MOBRIDGE, S.D. — Four anglers had made all seven Day 2/top 47 cuts this season coming into the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe. Only Brandon Lester has made it eight in a row. It seems fitting that Lester is now second in the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year race going into the final event of the season.
Lester barely kept his streak alive Friday, squeaking into the 47th and final Day 2 cut spot by two ounces. He moved up to 37th place Saturday. Brandon Palaniuk will take a 37-point lead into the Mississippi River event at La Crosse, Wis., which begins next Friday.
“It’s been an awesome year,” Lester said. “Obviously, things are going your way when you make the cut by two ounces. I’m just going to fish as hard as I can (at La Crosse) and see what happens.”
The other three anglers who had made the previous seven cuts were Palaniuk, who finished 66th Friday, Jacob Powroznik, who was 70th, and David Mullins, who finished 75th.
Chris Johnston, who is third after three days at Lake Oahe, could trail Palaniuk by has few as 45 points going into La Crosse if he were to win Sunday. Remember, AOY points aren’t final until all places in the standings are final.
“I really think Palaniuk was just teasing us a little bit,” said Johnston, who said his only experience at La Crosse was five or six years ago at the tail end of spawning season. “He just dropped back to make it a little interesting for TV. Then he’ll probably just smoke it at this last one. I’m not getting my hopes up at all.”
As Johnston referenced, Palaniuk is going to have to stumble for anyone to catch him. Before Lake Oahe, his worst finish this season was 26th. But with the kind of magical season Lester is having, if anyone is going to catch Palaniuk, he’s the one to watch.
Lester’s year began with a victory in the first Bassmaster Open of the season, on Feb. 5 at the Kissimmee Chain in Florida. It was his first B.A.S.S. win in a career that began in 2012. The 34-year-old Fayetteville, Tenn., resident followed that with his first Elite Series victory – June 5 at Pickwick Lake. Lester recently topped the $1 million mark in B.A.S.S. earnings.
