KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — “Volatile” – it’s a word Brandon Palaniuk has used more than once this week in describing the fishing waters for the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota. In other words, this time of year bass in the Tennessee River and Fort Loudoun and Tellico reservoirs tend to change rapidly.
After Wednesday’s official practice day, Palaniuk has some ideas about how to catch fish when the Classic begins on Friday, but he’s keeping an open mind.
“Pre-conceived notions can give you a clue, but they can also lead you astray,” Palaniuk said. “Nobody has ever fished Fort Loudoun on March 24th, 25th and 26th, 2023. We can only make guesstimates on previous knowledge that we’ve seen in similar conditions. So you’re constantly re-calibrating based on what you see on the water.”
Palaniuk, 35, has proven he can re-calibrate with the best of them. His record includes two Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles and six Bassmaster tournament wins. It does not, however, include a Bassmaster Classic title. Palaniuk has finished as high as second – to Cliff Pace at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake in 2013 – and as low as 53rd – in the 2015 Classic at South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell.
“Generally, I’m either in the top 10 or the bottom 10,” Palaniuk said. “I think anything is possible this year.”
Palaniuk had a surprising answer when asked to give an example of his best “re-calibration” during the course of a tournament. It was in the 2012 Elite Series event on Lake Michigan at Green Bay, Wis. Palaniuk led the tournament by four ounces over Jonathon VanDam going into the final day. He ended up finishing second after VanDam sacked almost 23-4, which was the biggest bag of the tournament. It’s difficult to see how that one stands out considering the final results.
“Still, to this day, I feel like it’s one of the best tournaments I ever fished,” Palaniuk said. “I had won earlier that year at Bull Shoals. I had such a big lead. But conditions changed, and I didn’t change with them. I didn’t catch as many the last day as I could have.”
At Green Bay, Palaniuk had a shallow pattern working early in the day, where he caught the majority of this fish the first three days. Then he’d run to Little Sturgeon Bay each day to cull a fish or two. The shallow spot he had to himself. There were several competitors fishing the Little Sturgeon area.
“I noticed from practice to Day 1 of the tournament to Day 2 to Day 3, these fish were transitioning deeper every day,” he said.
They moved from depths of 6 to 8 feet one day and to 12 to 14 the next day.
“On the last day, I had one 4-pounder at about 12:30,” Palaniuk said. “My (shallow) spot had gotten all dirty from the wind. I ran up (to Little Sturgeon) to a shoal that I had marked. There was a rock line than ran out to 21 to 25 feet that had never had a bass on it (earlier in the tournament). I dropped my trolling motor, and I caught a 4-pounder every single cast until I had to weigh in. I noticed it throughout the event – they’re moving deeper. At 12 o’clock when I had one 4-pounder in the boat, it clicked. They have to be there. I was dialed in to what was happening.”
Palaniuk cited a similar moment at Santee Cooper in 2020 when he came from third place to win on the final day. He ran back to a spot where he’d started on Day 1, after it had produced only a single 1 ½-pound bass. But something clicked in his mind. He had started on that spot Day 1 because it had shown potential in practice.
“It just felt like conditions set up for me to go back there and catch a big one,” Palaniuk said. “I ended up catching two 4-pounders and a 7-12.
“Those are the moments you have to have for Classic week to work out.”
