Palaniuk makes run, again, at Bassmaster Elite Series victory

WADDINGTON, N.Y. - Brandon Palaniuk busted one of the largest first-day bags of the Bassmaster Elite Series season on Thursday. That was the second item of big news coming out of this Upstate New York town on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

Thursday's first newsmaker was from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He made a rare visit to Waddington in the morning, touting the St. Lawrence fishery and other attractions of the region.

As if to prove Cuomo's point, Palaniuk of Rathdrum, hauled 23 pounds, 9 ounces of smallmouth bass to the scales to lead the Evan Williams Bourbon Showdown at St. Lawrence River on Day 1.

He wasn't the only one to show off the river, and the big smallmouth that live there. Even to make the Top 12 Thursday, an Elite pro had to break the 20-pound mark. To be among the Top 50 (the second-day cut mark), a pro had to have more than 17 pounds.

Among those turning in 20-plus pounds were Yusuke Miyazaki of Forney, Texas, with 22-2 for second place, and Dennis Tietje of Roanoke, La., with 21-9 for third place. Landing fourth place was a two-time St. Lawrence event champ, Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., who weighed 21-1. Fifth place was a tie at 20-15 between Charlie Hartley of Grove City, Okla., and Randy Howell of Springville, Ala.

Palaniuk - who also led Day 1 of the previous Elite event, which was on the Mississippi River - said he made a decision to make a hard run of 100-plus miles to a spot he'd found in practice. Allowing time enough for a return trip left him with just two hours of fishing time.

"It took me almost three hours to get to my first spot today," he said. "My first two casts, I caught two 3 1/2-pounders. That gave me the confidence that I was going to be able to catch them."

And confirmation that he'd made the right decision to spend most of his competition time running to the fish rather than casting to them.

"My goal was to catch 23 pounds a day. I thought if I could do that, I could put myself into contention to win," Palaniuk said. "I'd caught that in practice, so I knew the potential was there."

Palaniuk makes no bones about it: He's after a win to nail an instant qualification for the 2014 Bassmaster Classic, one of the Showdown's prizes. The winner also takes home $100,000.

"I don't care about the money, just give me the Classic berth," Palaniuk said.

He was heading toward that prize on the Mississippi River in June. He led the first two days by a wide margin, but his second-day catch was disqualified when he inadvertently culled a fish in Minnesota, which is against the law.

The full field will return to the St. Lawrence River Friday. The Top 50 will advance to Saturday's round. Only the Top 12 will compete Sunday for the Showdown's title and prizes.

Full online coverage of the Evan Williams Bourbon Showdown is available at Bassmaster.com, where access is free. Features include streaming video of the weigh-ins, real-time leaderboards, from-the-water BASSCam videos and blog reports, and Toyota Hooked Up! shows streamed live on Bassmaster.com with hosts Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona.

ESPN2 TV coverage of the Showdown will air Aug. 18 from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. PDT, and again on Sept. 7 from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. PDT.

ESPN Classic will air the show Aug. 18, 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. PDT, and Sept. 8 from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.

In addition, The Outdoor Channel will present the show Sept. 16.