After taking the top spot on Day 1 of the Bassmaster Elite Series TroKar Quest, Brandon Palaniuk was determined not to relinquish his lead. Despite hooking his left pinky finger to the bone and taking a trip to the emergency room to have the barb cut out, Palaniuk again brought the biggest bag to the scales with 24 pounds, 4 ounces.
The accident happened early in the day, but by that time, Palaniuk had a 20-pound, five-fish limit. It was when he caught his big fish of the day, a 5-pound, 15-ounce largemouth, that he was injured.
“I honestly did not think I had 24-4,” Palaniuk said. “When I got that hook jammed in my finger, I was hoping to have at least 20 pounds to keep me up in the Top 5.” The huge catch – heaviest of the tournament – gave him 45-13 and a commanding lead in the event.
Palaniuk made a slight adjustment in baits, but fished the same pattern he did so successfully on Day 1 – a method he discovered when he caught a 3-1/2 pounder during practice.
“I know the area I’m fishing has a lot of fish,” he said. “There are a few areas I haven’t hit the last two days, so if I need those, I’ll fish those. I’d like to be leading this thing by 30 pounds Sunday if I could”
Palaniuk got some encouragement from Ish Monroe, wire-to-wire winner of the previous Elite Series tournament on Lake Okeechobee, Fla., last month.
“Ish told me this morning, ‘Don’t give ’em any ground. Put the hammer down,'” Palaniuk said. Interestingly, Monroe is one of the anglers who lost ground against the young Idaho pro today. He’s more than 14 pounds behind the leader, in 18th place.
Bull Shoals is surprising many anglers with the big bags being brought to weigh-in, and requiring 27-2 to make the Top 50 cut today. It exceeded the requirement of 25 pounds, 10 ounces to make the cut at Okeechobee, where monster bass abounded.
With a two-day total of 37-13, Matt Herren is sitting in second place, 8 pounds behind Palaniuk. Herren, of Trussville, Ala., said he’s fishing a crankbait and a Santone M Series jig. The fish are biting well, but he’s constantly adjusting to “dial in to try to catch a big one.”
“I got a limit in 22 minutes today, and I probably caught 30 to 50 fish (during the day) like everybody else. I wasted too much time culling them out. I probably lost an hour and a half total trying to upgrade by ounces.”
Herren recognizes that he has a lot of ground to catch up to surpass the leader.
“I’m going to need Palaniuk to sleep in until about lunch tomorrow to give me a chance to catch back up today, but it’s fishing, and it ain’t over,” Herren said. “Whatever he’s doing could be dynamite, and he could rack up 20 pounds a day, but he could go out there and stumble and catch 10. I’ll take my chances being steady Eddie with 17.”
Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., tested some new fishing spots today, but didn’t really change his pattern. He finished Day 2 with 19-12 today for a total of 37-7 and third place. He caught a 6-pounder early, and said he “caught the fire out of fish today” with 50 to 70 bites.
“It seems like the bigger ones are biting earlier in the day,” Lane said. “It’s an amazing fishery.”
According to Britt Myers, fourth with 35-3, “Everywhere you went, you caught fish. But I noticed some of the key bites were coming a little bit deeper. When they’re biting so good, you can gamble a little bit and look for those key areas.”
Myers of Lake Wylie, S.C., said he caught and culled 100 fish today.
On Day 1, fifth-place angler Scott Rook of Little Rock, Ark., lost several big ones. Today he changed to a larger hook and didn’t lose any fish, bringing in 20 pounds, 12 ounces for a two-day total of 34 pounds, 14 ounces.
“I thought I could catch 20 pounds plus a day,” Rook said. “I did it in practice. I’m running the same pattern every day, but I feel like I shot myself in the foot with those big ones I lost.”
First prize in the TroKar Quest is $100,000 and a qualification for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. Pros are also fishing to rack up points that count toward postseason entry, Classic qualification and the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year award.
During the weigh-in today, several contingency bonuses were presented to anglers for their performance at the Power-Pole Slam on Lake Okeechobee, Fla.:
Carhartt Big Bass of the tournament, which paid $750, plus another $750 if the angler was wearing Carhartt clothing went to Kevin VanDam.Berkley Heavyweight Award of $500 for the best five-fish limit: Ish Monroe’s 34-5 on Day 1 of the Power-Pole SlamPower-Pole Captain’s Cash of $1,000 if the winner has Power-Poles installed on his boat: Ish MonroeLuck “E” Strike Comeback Award of $500 to the most-improved pro in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race: Ish Monroe, from 96th to 49thToyota $1,000 bonus to the leader in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race: Skeet Reese
The public is invited to the official TroKar Quest weigh-ins, which take place throughout the tournament at approximately 3 p.m. CT at Bull Shoals White River State Park at Pavilion #2 & Picnic Area on the east side of Bull Shoals Dam,153 Dam Overlook Lane, Bull Shoals, AR 72619.
Coverage at the Bassmaster website will continue each day. Fans have free, full access to live streaming video, real-time leaderboards, results, reports and photo galleries. On Saturday and Sunday, the War Room feature will provide updates from the water along with analysis and commentary.
2012 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, MinnKota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2012 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsor: BOOYAH, Carhartt, Lowrance, Luck “E” Strike, Power-Pole, Ramada
2012 Bassmaster Elite Series Proud Partner: Mustang Survival
About B.A.S.S.
For more than 40 years, B.A.S.S. has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and an expansive tournament structure while connecting directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.
The Bassmaster brand and its multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications – Bassmaster Magazine and B.A.S.S. Times – comprehensive Bassmaster website and ESPN2 and Outdoor Channel television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Cabela’s B.A.S.S. Federation Nation events and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.
B.A.S.S. offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members and remains focused on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.By: B.A.S.S. News
