Inside Elite Boats: Brandon Palaniuk

Brandon Palaniuk is in his 13th season as a pro angler, most of it spent with the Bassmaster Elite Series. Palaniuk’s resume includes six wins and the 2022 Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.

Palaniuk is from Rathdrum, Idaho, and spends the tournament season away from home. The Palaniuks’ home-away-from-home is in the background.

Palaniuk competes from a Skeeter FXR20 that is 20 feet, 4 inches in hull length with a beam measuring 97 inches. The boat is powered by a Yamaha VMAX SHO VF250 outboard.

At the bow are three Humminbird units. At top is a Humminbird APEX 13 Mega SI + Chartplotter. Below are dual Hummbird SOLIX 12 CHIRP MEGA SI + G3 units.

The full view of the Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST and suite of technology features.

An add-on to the Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST trolling motor is this DD26 Fishing Live Pointer Trolling Motor Head Forward Facing Sonar Directional Arm Kit.

“It extends the already great head design of the QUEST by adding a directional arrow for leading casts, and the tip glows in the dark for nighttime fishing,” Palaniuk said.

On the 45-inch shaft of the Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST are two transducers. Those are the Humminbird MEGA Live Imaging and the Humminbird 360 transducers.

Palaniuk chooses to mount his B.A.S.S.-required GoPro at the bow on a Taddo Designs Custom Mount Action Pole.

PROcise Outdoors Dek-It Mount holds two of the fish finders at the bow.

Palaniuk likes redundancy and you see it here with these Minn Kota Raptor Wireless Stomp Switches. “Redundancy is good when you have a backup,” Palaniuk said. That backup is the option to operate the Raptors using the settings on the QUEST system.

A DD26 Fishing Trolling Motor Pedal adds comfort and improved foot traction.

At the console are dual Humminbird APEX 13 units.

Mounted on the steering column are dual DD26 Fishing Billet Blinker Trim Handles for the hydraulic jack plate and outboard motor trim.

A fob for the Minn Kota Raptor is detachable for operating the shallow water anchors anywhere in the boat.

The Apex 13s are mounted on PROcise Outdoors Dual Dek-It Mount.

Covering the Hot Foot throttle is a DD26 Go Fast Throttle Pad for increased foot traction.

This Superstick Push Pole is always in the boat for getting it unstuck from shallow bottoms and for sight fishing.

This is one of two Humminbird GPS HS External GPS Receivers with Heading Sensor pods. This one is mounted behind the driver seat for the console units. The other is at the bow.

Palaniuk chooses Raptor 8′ shallow water anchors mounted at port and starboard of the stern.

The Raptors and the Yamaha VMAX SHO VF250 outboard.

The DD26 Steering Lock.

And the DD26 Mean Mount Motor Tote.

The T-H Marine Atlas 12″ Hydraulic Jack Plate.

To the top of the starboard Raptor is this Bass Fishing Electronics LED Anchor Light.

Mounted into the rear deck casting seat post is a Taddo Designs Custom Mount Action Pole. This one is for the GoPro used by Palaniuk for his social media platforms.

in the starboard side rear compartment are the Raptor pumps and two Impulse Lithium 12v 160Ah batteries for all electronics except for the trolling motor.

On the port side are dual Impulse Lithium 36v 140 Ah batteries for the Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST.

Between the batteries is this AMPD Marine pullout storage. Inside are flares, trolling motor props, spore tools and more.

The passenger side rear storage on this day is filled with extra tackle. The boxes are removed for a marshal or camera operator when needed.

Palaniuk added this AMPD Marine pullout storage in the space beneath the front deck in the cockpit floorboard.

Inside are loose lures that could otherwise be left on the floor, along with other

A DD26 Fishing Spool Stix is mounted on the passenger side below the front deck and in the cockpit.

This AMPD Marine Skeeter Day Tray is dropped into the storage compartment forward of the console.

Bass Mafia soft plastics storage bags fill the compartment ahead of the Day Box attachment.

This is where the business gets done. The massive center compartment has compartments for hard boxes and side sections on both sides for soft plastics and smaller loose items.