Hallman Found Quality Way Down In South Bay

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Bradley Hallman weighed in only 80 percent of the fish he was allowed to at last week's Lake Okeechobee FLW Tour in Florida. Those 16 largemouths were far more than he needed, however, to secure his first tour-level victory.

Hallman, who fished 5 seasons on the Bassmaster Elite Series before bowing out following the 2011 campaign in the wake of a quick succession of family events (the death of his father and the births of two children), made a triumphant return to the sport's upper echelon. He did most of his damage over the first 2 days as he caught back-to-back 25-pound stringers on days 1 and 2 to take command of the event.

The 6-foot-5 Oklahoman didn't know it at the time, but when he caught an 8 1/2-pound monster on the morning of day 3, the trophy and the six-figure paycheck were locked up right then. That fish pushed his total past 59 pounds, and nobody else in the field managed more than 56-04 over 4 days from the chilly, wind-ravaged lake.

His 71-02 total left runner-up Alex Davis and everyone else far in his wake. Following are some of the details of how he went about winning the first tour-level event he'd entered in nearly 5 years.

Practice

Having been to Okeechobee just once before, Hallman did a lot of advance Internet research on the lake to prepare for the event. His original gameplan for practice included spending time in Eagle Bay and the vicinity of J&S Fish Camp on the northern end, as those places had produced Top-10 finishes in January's Costa Series event and, being farthest from the launch in Clewiston, Fla., would likely draw the fewest boats.

"At that time I was still thinking there were going to be 30-pound bags caught," he said. "I found fish spawning at J&S and there were some decent things going on there and I caught one really big one at Eagle Bay the first day, but I went back the second day and couldn't catch anything.

"I'd planned to spend the (final practice day) at Harney Pond, but every day when I was driving to put in at Eagle Bay there'd be about a million cars going in and out of there. I also wanted to look at Pelican Bay and South Bay."

He went to Pelican Bay first and just didn't like the look of it, then motored over to South Bay and found water and vegetation that looked much more appealing. He began flipping reed heads and boated several 3 pounders before he quit setting the hook. He estimated that he got 25 more bites throughout the remainder of the afternoon.

"There was a giant spawning flat there and it was very obvious to me there was a ton of fish," he said. "I realized that most people were fishing the haygrass, and I knew that with as many fish as the reed heads had there had to be some big ones.

"If I was a big female bass, that would be home for me. It was the thickest stuff in that massive area."

When he evaluated the entire practice period that evening, he determined that the J&S area could give him perhaps 17 to 19 pounds per day. He deduced South Bay's potential to be considerably higher than that and opted to head there on day 1.

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 25-00
> Day 2: 5, 25-07
> Day 3: 4, 14-03
> Day 4: 2, 6-08
> Total = 16, 71-02

Day 1 offered up the most pleasant weather of the event and Hallman capitalized by catching the day's best stringer, heading a group of six that exceeded 25 pounds. He got about 25 bites and boated on 6-pounder during the morning and two more in the afternoon.

He surpassed the quarter-century mark by almost half a pound on day 2, despite action that was considerably slower due to the arrival of a severe cold front that brought a fierce wind fro the north. He caught a 6-pounder early, but then went several hours without a bite.

Things picked up in the afternoon and he enticed smaller fish at first, and the bigger ones as the day wore on. He ended up with four that topped 5 pounds and extended his lead from 2 1/2 pounds to 8 1/2.

He popped his 8-10 monster at about 8 o'clock on day 3.

"I'd been looking at some pretty big fish over the last couple days and I knew that one was a lot bigger," he said. "That's when it really sunk in that it just might be my week."

He later added a 3 1/2-pounder and two run-of-the-mill keepers. Although his bag was a fish short of a limit and more than 11 pounds lighter than the one he'd scaled the previous day, it boosted his advantage to a stout 13 1/2 pounds.

That bulge proved to be insurmountable on a chilly, windy final day that saw none of the Top 10 catch more than 10-13. Hallman, who fished most of the day with an inoperable trolling motor, weighed only two fish – a 5-pounder and one that barely met the minimum-length requirement.

The 5 came first.

"When I added that one to a 13 1/2-pound lead, it meant somebody was going to have to have at least 19 or 20 to catch me," he said. "With the weather as cold as it was, I knew that would be hard."

Without the trolling motor, he was forced to bury the nose of his boat in the reeds in order to flip, and he ended up losing one that he thinks was nearly as big as the bruiser he'd caught the previous day.

"I'd just sit in one place for about 30 minutes and flip everything I could reach," he said. "As I started flipping farther and farther away (from the boat), I knew if I got a big one on it was going to be a rodeo.

"That one bit 25 or 30 feet away and there was nothing but reeds between me and her. I got her on top and tried to bring her in that way, but it didn't work."

Pattern Notes

Hallman focused on the thickest reed heads that were surrounded by clear water. The amount of fishable water shrunk each day beginning on day 2 as the constant wind took its toll.

“I would lose reeds each day as the water muddied, but my primary clump, even with all of the wind (on day 4), still had somewhat clear water around it,” he said.

He flipped Reaction Innovations Sweet Beavers in several different colors, but he doesn't think the color changes mattered a lot to the fish.

“For me, it was more about how fast or slow I was going to pop the bait up and down, or if I was going to leave it at the bottom on the next cast. That was the game-changing approach.”

Winning Gear Notes

> Flipping gear: 8' heavy-action Mosley Rod Works flipping stick, unnamed casting reel (7:1 ratio), unnamed 65-pound braided line, 1 1/2-ounce tungsten weight, unnamed punch skirt (black/blue), 5/0 Strike King Hack Attack Flippin' Hook, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (various colors, including hematoma, penetration, Homer and backwater blue).

> He downsized his setup on the ultra-tough final day, going without the skirt and with a 3/4-ounce weight, a 4/0 hook and a smaller-profile Gambler BB Cricket (backatya).

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "I came down here to swing that big stick with the heavy weight – I had no doubt that flipping was going to be the deal. All I did was flip."

> Performance edge – "That rod has a real parabolic bend to it and it was definitely key to landing all those big fish. The Power-Poles were huge all week and I had no problems with my (Mercury) motor, and that Phoenix is the best boat I've ever been in. It does everything so well."

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