It’s no secret in the tournament fishing world that the Toyota Bonus Bucks program works and is one of the longest standing contingency programs I can think of. In fact, I won my first Bonus Bucks money 15 years ago after purchasing a ’08 Toyota Tundra from my local dealer and that program was a big part of that. We now have other programs such as Yamaha Power Pay that pays anglers at nearly every level of tournament fishing.
Teach ‘Em Young
My love for fishing and the outdoors started at a young age. A lot of those early memories came from my mother, so with two girls of my own now, it’s important to me to pass on that love of the outdoors. Although they are constantly exposed to the fishing industry it is also important to take a step back and keep it simple. Little things like casting off of the dock for an hour or just hanging out on the deck of my Skeeter makes more of an impression on them than we often realize. My hope is that they find the same passion and maybe someday they will carry the torch for the BassmastHER program.
Easing The Pain
This years Bassmaster Classic was the first one I had missed qualifying for and as the event got closer I could feel the weight of that weighing on me. As an Elite angler there is always work to be done so when I missed qualifying to compete in the Classic that opened the door for other opportunities. One of those opportunities was fishing in this years Progressive Celebrity Pro-Am presented by Yokohama Tire and my partner was “Heavy D” from the Diesel Brothers. Being a big fan of the Diesel Brothers, this eased the pain of missing the Classic and was another affirmation that everything happens for a reason. We had an incredible day on the water discussing family life, business, bassin, and to top it all off I caught a 10lb 12oz giant on an 8’’ Megabass Magdraft to finish 2nd in the event.
How Finesse Can You Go?
As we get further along into the season the fish begin to get more pressured and those same fish get wise to our old tactics. When it comes to these situations I’ve learned that you typically have the best success by pushing the boundaries of size or speed. This is exactly why the folks at Xzone Lures designed the Stealth Finesse Series where each bait is sub 3 inches with attention to the smallest details. I’ve tested these baits for a couple years now and seen several situations where downsizing even from a 3.25’’ bait to a 2.75’’ bait made the difference in cutting a check, making a top 10, or just catching a few more fish from an area. You can bet that I’ll be stocked up as the Elite Series heads north.
Since 2017 I have filmed every major Bassmaster or MLF tournament I have competed in, and although its expensive and a lot of work, I can’t imagine it any other way now. Kyle Vandever has been with us since 2018 which means he has been filming more than half of my professional career. He’s helped me drive non-stop cross country when my first child was born, seen my win AOY, and seen me lose $100k by a dead fish penalty. You can see them all HERE!
Bassmaster Elite Series angler Brandon Palaniuk’s sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Toyota, Megabass, Xzone Lures, Alpha Angler Rods, Daiwa Reels, Simms, BKK Hooks,Yeti, Minn Kota, Humminbird, DD26, Leupold, PROcise Outdoors, Seaguar, Rod Glove, and Impulse Lithium just to name a few.
The Right Tool For The Job
As water temps rise the bass, even though a warm water species, will be searching for cooler temps. The biggest bass in a system prefer cooler temps and this is why some of the biggest bass are often caught in winter or early spring. As temps rise there are three main ways to find cooler temps; moving water, deep water, or heavy cover. The heavy cover option is one of my favorites, but it requires the proper gear! When punching through heavy cover I usually start with a 1.5oz Xzone Tungsten, 3/0 BKK HD Flippin Hook with a Xzone MB Finesse Craw, 65lb Seaguar TactX braid, an Alpha Angler Mag-Hitter, and a Daiwa Tatula Elite P/F 8.1:1. This is a system I have full confidence that I’m prepared for battle.
My time spent at home is always limited and I don’t get to spend as much time on the water with my family as I would like. This year I was able to spend a couple days on the water with my mother and step father while testing out the new Humminbird Mega Live 2. I’ve had mixed feelings on FFS, but this opened my eyes to how great it can be as a teaching tool. We were throwing Megabass Vision 110+1s which neither of them had ever done. Their learning curve was drastically shortened since they could see their jerk bait, how the fish responded and I could coach them through the process. They then took what they learned and caught fish without ML2 simply by matching the cadence they learned while watching.
https://bestontour.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Best-On-Tour-Logo-1920-minified.png8141920Jordan Babcockhttps://bestontour.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Best-On-Tour-Logo-1920-minified-300x127.pngJordan Babcock2025-05-29 17:16:032025-05-29 17:16:03Brandon Palaniuk Takes Over Best On Tour (Issue 326)
