August 11, 2013 09:17:45
Posted By Hawgsrus
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WADDINGTON, N.Y. — Who or what can stop Brandon Palaniuk?
Not wind and 6-foot waves.
Not a daily trip by water of 200-plus miles.
Not a 2-pound penalty.
But maybe Jonathon VanDam can.
Trailing Palaniuk by less than 4 pounds, VanDam says it’s
possible to stop Palaniuk from closing on the Evan Williams
Bourbon Showdown at St. Lawrence River, the Aug. 8-11 Bassmaster
Elite Series event out of Waddington, N.Y.
Palaniuk, of course, hopes the Showdown turns out his way. And
so far, it has been going his way. Despite all the obstacles
Palaniuk has encountered, the Elite Series pro from Rathdrum,
Idaho, persevered Saturday, not letting go of the lead he’s had
since the event began.
With a three-day tally of 65 pounds, 7 ounces, the 25-year-old
pro secured a margin of 3-12 over VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.
VanDam rose from fifth place into second on Saturday with 61-11
to become Palaniuk’s biggest threat.
In third after Saturday was Cliff Pirch of Payson, Ariz.,
falling from second with 60-8. One ounce behind Pirch was Chad
Pipkens of Holt, Mich., in fourth place at 60-7.
Fifth was taken by Kevin Hawk of Guntersville, Ala., who after
a banner day leapt from 17th place by boosting his weight to 60-
6 — just 1 ounce behind Pipkens.
The Top 5 head up the 12 anglers left standing after Saturday’s
cut. The dozen finalists will compete Sunday for the Showdown’s
title, $100,000 and an instant-in for the 2014 Bassmaster
Classic.
Palaniuk took command on the first day by running to the big
smallmouth of Lake Ontario more than 100 miles away from
Waddington, the takeoff point on the St. Lawrence. To get into
the lake, he had to navigate 6-foot waves.
The second day, he had to take a 2-pound penalty for having six
fish in his livewell. For Saturday’s round, he again ran the
river to reach Ontario.
All those challenges came on top of the mental weight of a
disqualification of his Day 2 weight when he was leading during
the previous Elite event in June.
And now he’s in front in another Elite event. Boating
conditions Saturday were still dicey at times, but better
fishing conditions helped him to the 20-9 he brought to the
scales.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be today,” he
said. “Still, I had to run 15 to 25 mph in the waves. And with
the wind switching directions, it was like being in a washing
machine out there. The waves came from all directions, and I
couldn’t get into a good rhythm with them.”
He got a break when he reached his spots after navigating the
river and lake for about 2 1/2 hours.
“The wind and waves died down and allowed me to concentrate and
fish a little bit longer. I had a little over two hours before I
had to make the run back,” said Palaniuk, whose fishing time has
been short each day.
Palaniuk said he had to “bounce around” to relocate the
smallmouth.
The key to his day, he said, was one of those moves, which
brought him to his three largest fish. He boated those within 30
minutes.
He said he’s committed to his Ontario spots for Sunday.
“Definitely I’m going back,” he said. “It [the wind and waves it
creates] is supposed to be better tomorrow. I’ll be running.”
VanDam, a smallmouth expert, didn’t hesitate when asked if he
could overcome his 3-12 disadvantage.
“Definitely,” said VanDam, who chose to go after St. Lawrence
River smallmouth. “I’ve caught some big smallmouth here. And you
have to take into account the risk he [Palaniuk] is taking in
making a 100-mile run. Who knows what can happen? I’m going to
go out and catch what I can.”
Interestingly, the same JVD-Palaniuk faceoff occurred last
season at the Lake Michigan Elite event, another smallmouth
fest. VanDam trailed Palaniuk by 3 ounces going into the final
day. VanDam won by more than 2 pounds.
Saturday’s largest bass was weighed by Steve Kennedy of Auburn,
Ala. His 5-13 smallmouth beat Palaniuk’s 5-12 smallie on Friday.
Courtesy of BASS Communications.
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