Beginner's Tacklebox with Brandon Palaniuk

Brandon Palaniuk’s campsite provides a different look from his early days when he used to sleep in the back of his truck. He was far from a “beginner” in those days, but he often smiles when reminiscing about his humble beginnings on the Elite Series. His skill as an angler has grown tremendously, and his desire to teach new and young anglers has also grown since those early days.

His Skeeter is loaded down with an impressive assortment of lures and gear. If you’ve ever wondered what Palaniuk would recommend to get your lure collection started, here’s your chance.

The Idaho native starts with separating the tray dividers with scissors.

A Bass Mafia box will eventually hold a selection he deems ideal for a beginning bass angler.

Once acting as a motel, the back of his Toyota Tundra now holds a vast selection of bass-catching baits. Where to start?

Storm Arashi crankbaits make perfect sense.

These lures have been instrumental for quite a few years. They are durable, tasty looking and …

The line-tie system and circuit-board lip combination actually help the bait to self-tune. Meaning right out of the box they swim perfectly, and when they deflect off of wood or rock, they immediately swim correctly. That just adds to the temptation for following bass. Here he’s holding the Arashi Square 3 and Square 5.

There are deep-diving cranks in the Arashi line as well. You’ll see them here next to some Rapala DTs. A deadly combination for a crankbait assassin like Palaniuk.

The Rapala DT10. One of the finest crankbaits out there. A beginner’s tackle box should always have one of these at the ready.

He likes to compliment the DT10 with with an Arashi Deep 10. Different actions at similar depths will present options to stubborn bass.

These crankbaits will cover most of your needs.

Next Palaniuk digs into his jerkbait collection, which includes Rapala Shadow Raps and Shadow Rap Shad lures.

Jerkbaits are ideal baits for clear water, but will catch fish all year long under numerous conditions.

A jerkbait is often considered a cold-water presentation, but if the bite is slow and fish are suspended, it can be viable at any time. The Rapala Shadow Rap Deep is one of his favorites.

He also keeps a supply of Storm Twitchsticks within reach. They cast a mile and rattle during the retrieve.

Moving on to topwaters.

The young pro has an extensive selection to cover a myriad of conditions.

Here he holds out a Storm Arashi Topwalker and the new Storm Arashi Cover Pop, which both produce vastly different actions when on the surface of the water.

Frogs. You’ve gotta have a couple of topwater frog options.

He likes the Terminator Walking Frog (L) and the Popping Frog. The Walking Frog works best in thick, dense grass mats and cover, while the Popping version might be best with thinner vegetation and exposed lay downs and other wood.

Always keep extra line on-hand. Palaniuk loves Seaguar braid, especially for frogs and jigs.

He likes to keep his line and other items at the ready in this heavy-duty Bass Mafia Money Bag.

The clear plastic makes it easy for him to find exactly what he needs when he needs it.

Keep an extra spool handy for each presentation you expect to use that day. It’s a good practice to get into.

On to plastics. A bass fanatic can’t ever have too many soft-plastic options.

Zoom finesse worms see a lot of action in his boat.

He likes to keep multiple natural colors on-hand.

They fit nicely inside the bag where he stores his line.

Palaniuk uses a drop shot on a regular basis. Here’s a quick look inside his box, and what you should keep handy if that presentation is on the menu.

While the VMC hook may seem small, it’s just the right size to keep a big smallmouth pinned down until you can grab his lip.

He said you’ve gotta have some jigs handy.

He looks through his collection for one of his favorites.

Natural colors seem to be most effective. He likes VMC Heavy Cover Flipping Jigs in green-pumpkin and black-and-blue color combinations.

Deep-diving cranks are a must as well. Here he holds up a pair of Arashi Rattling Deep cranks to reach depths of 16 feet and beyond.

Zoom swimbaits and Boot Tail Flukes should also be included in the collection.

He matches the swimbaits with VMC heads.

On the left he’s holding up a VMC Boxer head in 3/4 ounce, and VMC Underspin also in 3/4 ounce. The Underspin produces a little more flash and attraction for bass needing extra help.

Palaniuk looks for weights in his Bass Mafia storage system.

He likes VMC Tungsten Flipping weights.

He also keeps Neko hooks and weights handy for a different look.

You gotta have a heavy-duty worm hook.

And flipping-style baits or jig trailers.

Here he has Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw in green/pumpkin (top) and Zoom Z-Hawg in Junebug.

“A Terminator spinnerbait is a must for anyone building a tackle collection,” he said.

He places it inside the Bass Mafia box.

Better make that two, he said.

Different colors and weights for different water conditions. He said the bright chartreuse bait works better in muddy water, and the natural color is a great alternative in cleaner water.