Brandon Palaniuk wasn’t going out on a limb when he predicted a logjam in the standings for this Lake Champlain event. It’s always that way here, where 3-pound smallmouth bass are common and 4-pound smallmouth and largemouth are much less so. He was emphasizing how volatile the standings can be from day to day.
“I feel good that I’ll catch a bunch of fish,” Palaniuk said yesterday. “I could catch 50 fish a day and (the best five) could weigh 15 pounds or they could weigh 20 pounds. The difference in (catching) a 3-pounder and a 4-pounder is a pretty big deal here.”
So far today, Palaniuk is catching at least a few of the bass he needs. BASSTrakk shows him in a third-place tie with 17-0. In an example of how big ounces are in this event, you need only look back at Palaniuk’s first two days in 2017 when he finished third at Lake Champlain. He was in 22nd place with 18-1 on Day 1. He caught a five-bass limit weighing 18-13 — 12 ounces more — on Day 2 and moved up 12 places in the standings to 10th place.