MLF Angler Profile: Brandon Palaniuk

Six questions with Major League Fishing bass professional Brandon Palaniuk:

G&F: Rathdrum, Idaho? Odd place for a bass pro.

Palaniuk: I’ve actually been home the past few weeks in between events, fishing for trout. Except trout isn’t really my roots. Bass is really my roots.

G&F: So are you a successful MLF pro angler despite your Idaho-ness or because of it?

Palaniuk: We have super diverse fisheries and our season is a little bit shorter. Fish change more often. Their transition through the seasons is quicker, so you’re constantly changing your approach.

BRANDON PALANIUK

• MLF Bass Pro Tour angler
• Hometown: Rathdrum, Idaho
• Years Pro: 9

G&F: Is there a certain skill or quality that you have that maybe other MLF pros don’t?

Palaniuk: There’s a uniqueness to lakes in Idaho that’s helped mold my fishing style. I look at bodies of water differently than most guys who grew up fishing one set of conditions or one style of lake.

G&F: You grew up in deep, cool waters and wide-open spaces. How’s your learning curve on shallow, stained, swampy, warm water?

Palaniuk: Learning is a never-ending process that never goes away. I’ve always had this belief, that a bass is a bass. Once you understand the basic necessities of a bass, you can find them no matter the conditions.

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G&F: Make a case for Ida(home) as a Bass Pro Tour stop.

Palaniuk: We could for sure make a stop out here! We have bigger lakes and a mix of really good smaller bass lakes that would give us the ability to fish different lakes during different rounds. If the timing was right, people would be surprised at how good the bass fishing is in this part of the country.

G&F: You were a highly decorated wrestler through high school. If you could make a living at wrestling, would you choose it over bass fishing?

Palaniuk: I don’t think so. Even when I was super young, I favored fishing. I started wrestling and fishing about the same time, and the older I got, the less I traveled for wrestling and the more time I spent fishing. Then fishing took over. I only wrestled in the fall and winter. Which is perfect, because come November through February, bass fishing isn’t exactly primo up here. Fishing definitely won out over wrestling.