When we met Brandon Palaniuk last month at the Cabela’s grand opening in Alberquerque, we immediately wanted to invite him onto the show to share his story with our listeners. Not only did Brandon Palaniuk recently win the 2017 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, he is also an amazingly nice guy who travels around in a pretty awesome toy hauler.
Inviting him on the show was a no brainer.
So we were excited to have Brandon on the podcast, but to be honest we never expected to be so inspired by his story of hard work and dedication. Brandon is a pretty young guy with a whole lot of wisdom to share, and we walked away from the interview excited to have our own boys listen to his story.
Segment One: How Does Someone Become Angler of the Year?
The world of tournament fishing is a complete mystery to us, but Brandon walked us through all the basics, from how the tournaments are organized to the points system for determining placement. While preparing for the interview, we stumbled onto a fantastic video that was produced over the course of the year, while Brandon pursued the title of Angler of the Year.
We got complete sucked in. Seriously.
Mostly we were struck by the long days, the physical demands, and the relentless focus that Brandon seemed to maintain throughout such a grueling schedule.
After watching this, you just might find yourself following the tournament schedule a little more closely in 2018…
We also got to talk to Brandon about his experiences as an RV newbie over the course of the last year. Brandon is on the road from January through September, and he decided an RV would help make that time a heck of a lot more comfortable. So far, he is thrilled with the decision to purchase a 44-foot, triple-axle Fuzion toy hauler. We chat about having a kitchen to prepare healthy food on the road, traveling with other folks in the RV, and his favorite campground experience in 2017.
Spoiler alert..it’s the 1,000 Islands/Association Island KOA.
If you want to find out even more about Brandon’s life after he puts down the fishing pole and calls it a day, check out this page on Cabela’s site with some pics of him getting up to some fun shenanigans…
Segment Two: Brandon’s Tips for Taking Your Fishing Game to the Next Level
We couldn’t have Brandon on the show without getting a little bit of fishing advice from the expert himself.
Brandon does a great job of bringing it to the masses and sharing three tips for upping your fishing game, even if you are at ‘campground lake level’ of fishing like we are.
He talks about not getting stuck in a rut with either your gear or your technique. And he also shares a great piece of wisdom that we will be passing along to our boys…
“You never fail. You only win or you learn.”
And that’s why we love Brandon Palaniuk.
We truly hope our paths cross again someday, or we will at least look forward to having him back on the show. You can find his official website here, and you can also follow him on Instagram @brandonpalaniuk like we do!
The best of luck to this guy in 2018! We will be routing for him.
Other important links mentioned in the show include…
Kidde Fire Extinguisher Recall Information
A big thanks to our sponsors for supporting content for all our RV fools…
See you at the campground!
