LA CROSSE, Wis. — Brandon Palaniuk insists he’s not “playing it safe” in trying to secure the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year title. But the reality of the situation is the race grew tighter on Day 1 of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the Mississippi River.
The two anglers behind Palaniuk in AOY points – Brandon Lester and Chris Johnston – finished 12th and 4th, respectively, while Palaniuk placed 35th. Saturday looms large in determining who will win this title.
Palaniuk quoted some Chris Stapleton lyrics – You can’t win if you’re afraid of losing – and said, “I’m not going to be afraid of losing. I’m not going to be afraid of ripping my lower unit off. I’m here to finish the job.”
More on that lower unit reference later. Palaniuk desperately wants to close out his second AOY title, not only to become just the 12th B.A.S.S. angler with multiple AOY crowns, but to also do it in the season when his wife Tiffanie gave birth to their first child, Kora Marie, born on June 6.
“I’ve got one (AOY title, in 2017), and we’re so close to two,” he said. “I’m trying not to put that much pressure on it. That’s such a hard thing to do. I keep saying, make one cast, get a bite and put it in the boat. You want something so bad, and it’s so close – a couple of days away. And we’re talking about a life’s work.”
Here’s how tight the margins are in the Mississippi River after Day 1. If Palaniuk had weighed one pound more, he’d be in 23rd place. More significantly, if he’d weighed one pound less, he’d be in 50th place and in danger of missing the Day 2/top 47 cut.
One big bite made the difference for Palaniuk Friday. He was throwing a 6-inch white Megabass Mag Draft swimbait near a bridge when he saw a largemouth bass following the bait as it neared his boat. Palaniuk slowed his retrieve and kept the lure in the water an extra few feet alongside the boat. The moment was clearly caught on “Bassmaster Live” when the white lure suddenly disappeared and Palaniuk set the hook. It was his biggest bass of the day, estimated a 3 ¼ to 3 ½ pounds.
On paper, when AOY points are listed based on the daily standings, Palaniuk has 713, Lester 699 and Johnston 698 after Day 1. But those daily totals are somewhat deceiving. AOY points are awarded based only on the final standings. The bottom line is this: With a 37-point lead over Lester and a 46-point lead over Johnston entering this event, they’ve got to finish higher and Palaniuk has to finish lower than they’re positioned in the standings now. If Palaniuk misses the Day 2 cut, then we’ve got contest.
“I feel like if I can catch 12 pounds every day, I’ll keep moving up the leaderboard a little,” he said.
With the Mississippi River lower than these anglers have seen it before, there are unseen hazards in play, hence that earlier reference to an outboard motor lower unit. Any equipment failures costing an angler fishing time could be devastating. Palaniuk said he’s not locking into the other available pools because he didn’t find fish there in practice.
“I’m not staying close based on trying to play it safe,” he said. “When you play it safe, you get beat. I ran some stuff today when I was puckered up, I promise you. We had to run to get there, but I also knew I might rip my lower unit off in there. But we got there, and I culled at least once.
“I’m not going to be afraid of losing. I’m not going to be afraid of ripping my lower unit off. I’m here to finish the job.”
#
