Big Final Day Lifts Palaniuk To Win In Bassmaster Elite At Santee Cooper

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Oct 12, 2020, 09:33 ET

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C., Oct. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Championships come down to decisions and execution — two things that Brandon Palaniuk mastered en route to amassing a four-day total of 72 pounds, 2 ounces for a dominant win at the Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes brought to you by the United States Marine Corps.

Notching his fifth Elite victory — his second in 2020 (the first at Lake Champlain) — Palaniuk earned a top prize of $100,000.

Brandon Palaniuk, of Rathdrum, Idaho, has won the 2020 Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes brought to you by the United States Marine Corps with a four-day total of 72 pounds, 2 ounces.

After leading Day 2, Palaniuk entered Championship Sunday in third place, just 1-3 behind Carl Jocumsen. On Sunday, the pro from Rathdrum, Idaho, added a limit of 22-11 to his previous weights of 21-1, 18-13 and 9-9 to edge Jocumsen.

"This one is so unexpected," Palaniuk said. "Every single one I won before, I had a good practice and I knew that I would have a shot at the Top 10 and a shot at the win. This one came out of nowhere."

Spending his tournament in Lake Marion, Palaniuk attributed his final-round success to a prelaunch decision to start in the mouth of the Potato Creek area. Having started there on Day 1, he had a feeling the area was ready to reward him again.

"I was sitting at the dock this morning and something told me to go try it," Palaniuk said. "With the (warm) weather, the humidity, I felt like I could catch them on topwater, but when I got there, the water was dirty.

"I couldn't get them to eat it, so I just picked up a 1/2-ounce bladed jig with a 4-inch white X-Zone Swammer. I had not caught a fish on this all week and I caught a 4-pounder and a 3 1/4-pounder."

Palaniuk caught a lucky break that he exploited when he saw a big fish blow up just out of casting range. Idling toward the commotion, he spotted a brushpile he had not found earlier in the week.

"I tied up a drop shot and caught a giant (7-12) on 10-pound test," Palaniuk said. "I caught my other limit fish on the drop shot, but I ended up culling them out later."

Palaniuk's drop-shot rig comprised a green pumpkin blue flake X-Zone Deception Worm rigged on a No. 1 VMC Finesse Neko Hook with a 1/4-ounce VMC teardrop weight.

Later in the day, Palaniuk returned to the Jack's Creek area, which produced several of his fish this week. There, he caught two of his keepers by punching a black/blue laminate X-Zone Muscle Back Finesse Craw on a 3/0 VMC Heavy Duty Flippin' Hook with a 1 1/4-ounce tungsten weight.

"I think it came down to versatility; that's why I was able to have the kind of day I had," Palaniuk said. "Without that big one on the drop shot, without those two I caught this morning, I wouldn't have been able to win."

Palaniuk overcame a Day 1 penalty of 2 pounds, 4 ounces for inadvertently making a cast with six fish — one more than his legal limit — in his livewell. Palaniuk self-reported the infraction.

"It went through my head about 47 times in the last hour (before weigh-ins)," Palaniuk said. "I kept thinking, 'If somebody beats me, let it be (more than the penalty weight).'

"One of the things I say a lot is, 'Control the controllables.' When I do something like that, it bothers me because it's something I can control and I knew this event was going to be so tough that 2 pounds is not something you want to be giving up."

Hailing from Queensland, Australia, Jocumsen took the Day 1 lead by catching the event's heaviest sack — 25-8. He slipped to second on Day 2 after adding 12-7 and regained the top spot on Saturday with a 4-fish bag that weighed 12-11. On Sunday, Jocumsen missed his limit again and weighed four bass for 13-8 and tallied 64-2.

Each day, Jocumsen started by fishing a grassy depression midlake with a white Z-Man JackHammer ChatterBait with a white Yamamoto Zako trailer. He then moved to grass mats where he punched with a black and blue Molix SV Craw rigged on a 4/0 Owner Jungle hook and a 1 1/4-ounce Woo! Tungsten weight.

"The early spot kicked off like I had hoped it would today," Jocumsen said. "It was cloudy and dark this morning and they were feeding and I got two good ones.

"After that, I went punching. The sun came out, there was a little bit of wind, everything was right. I had a few opportunities, I had the bites, I just didn't put them in the boat."

Cory Johnston of Cavan, Canada, finished third with 61-9. Spending all week in Jack's Creek, Johnston turned in a consistent performance with daily weights of 17-7, 14-6, 15-3 and 14-9.

"I found the most fish there in practice, so I thought my best bet was to figure out what was going on in that creek day-to-day," Johnston said. "I caught them flipping a black creature bait, a 3/8-ounce swim jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer and a black Spro Bronzeye Poppin' Frog."

Palaniuk's win moved him into 15th place in the Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year standings with 493 points. Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, holds the lead with 587, Johnston follows in second with 550 and David Mullins of Mt. Carmel, Tenn., is in third with 540.

Jeff Gustafson of Keewatin, Canada, won Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 9-7.

Bernie Schultz of Gainesville, Fla., took home $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, and Brandon Lester of Fayetteville, Tenn., earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

The tournament was hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce.

Finish	Name	Hometown	Total lbs-oz	Earnings
1	Brandon Palaniuk	Rathdrum, ID	72-02	$102,000
2	Carl Jocumsen	Queensland, AUSTRALIA	64-02	$25,000
3	Cory Johnston	Cavan, Ontario, CANADA	61-09	$20,000
4	Austin Felix	Eden Prairie, MN	60-14	$15,000
5	Bernie Schultz	Gainesville, FL	60-05	$15,000
6	Bill Lowen	Brookville, IN	58-07	$15,000
7	Destin DemMarion	Grove City, PA	57-06	$15,000
8	David Mullins	Mt Carmel, TN	56-01	$16,000
9	Jeff Gustafson	Keewatin, Ontario, CANADA	53-12	$17,000
10	Derek Hudnall	Denham Springs, LA	50-06	$15,000
11	Patrick Walters	Summerville, SC	42-13	$12,000
12	Drew Cook	Cairo, GA	42-08	$12,000
13	Steve Kennedy	Auburn, AL	42-03	$12,000
14	Frank Talley	Temple, TX	42-02	$12,000
15	Matt Herren	Ashville, AL	41-15	$12,000
16	Jake Whitaker	Fairview, NC	41-15	$10,000
17	Clark Wendlandt	Leander, TX	41-10	$10,000
18	Luke Palmer	Coalgate, OK	41-08	$10,000
19	Brett Preuett	Monrow, LA	41-08	$10,000
20	Drew Benton	Blakely, GA	41-07	$10,000
21	Brandon Lester	Fayetteville, TN	41-00	$10,000
22	John Cox	Debary, FL	40-00	$10,000
23	Tyler Rivet	Raceland, LA	38-09	$10,000
24	Randy Sullivan	Breckenridge, TX	38-07	$10,000
25	Hank Cherry Jr	Lincolnton, NC	38-04	$10,000
26	Mike Huff	Corbin, KY	37-04	$10,000
27	Koby Kreiger	Alva, FL	37-04	$10,000
28	Randy Pierson	Oakdale, CA	36-10	$10,000
29	Hunter Shryock	Newcomerstown, OH	36-05	$10,000
30	Caleb Sumrall	New Iberia, LA	35-10	$10,000
31	Clifford Pirch	Payson, AZ	35-05	$10,000
32	Kyle Welcher	Opelika, AL	34-14	$10,000
33	Paul Mueller	Naugatuck, CT	34-06	$10,000
34	Clent Davis	Montevallo, AL	33-11	$10,000
35	Brandon Card	Salisbury, NC	33-03	$10,000
36	Chad Morgenthaler	Reeds Spring, MO	32-08	$10,000
37	Buddy Gross	Chickamauga, GA	31-15	$10,000
38	Chris Zaldain	Fort Worth, TX	30-11	$10,000
39	Brad Whatley	Bivins, TX	29-12	$10,000
40	John Crews Jr	Salem, VA	28-01	$10,000
41	Gerald Swindle	Guntersville, AL	23-12	$7,500
42	Micah Frazier	Newnan, GA	22-15	$7,500
43	Rick Morris	Lake Gaston, VA	22-12	$7,500
44	Brock Mosley	Collinsville, MS	22-11	$7,500
45	Seth Feider	New Market, MN	22-10	$7,500
46	Shane LeHew	Catawba, NC	22-07	$5,000
47	Jason Williamson	Wagener, SC	22-04	$5,000
48	Todd Auten	Lake Wylie, SC	21-13	$5,000
49	Matt Arey	Shelby, NC	21-05	$2,500
50	Chris Groh	Spring Grove, IL	21-02	$2,500