Palaniuk second at Bassmaster Elite event
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 53 minutes AGO
From B.A.S.S. news services
CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Brandon Palaniuk of Rathdrum finished second at the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes on Sunday.
Palaniuk, the former Lakeland High and North Idaho College wrestler, finished with a four-day total catch of 94 pounds, 0 ounces.
Chris Johnson of Peterborough, Ontario, the leader after Day 3, pulled away and finished with a total of 113 pounds, 12 ounces to earn the $103,000 first prize.
Palaniuk, the leader after Day 2, earned $21,000.
Palaniuk called Jack’s Creek on the north side of Lake Marion home this week, landing limits weighing 29-1, 29-15, 20-11 and 14-5 to notch his fourth Top 5 at Santee Cooper, his best finish at the fishery since winning in the fall of 2020.
“It was an incredible week,” Palaniuk said. “The first two days were some of the best days I’ve had on this place. Really, they were some of the most fun days I’ve had fishing. Today, I would have had to have had 34 pounds to win. I’m glad (Chris) caught them that well, it eases the pain. What makes me mad though is that I’ve had the chance to break 100 twice, basically punts, and I screwed it up both times.”
Each year, the Idaho pro has taken a new approach to the fishery. This year, he targeted shallow cypress trees harboring postspawn largemouth. A certain contour break and a mix of vegetation were key ingredients for finding high percentage groups of trees.
“There was a combination of dollar pads, star grass and some other fluffy stuff,” Palaniuk said. “If there were dollar pads around and a little bit of scattered star grass, that’s where the big ones wanted to be. Only a few places had that.”
A Hideup Coike Fullcast produced the bulk of his bites the first two days. Later on Day 2, a 6-pounder tore up his last Coike, so he switched to a homemade urchin-style bait. Since his homemade one wasn’t as buoyant as the Coike, he had reservations about how effective it would be, but within the first couple casts using it he landed a 4-pounder.
Palaniuk used the same hook in both, a BKK Spear 21 treble hook, but used a 3/32-ounce X-Zone tungsten nail weight in the Coike while the other he left weightless. 20 or 22-pound Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon kept Palaniuk from breaking off around the thick cover.
Palaniuk also won the $2,500 Yamaha Power Pay contingency award for the highest-placing eligible angler.