Hallman Will Take 13 1/2-Pound Bulge Into Day 4

By BassFan Staff

After dominating the Lake Okeechobee FLW Tour through the first 2 days, Bradley Hallman didn't even get a limit's worth of bites on day 3. One of the bites he did get, though, weighed more than 8 1/2 pounds, and the Oklahoman added another big pillow to his lead heading into the final day.

The 8-10 monster was Hallman's first fish of the day, and it anchored a 14-03 stringer that pushed his total to 64-10. He'll start day 4 with a commanding 13 1/2-pound lead over Alex Davis.

Davis, who'd surpassed the 20-pound threshold on both previous days, sacked just 9-02 for a 51-01 total. Shinichi Fukae, who's sharing an area with the leader, achieved his goal of weighing a bigger sack than Hallman on at least one day – his 15-03 haul gave him a 3rd-place total of 47-08.

Canadian rookie Chris Johnston weighed the day's biggest sack (17-15) and moved up eight places to make the Top 10 in his debut event with a 45-11 aggregate. Michael Neal weighed a 12-12 stringer that dropped him from 4th to 5th with 45-02.

Here are the totals for the 10 anglers who advanced to the final day (red numbers in parentheses show their deficit margins from the leader):

1. Bradley Hallman: 64-10
2. Alex Davis: 51-01 (13-09)
3. Shinichi Fukae: 47-08 (17-02)
4. Chris Johnston: 45-11 (18-15)
5. Michael Neal: 45-02 (19-08)
6. Brandon McMillan: 44-03 (20-07)
7. Charlie Weyer: 43-07 (21-03)
8. Billy Shelton III: 41-11 (22-15)
9. Joshua Weaver: 40-05 (24-05)
10. Clark Reehm: 40-00 (24-10)

Johnston and Reehm (12-11 on day 3) were the only competitors to move into the Top 10. They supplanted Ryan Chandler (8th to 14th, 6-06) and Greg Bohannan (10th to 11th, 10-03).

Big bags could be scarce on the final day, which will be chilly (by Florida standards) and blustery. The forecast for the Clewiston area predicts a high temperature of only 60 degrees and a west/northwest wind that'll exceed 20 mph at times.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that half of us don't have a limit tomorrow," Neal said. "I could be wrong, but I think it's going to be a brutal day."

Great Start for Hallman

> Day 3: 4, 14-03 (19, 64-10)

Hallman, who weighed 25-pound bags on each of the first 2 days, didn't get a bite for the first hour of the day. Then he flipped up his big one.

"I got lucky with that one and it was a great start to the day," he said. "When you catch a fish like that, if you can put anything else at all with it you'll have 20 pounds, but all my other ones were little."

The behemoth sat in his livewell by itself for quite awhile before he eventually added a trio that combined to weigh more than 2 pounds less than the big girl alone. He was the only competitor among the Top 20 who failed to bring a limit to the stage, but his bag was still the third-biggest of the day.

"I didn't miss any or lose any – I just didn't get bit," he said.

He'll start the final day with a flipping stick in his hand and won't put it down.

"I'm all in on that – I don't really have any other options. I'm going to flip those reed heads all day long until the clock says I have to go in, and whatever I have or don't have, I'll be fine with it.

"This has been a lot of fun and if I end up finishing 2nd or 3rd, it won't be horrible. I've got a lot better outlook this time (after a 4-year hiatus from tour-level fishing). Everything I can do about it, I'll do during the 8 hours I'm on the water."

He's thoroughly enjoyed everything about his initial FLW Tour event.

"Everybody at FLW has been great to me and I really appreciate it. The staff and the media guys have put in a lot of work."

2nd: Davis got Short Strikes

> Day 3: 5, 9-02 (15, 51-01)

Davis' bag weighed less than half of what he caught on each of the first 2 days. It didn't cost him any ground in the standings, but he's no much further behind Hallman.

"In my primary area, the fish were just biting the tail end of the bait and pulling it off the hook," he said. "I went to my casting area to catch a limit, then I went back to the flipping place again and only caught one small one. Then I went back to the casting area and upgraded with a 3-pounder just before I came in."

"I stuck one that came off that was probably a 3-pounder. I didn't get a lot of bites. I threw the swimjig a lot, but I never had a bite on it."

His fish came on a Jackall Flick Shake presented weightless in wiregrass.

"Today I was telling myself that I had to just flip, flip, flip, but if I hadn't gone and caught a limit I'd be in 8th place right now and I don't know how many pounds back.

"If I can get a limit casting tomorrow, I'll pick up the flipping stick and I'll never put it back down."

3rd: Fukae Mostly Flipped

> Day 3: 5, 15-03 (15, 47-08)

Fukae's sack contained two fish in the 5 1/2-pound class, but the other three barely met the 12-inch minimum-length requirement.

"I flipped most of the day and I caught four doing that, but I wasn't catching No. 5," he said. "I left one time to (finish his limit), then I went back to the flipping spot."

He lost what was likely his biggest bite of the day.

"I think it was bigger than the other two. I couldn't get it out (of the vegetation). I tried to use the big motor to go get it, but it was already gone.

"Everybody else has lost fish just like me, so that's okay."

He's certain that he and Hallman will spend one more day within sight of each other.

"We just keep making a circle around each other."

4th: Johnston Keeps Climbing

> Day 3: 5, 17-15 (14, 45-11)

Johnston made the Top 10 despite weighing four fish for less than 9 1/2 pounds on day 1.

"It's a surprise, for sure," he said. "I had some big ones to go to the first day, but I wasn't getting may bites and I went a different route. It's what I should've been doing all along."

He spent day 1 in the vicinity of Harney Pond, but has gone much farther south on each of the last 2 days. He had a 5-plus-pounder today and one that went about 4 1/2.

"I flipped all day today. Yesterday I did a lot of casting and I was catching more fish, but all of my quality has come flipping."

He likely won't do anything but flip on day 4.

"It's supposed to get really cold and miserable and I don't think the fish are going to want to chase too much. You're going to have to put it on their head."

5th: No Big Ones for Neal

> Day 3: 5, 12-12 (15, 45-02)

Neal fell only one place in the standings even though his weight was off by about 6 pounds from the day before.

"I didn't get as many bites today, but really what separated yesterday from today was a couple of 4-pound fish," he said. "I had one 3 today, but the rest were in the 2-range. I just lacked a good bite."

He again caught everything on a swimjig.

"I had some today that just kind of slapped at it, not really wanting to eat it, and a couple other guys told me they had the same thing. This front has really messed with them.

"I finally lost one today and I'm not sure what happened – I had it halfway to the boat and it just jumped off. It was close to 4 pounds, so I'd have probably had 14 pounds with it."

He said he'll probably stay in one place on day 4.

"I went through two other places where I'd been getting some bites, but I didn't get any there today. It's probably going to be a one-stop shop tomorrow."

6th: Slight Comeback for McMillan

> Day 3: 5, 12-02 (15, 44-03)

McMillan bounced back a little bit after a 9 1/2-pound day 2, but ended up losing even more ground to Hallman. He's been fishing in the same vicinity as the leader and Fukae.

"After 3 days of practice and 3 days of the tournament, I think I've finally figured out how to fish this place," the Clewiston resident said. "That certainly doesn't mean I'm going to catch them tomorrow, but I think I've got a little bit of understanding of what's going on.

"I know it's going to be nasty tomorrow and it's not very much fun to fish on days like that, but I think it might actually help out a little bit. When the wind blows, it pulls them closer to those cattail edges we've been fishing, and I've got a bunch of stuff I can run.

"I think the biggest thing is to settle down in an area," he continued. "I've got a couple other places like my primary area, so I think I'll just leave that one to Brad and Fukae."

He handled about 15 keepers, the biggest of which weighed 4 1/2.

"I lost one that was about 3 or 3 1/2 in the middle of the day that would've helped me quite a bit."

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 20 anglers, 19 limits, 1 four.

Weather Forecast

> Sun., Feb. 7 – Partly Cloudy – 60°/41°
- Wind: From the WNW at 19 mph

Day 3 Standings

1. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Ok -- 25 - 0 (5) -- 25 - 7 (5) -- 50 - 7 (10) -- 14 - 3 (4) -- 64 - 10 (14)

2. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 21 - 0 (5) -- 20 - 15 (5) -- 41 - 15 (10) -- 9 - 2 (5) -- 51 - 1 (15)

3. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 20 - 3 (5) -- 12 - 2 (5) -- 32 - 5 (10) -- 15 - 3 (5) -- 47 - 8 (15)

4. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 9 - 7 (4) -- 18 - 5 (5) -- 27 - 12 (9) -- 17 - 15 (5) -- 45 - 11 (14)

5. Michael Neal -- Dayton, Tn -- 14 - 0 (5) -- 18 - 6 (5) -- 32 - 6 (10) -- 12 - 12 (5) -- 45 - 2 (15)

6. Brandon McMillan -- Clewiston, Fl -- 22 - 8 (5) -- 9 - 9 (5) -- 32 - 1 (10) -- 12 - 2 (5) -- 44 - 3 (15)

7. Charlie Weyer -- West Hills, Ca -- 11 - 4 (5) -- 23 - 2 (5) -- 34 - 6 (10) -- 9 - 1 (5) -- 43 - 7 (15)

8. William (Billy) Shelton III -- La Crosse, Va -- 12 - 9 (5) -- 17 - 11 (5) -- 30 - 4 (10) -- 11 - 7 (5) -- 41 - 11 (15)

9. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 20 - 12 (5) -- 10 - 4 (5) -- 31 - 0 (10) -- 9 - 5 (5) -- 40 - 5 (15)

10. Clark Reehm -- Huntington, Tx -- 13 - 9 (5) -- 13 - 12 (5) -- 27 - 5 (10) -- 12 - 11 (5) -- 40 - 0 (15)

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.

11. Greg Bohannan -- Bentonville, Ar -- 13 - 9 (5) -- 15 - 15 (5) -- 29 - 8 (10) -- 10 - 3 (5) -- 39 - 11 (15) -- $12,000

12. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 12 - 10 (5) -- 13 - 15 (5) -- 26 - 9 (10) -- 11 - 13 (5) -- 38 - 6 (15) -- $12,000

13. Matthew Stefan -- Junction City, Wi -- 15 - 7 (5) -- 12 - 15 (5) -- 28 - 6 (10) -- 8 - 10 (5) -- 37 - 0 (15) -- $12,000

14. Ryan Chandler -- Hebron, In -- 20 - 6 (5) -- 10 - 1 (5) -- 30 - 7 (10) -- 6 - 6 (5) -- 36 - 13 (15) -- $12,000

15. Jeff Sprague -- Point, Tx -- 16 - 1 (5) -- 10 - 2 (5) -- 26 - 3 (10) -- 10 - 3 (5) -- 36 - 6 (15) -- $12,000

16. John Devere -- Berea, Ky -- 18 - 6 (5) -- 8 - 1 (5) -- 26 - 7 (10) -- 9 - 7 (5) -- 35 - 14 (15) -- $12,000

17. Kevin Johnson -- Surprise, Az -- 9 - 1 (5) -- 18 - 3 (5) -- 27 - 4 (10) -- 6 - 15 (5) -- 34 - 3 (15) -- $12,000

18. Jamie Horton -- Centerville, Al -- 9 - 13 (5) -- 15 - 15 (5) -- 25 - 12 (10) -- 6 - 14 (5) -- 32 - 10 (15) -- $12,000

19. Andrew Young -- Mound, Mn -- 13 - 4 (5) -- 12 - 14 (5) -- 26 - 2 (10) -- 6 - 5 (5) -- 32 - 7 (15) -- $12,000

20. Jim Tutt -- Longview, Tx -- 18 - 7 (5) -- 7 - 2 (5) -- 25 - 9 (10) -- 6 - 12 (5) -- 32 - 5 (15) -- $12,000