Going into Day 2 of the final Elite of the season, the Progressive Angler of the Year race is still undecided.
Palaniuk needed only finish in 38th or better here, and no one could beat him. But if he finishes 39th, and his nearest pursuer Brandon Lester were to win, Lester would be the one to hoist the AOY hardware.
When the scales closed yesterday, Palaniuk was in 35th while Lester sat in 12th.
Only 14 points separate the anglers as Day 2 dawns. Palaniuk likely has to make the cut today to hold off the charging Lester. Lester’s bite certainly seems more consistent on the Mississippi, catching fish on repetitive casts at times. While Palaniuk had to resort to junk fishing several techniques to get a bite here and there.
Palaniuk also admitted on stage that the 12-13 he had yesterday exceeded his expectations after the practice he had, crediting the majority of his weight to a couple fortunate bites.
We have been guilty of creating a little drama at times to try to hold the interest of fans when a blowout is taking placing. No need to create drama this week, the Brandons are doing a fine job of that for us. This is going to be tight til the end it seems.
