COUNCE, Tenn. — After Brandon Palaniuk came off the weigh-in stage Friday, he asked for a minute before answering this reporter’s questions. He wanted to hear Carl Jocumsen’s official weight announced. When he heard “14 pounds, 5 ounces,” Palaniuk smiled and then began answering questions about his day, when he weighed 14 pounds, 11 ounces, and dropped from fourth to seventh in the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake Day 2 standings.
Jocumsen waited nearby. When Palaniuk was done, Jocumsen looked at me and said, “Did he tell you what he did?” No, he hadn’t mentioned anything in particular.
“I have three (bass) for 6 pounds at a quarter past three,” Jocumsen said. “I’m fishing a spot, and he runs past, out in the middle of the river. I’m trying everything. This is a big, pinnacle part of my season. I know that the next few minutes are going to determine whether I finish 70th, or whatever. I know I’ve got to catch them.
“He goes all the way past, sees that it was me, does a U-turn and drives all the way back. He only had 12 pounds himself. He pulled up, said, ‘What have you got?’ I said, ‘Three for 6.’ He said, ‘Follow me.’ I threw my stuff down, strapped it and chased him.
“We sat down in a spot, and we basically double hooked up for about 20 minutes straight. I got to 14 pounds and ran back in.
“Unbelievable! It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever had anyone do on the water, and probably the most epic 20 minutes on the water I’ve ever had in my life in tournament fishing. From the very bottom, lowest of lows, to culling and running back in, knowing I made the cut. He saved my butt. It was the coolest thing anyone’s ever done, and he didn’t have to do that.”
As has been well documented, Palaniuk has a lot on his mind this week. He came into the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake leading the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings and, most importantly, expecting his wife Tiffanie to give birth to their first child any day. Her due date was May 30, and Palaniuk has said all along that he will drop everything and go to Rathdrum, Idaho, when Tiffanie begins labor.
It should be noted too that Jocumsen isn’t just any other Elite Series angler to Palaniuk. They’ve become very close friends over the years, especially since Jocumsen married Palaniuk’s cousin Kayla. But they don’t compete side-by-side in tournaments. They’ve always gone their own way. The last 20 minutes of competition Friday was a rare exception.
Here’s how important those “epic” final moments were to Jocumsen: Both he and Palaniuk had 4 p.m. check-in times. If Jocumsen had weighed only 6 pounds, he would have finished in the 70s somewhere and missed the Day 2/Top 47 cut, by a considerable amount. However, he starts Day 3 in 30th place with a two-day total of 30 pounds, 2 ounces. Jocumsen was ranked 31st in AOY points after Lake Fork. A finish in the 70s here would have plummeted him down the AOY list, maybe past the qualifying mark for the Bassmaster Classic. Yes, he would have had three more tournaments this season to make up ground, but the pressure builds as the season goes on.
Thanks to Brandon Palaniuk, Carl Jocumsen is fishing today with a new lease on his 2022 Elite Series life.
Most impressively, Palaniuk didn’t mention one word about it.
