Palaniuk's First Year Was Everything He'd Expected

What's the difference between a successful rookie season on the Bassmaster Elite Series and a somewhat disappointing one? For Brandon Palaniuk, it boiled down to a single Angler-of-the-Year point.

That solitary point, his 1,548th of the campaign, gave him a berth in his second straight Bassmaster Classic. The 2010 B.A.S.S. Federation Nation national champion from Idaho ended up 37th in this year's AOY race. After all the double-qualifications had been sorted out, he was the last angler on the "in" list for next February's big derby at the Red River in Shreveport, La.

That one point means his family and friends in the Pacific Northwest are seeing a lot more of him this summer than they otherwise would have.

"It's such a weight off my shoulders because I thought I was going to have to fish the Northern Opens to try to qualify," the 23-year-old said. "I didn't want to drive 2,000 miles one way to get to those places, but I would've done it in a heartbeat.

"I still might fish one or two of them just for fun. It doesn't seem so bad now that it's optional."

Nerve-Wracker at Wheeler

Palaniuk, who launched his pro career with a sparkling 4th-place finish at the Classic in New Orleans, made the money cut in six of the first seven Elite events this year. He missed that mark in the finale at Wheeler, though, and that put his Classic hopes in serious jeopardy.

He entered the tournament in 27th place in the points – well inside the cutoff. But a first-day bag that weighed less than 7 1/2 pounds sent him on a free-fall and he needed a big day 2, combined with a less-than-stellar day 4 by Kelly Jordon (who was ultimately the first man out of the Classic cut) to bring him back into the fold.

His 14-04 stringer on the second day moved him up 27 places in the standings (from 85th to 58th), but he still had to sweat out the weekend to find out whether the big rally had been enough.

"My stepdad had done the math and had figured out that if David Walker won (which he did to become a double-qualifier) and Kelly dropped to 9th or lower, I was in," he said. "I was watching the updates all day and I could tell that things were starting to go the way I needed them to.

"My sister kind of freaked out, but I didn't know if the math was exactly right, so I had to hold on until B.A.S.S. announced that I was actually in."

Education Continues

Palaniuk naturally learned a lot about tour-level fishing during his rookie season. One thing that became apparent is that he needs a lot more experience to rival the best in the game on a week-in, week-out basis.

"Even though I accomplished a lot of the things I wanted to, I think I could've done better," he said. "It really just came down to a few decisions – there were a few tournaments where one decision or (the lack of) one fish cost me a 12-cut.

"A lot of it is just learning what to do in certain situations. Fishing is very situational, and the more situations you've seen, the faster the light bulb goes on the next time and you know what decision to make. You're really fishing against the clock and the guy who makes the right decisions and the right adjustments the quickest is the guy who's going to win."

There wasn't much about life as a tour pro that surprised him – fishing professionally was a longtime goal of his and he prepared himself well in that regard. He admits that he was in awe of many of the top competitors at first, but that's worn off as he's gotten to know them.

"It's different when you haven't met them – you don't know what they're like and you don't really know how to talk to them. One of the toughest things on tour is getting their respect, I think.

"Most of them are just normal guys who love to fish and you can talk to them just like you talk to your friends at home. Guys like (Mike Iaconelli) and (Gerald) Swindle, they're very boisterous and super-full of energy on camera when they catch a fish, and that's just them being them. But off the water, they're not screaming and yelling all the time. It's not a show – they just get jacked up when they catch one.

"I had a blast on tour and I can't wait for next year to get started," he continued. "It's almost an addiction. Fishing against that level of competition just keeps you wanting more and more and more. I'm going to keep fishing until they kick me out."