was a day in which tournament bass anglers and NASCAR rode together at shared speeds for a very good cause.