Making the adjustments Idaho angler riding huge lead into today’s final round
BULL SHOALS — Aside from maybe a tornado, there appears to be nothing that can stop Brandon Palaniuk from winning the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament today on Bull Shoals Lake.
“I just have to figure out how the fish are positioned,” said Palaniuk, who will take a 12-pound, 15-ounce lead over the other 11 finalists into today’s final round. “It’s been different every day. I’ve seen everything there is to see up here except snow. If we get a tornado, I guess that would be OK because they’d cancel the last round, and I’d win anyway.”
While the other 49 anglers who advanced to Saturday’s third round grumbled about tough fishing, Palaniuk complained he didn’t meet his goal of catching 20 pounds per day during the tournament. After catching 24 pounds, 4 ounces Friday, he caught five bass weighing 1910 Saturday for a combined three-day weight of 65-7. The tournament winner will earn $100,000 and a berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake in Oklahoma.
Finishing the day in second place was Britt Myers of Lake Wylie, S.C., who caught five bass weighing 17-5 for a three-day total of 52-8. Rounding out the top five was Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla. (5/13-6; 50-13), Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala. (5/12-12; 50-9) and Little Rock’s Scott Rook (5/14-12; 49-10).
Palaniuk acknowledged that clear, sunny weather made it harder to catch fish Saturday. He said it didn’t affect him as much as it did other anglers because he’s made minor adjustments every day to catch the size of fish he needs to win.
With his 20 pounds per day goal ruined, Palaniuk said he now wants to win this tournament by more than 12 pounds, 12 ounces to beat Ish Monroe’s margin of victory over Chris Lane on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee on March 25. That’s the largest margin of victory on the 2012 Elite Series Tour.
“My goal after the first day was to just blow this thing out and get as big a lead as I can,” Palaniuk said. “Now I want to beat Ish’s mark.”
Myers said he’s praying for a miracle today, but he’ll settle for wind. Still air hurt his fishing Saturday, he said. He said his best area failed him Saturday, but added it could recharge overnight. It produced big fish for him all week, and he’s counting on it giving him one more good day.
“The first day I caught them suspended, but then they moved higher,” Myers said. “I could go back out there tomorrow and catch 25 pounds. If I don’t win, it’s not because I didn’t try.”
Lane held on to third place Saturday, but he lost ground. He trailed second place by 6 ounces Friday, but was 1-11 behind Myers after the third round.
“I had an opportunity to catch 17 or 18 pounds, but this cold weather put the hurt on them,” Lane said. “These weights are packed, but if Brandon struggles, I can win.”
Big bass deserted Lane on Saturday, but he said he’s confident he can find them again. It’s a matter of averages.
“The longer you fish, the better opportunity you have to catch a bigger one,” Lane said. “I’ve just got to hang on until I catch a big one. All the weights are about the same, and everyone is keying on 5pounders. I’m going to key on spots that nobody else is keying on.”
Every competitor apparently is throwing crankbaits around rocky structure. Lane said he threw a shallow diver in the morning and a medium diver in the afternoon.
Herren seemed resigned to a downward trend. He said he struggled to adapt to falling water levels and stalled current in his area.
“My fish are gone,” Herren said. “But you know, they got fins and tails. They swim off, and they done it today.”
Rook said he noticed early that the largemouth bass had deserted him, so he went after smallmouth bass, instead. He boated one that weighed 4-2 to help him make his second top-12 cut of the season. Rook said he observed during practice that smallmouths were in his areas, but in deeper water than the largemouths.
“I went to my first spot and caught two and lost one,” Rook said. “That’s a spot where I ‘jacked’ them yesterday, so I started targeting smallmouths. That big one kind of saved me.”
Rook said the smallmouths were in depths of 8-12 feet over gravel points. He said during practice he caught largemouths on square-billed crankbaits, and then made another pass through the same areas with a deep-diver and caught smallmouths. He said he expects a big day today.
“I caught 20 pounds in practice running stuff I’ve never seen before, so why can’t I do it in a tournament?” he said.
Nearly 1,000 people attended Saturday’s weigh-in at Bull Shoals State Park. Today’s weigh-in will begin at 3:15 p.m.