Brandon Palaniuk has a couple of reasons to be nervous right now. First and foremost is his slim lead in the Toyota Angler of the Year standings. Secondly, it has been a heartbreaking morning with a couple of big fish that came unhooked at the boat.
But if Palaniuk’s feeling any pressure, he’s not showing it. He just upgraded with a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth that was barely hooked on a treble-hooked bait.
“This is bigger than anything I’ve got in (the livewell),” Palaniuk said on “Bassmaster LIVE” as he was fighting the fish. “Stay on there, stay on there. Don’t you jump. Stay down, stay down. Look at how long that fish is. It’s a 7-pounder on the (St. Lawrence) River.”
That bass bumped him up to 15-4 on the day, and unofficially has him ahead of his closest AOY competitiors, Casey Ashley, Kevin VanDam and Jason Christie.