CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Brandon Palaniuk’s Santee Cooper Lakes hot streak continued on Day 2 of the 2026 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes. The Idaho native landed 29 pounds, 15 ounces to take the lead with a two-day total of 59-0.
“The Prodigy” anchored his limit with an 8-6 postspawn largemouth, a bass that helped him build a 4-5 advantage over Canadian pro Chris Johnston. The gap from Johnston to third-place Carl Jocumsen is 5-15.
“I was nervous after practice, to be honest, that I was gonna blow the good reputation I have here,” Palaniuk said. “Today was unreal. I didn’t see it coming yesterday and I didn’t see it coming today.”
Palaniuk has yet to miss a Championship Sunday cut, let alone a Day 3 cut, at Santee Cooper Lakes in three attempts. He’s 4/4 now with Semifinal Saturday’s and in prime position again to make the final day.
So far this week, Palaniuk has called one broad area of Lake Marion home, targeting postspawn largemouth around particular pieces of cover. One bait has generated most of his bites so far. While the one area has stayed the same, the eight-time Bassmaster champion said the same pieces of cover have produced bites two days in a row.
Overall, he received more bites on Friday than Thursday, but most were 2-pounders, which don’t count for much on this body of water.
“I’m not catching them off the same places. On a place I haven’t gotten a bite all week, I caught the majority of my bag there today,” he said. “An 8-pounder, a 6-pounder and a 4-pounder. Then places I did get bites before I didn’t get bites today. That’s nerve-wracking but also appealing because any stop I make could be the difference.”
On Day 1, Palaniuk steadily worked his way to his 29-1 limit. On Day 2, he fished through several spots before catching his first bass, a 4-pounder. He followed that up with 6-pounder and then a 4-pounder.
“That settled me down a lot,” he said.
He rounded out his initial limit with 2-pounders before landing the 8-6, a bass that surely would have weighed close to 10 pounds had it not been postspawn. Later, he added a 6-pounder to cap off the day.
“I was like, now I don’t know what to do,” he said. “I kind of burned through some other areas and caught some later in the day on different stuff. So, I think I can go run new water if I have to, and there is still some stuff I haven’t fished yet I had big bites on in practice.
“But if they are going to keep biting in the same area, I’m going to keep putting it to them.”
The one potential hiccup Palaniuk foresees is an increase in fishing pressure in his area from a local tournament, an area where several other competitors have landed quality bags.
Johnston, meanwhile, caught 32-8 to rocket from 16th all the way to second place with a total of 53-11. After winning back-to-back Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles, the Canadian pro has had an uncharacteristically tough 2026 season. All of that seemed to wash away as the day progressed.
“It feels like it turned my season around,” he explained. “I haven’t been having a good year. I feel like a day like this gets your mojo going and gets you back in a groove. Suddenly you can’t do anything wrong, which is what happened a lot last year. Today was the same, I couldn’t do anything wrong.”
The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series champion opened Day 2 fishing around submerged vegetation before moving to a stretch with prominent wood cover. It took about an hour, but once I got my first bite I had a 5 3/4 and a 7.
“I was like, oh, we have a chance now,” Johnston said. “It definitely took some pressure off.”
From there, Johnston moved to a new area and added another 7-pounder and a 5-pounder. With his impressive limit, he was able to practice a good portion of the afternoon and received good bites at each stop. At his last stop, he added a 6 1/2 to the team.
Two baits triggered quality bites on Day 2 around that wood cover, most of which was in 3 to 5 feet of water. His really big bites seemed to come in a little bit deeper water. Most of the bass he catches are postspawners.
“It’s old school fishing. If it looks good, I pull in and fish it,” Johnston said.
Australian pro Carl Jocumsen moved into third place with a two-day total of 47-12. Jocumsen landed 21-6 on Day 1 before catching a 26-6 limit on Friday. The three-time Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour qualifier opened the morning by landing a 7-pounder, a bite that relieved some pressure.
“It was a good decision this morning. I turned left and went away from my main area and went to some big fish I wanted to try and catch in low light. I got one of them to bite, so that was super cool.”
From there, he moved to his best region and built his limit with several more 5-pounders. The opportunities were there to have an even bigger bag, however.
“I lost two, one that was about 8 and the other looked about 9 pounds,” he said. “The way I am fishing, sometimes you either hook them really good or they come off.”
Jocumsen has fished several different shallow water elements so far this week with one main presentation. He said he doesn’t really know where his next bite will come from, but he has been able to figure out a couple hot spots.
Palaniuk’s 8-6 earned him Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors, which comes with a $1,000 bonus, and currently holds the overall Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament, unseating Kyle Norsetter’s 7-14 from Day 1.
Johnston holds the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of the Tournament with his Day 2 limit.
Cory Johnston leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year competition with 483 points. Illinois pro Trey McKinney is second with 463 points followed by Texas pro Dakota Ebare in third with 453 points, Tennessee’s John Garrett in fourth with 452 points and South Carolina’s Brandon Cobb in fifth with 446 points. Drew Cook, Cole Sands, Caleb Hudson, Bob Downey and Justin Atkins round out the Top 10.
The Top 50 anglers after the Day 2 weigh-in will launch from John C. Land III Sport Fishing Facility Saturday at 6:30 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. Only the Top 10 pros will advance to Championship Sunday to compete for a blue trophy and $100,000.
Bassmaster LIVE will begin coverage at 8 a.m. ET on FS1 before moving to FOX at noon ET. Bassmaster.com will carry the live weigh-in at 3 p.m.
Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce is hosting the tournament.