Brandon Palaniuk will be fishing this season with hooks as sharp and strong as he is. The 2013 Bassmaster Classic Runner-Up, one of the most clever and capable young guns professional bass fishing has ever seen, has signed with VMC. “Not only are VMC hooks extremely sharp and extremely strong, the company is extremely innovative,” Palaniuk says. “They’ve got a lot of hook designs that a lot of other hook companies don’t have. They take things into consideration that a lot of the other hook companies don’t. I think that attention to detail sets them apart.”
VMC’s impressive arsenal includes “every hook that you could imagine, that you’d ever need,” Palaniuk says. “All of your basic worm hooks, extra-wide gap, drop-shot hooks, and then some, they’ve got all of that covered.”
Coming aboard VMC’s Pro Staff, Palaniuk joins 2003 Bassmaster Classic Champion and 2006 Angler of the Year Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, 2012 Forrest Wood Cup Champion Jacob Wheeler, 2013 Forrest Wood Cup Champion Randall Tharp, 2011 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year Ott DeFoe and Davy Hite, a two-time BASS Angler of the Year, Bassmaster Classic Champion and FLW Championship Winner.
“You’ve got guys that are at the top of – or winning – the toughest events to win in the world,” Palaniuk says. “That, in itself, says a lot for VMC.”
Winners don’t just find and connect with fish, they land them. And that comes down to hooking percentage. “The less fish you lose, the better the odds are that you’re going to finish better,” Palaniuk says. “One of your main things for keeping fish on, is your hook.”
Palaniuk was impressed with VMC hooks when he began field-testing and then fishing tournaments with Storm Arashi crankbaits, which come with VMC trebles. Both VMC and Storm are in the Rapala family of brands. Palaniuk is on the Storm and Rapala Pro Staffs as well.
“It was a natural fit for me to sign with VMC, having worked with designing a lot of the Storm Arashi lineup,” he says. “And I’d had really good success in the design process, playing around with the VMC hooks. So I gained a lot of confidence over the last year, fishing with them.”
Likewise, Rapala-VMC gained confidence in Palaniuk.
“After working with Brandon over the past few years, and having his promotional support for Rapala, Storm, and Terminator, it is clear that Brandon is at the top of his game and one of the very best in the industry,” says Rapala Pro Staff Manager Dan Quinn. “Brandon is the kind of angler we want representing our brands in the field, and adding VMC to that list was an easy decision. Brandon’s passion for the sport and his desire to use the best products available is clear, and that is the ideal scenario when growing a pro staff relationship.”
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