By BassFan Staff
Here are a couple of statistics that indicate how dominant Bradley Hallman was at the Lake Okeechobee FLW Tour:
> If he hadn't fished at all on day 4, he still would've won by nearly 8 1/2 pounds;
> If he'd quit fishing after day 2 and sat out the entire weekend, he would've finished in 7th place.
The tall Oklahoman's return to tour-level competition after a 4-year layoff, his FLW Tour debut and his initial visit to the renowned Florida fishery were all rousing successes as he went wire to wire to achieve the biggest win of his career. He weighed just two fish on a cold, windy final day , but he didn't need either of them; nobody in the field compiled a sack that even reached the 11-pound mark, and he had an edge of 13 1/2 pounds coming in.
His 71-02 total over 4 days bested runner-up Alex Davis by almost 15 pounds.
"I'm extremely passionate about his sport, and this means the world to me," he said.
Davis caught a limit, but it weighed just 5-03 and he finished with 56-04. Canadian rookie Chris Johnston was 3rd after a 10 1/2-pound stringer left him with a 56-03 aggregate.
Michael Neal boxed a day-best 10-13 and ended up 4th with a 55-15 total. Shinichi Fukae brought five 1-pounders to the stage to round out the Top 5 with 52-09.
Here are the totals for the remainder of the Top 10:
6. Brandon McMillan: 51-04
7. Joshua Weaver: 50-05
8. Clark Reehm: 48-08
9. Charlie Weyer: 47-11
10. Billy Shelton III: 44-06
For all practical purposes, Hallman won the event on the first 2 days with back-to-back 25-pound stringers. They were the biggest bags of the derby and gave him an advantage he never came close to relinquishing – when he boated an 8-10 bruiser early on day 3, he had more weight than anyone else would amass through 4 days.
Runner-up Alex Davis logged his best tour-level finish to date.
The brutal day-4 weather (air temperatures barely reaching the 60s and a north wind topping 25 miles an hour) ensured there would be no heroics from the anglers who started the day in the 2nd through 9th positions. Florida bass are notorious for shutting down under such condtions, and they certainly lived up to that reputation on Sunday.
The Tour will take a 5-week break before resuming March 17-20 at South Carolina's Lake Hartwell.
Hallman Thrilled
> Day 4: 2, 6-08 (16, 71-02)
To Hallman, his first tour-level triumph felt like the culmination of a lot of effort over a long timespan.
"I feel like I've worked and worked and worked," he said. "There was a dude here today who was the tournament director at the first BFL I won (in 2003), and a lot has happened between then and now.
"It feels great. There were some anxious moments today, but I didn't have any regrets. I left everything I had out there and did the best I could with everything I could take care of."
His trolling motor went out early in the morning and he fished the majority of the day without it, but he said he nonetheless had the bites to weight another strong bag. One of the fish he brought to the stage was a 4-pounder that that came between 8:30 and 9 o'clock and the other, a much smaller specimen, arrived at about 12:30.
"I really wanted to fill out a limit," he said. "I thought if I could just get five where I was fishing, one or two would've been decent fish – at least 3-pounders.
"I was very unhappy with myself because (failing to secure a limit) was the one thing I didn't want to do today. On the other hand, I did the best I could and I was limited with no trolling motor. As it turned out, it wasn't too critical either way."
He spent the entire event flipping a Reaction Innovations Beaver to reed heads. Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published soon.
2nd: Davis Satisfied
> Day 4: 5, 5-03 (20, 56-04)
Davis knew his chances of chasing down Hallman on the final day were extremely slim, so he was happy to hold on to the No. 2 slot. The finish was his best yet at the tour level.
"It really hasn't sunk in yet," he said. "It wasn't really a stressful day except for the wind."
He lost two early bites in his big-fish area, so he went to his numbers place hoping to catch a quick limit for 7 to 9 pounds.
Shinichi Fukae could only smile when his five-fish bag weighed a paltry 5-01.
"When I got there it was so windy that I couldn't cast – I couldn't even feel my bait," he said. "Then I went to another area and in an hour and a half I got one bite and it pulled the pinchers off."
His livewell was still empty at 1 o'clock. That prompted him to enter a tiny pocket near his primary locale, and he flipped up a miniscule limit there during the last couple hours of the day."
3rd: Johnston Excited
> Day 4: 5, 10-08 (19, 56-03)
The 28-07 that Johnston compiled over the final 2 days was the high number for the weekend and represented a great start to his FLW Tour career.
"It's great," he said. "I'm pretty excited. I hate to sound greedy, but you always want more.
"I would've loved to have that 1 extra ounce (that separated him from Davis), but I'm happy."
He boated nine keepers – three that exceeded 2 pounds and two that were just under that mark.
"I went to the same area I fished yesterday, but half the stuff was trashed from the wind," he said. "I ran the same pattern, but in a smaller area. The places where I caught the big ones that last 2 days, I couldn't fish.
"I knew I could get a big bite on any pitch, but I just didn't get it."
4th: Neal Elated
> Day 4: 5, 10-13 (20, 55-15)
Neal's Top-10 finish was his fifth in just over 4 seasons on the circuit. He was extremely happy to post in in the wake of a poor practice.
"I'm thrilled with it," he said. "If you'd handed me 50th place before the tournament started, I'd have taken it – that's how I felt about my practice. Fortunately I was able to piece some things together as I went on."
He caught his first keeper on day 4 at 9:30 and had a limit an hour later. He made his final cull at 1:15.
"I stayed in the same area all day – I went there and put my trolling motor down and never picked it up until it was time to come in. I didn't have anything else to go to.
"I caught 10 keepers, but I never got a big bite. I had nothing over 2 1/4."
5th: Nice Start for Fukae
> Day 4: 5, 5-01 (20, 52-09)
Fukae weighed what was likely the lightest limit of his career, but nonetheless remained among the Top 5.
"It's a good start to the year," he said. "I'm happy."
He flipped for the first 2 hours, but never got a bite. He went to another place and caught the five squeakers within an hour and then went back to flipping, but lost the only decent fish he connected with.
"I think it was a good decision to go an catch those five or else I might've had zero," he said. "I did not want to get a zero."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 7 limits, 1 three, 2 twos.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Ok -- 25 - 0 (5) -- 25 - 7 (5) -- 50 - 7 (10) -- 14 - 3 (4) -- 64 - 10 (14) -- 6 - 8 (2) -- 71 - 2 (16) -- $100,000
2. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 21 - 0 (5) -- 20 - 15 (5) -- 41 - 15 (10) -- 9 - 2 (5) -- 51 - 1 (15) -- 5 - 3 (5) -- 56 - 4 (20) -- $30,000
3. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 9 - 7 (4) -- 18 - 5 (5) -- 27 - 12 (9) -- 17 - 15 (5) -- 45 - 11 (14) -- 10 - 8 (5) -- 56 - 3 (19) -- $25,000
4. Michael Neal -- Dayton, Tn -- 14 - 0 (5) -- 18 - 6 (5) -- 32 - 6 (10) -- 12 - 12 (5) -- 45 - 2 (15) -- 10 - 13 (5) -- 55 - 15 (20) -- $20,000
5. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 20 - 3 (5) -- 12 - 2 (5) -- 32 - 5 (10) -- 15 - 3 (5) -- 47 - 8 (15) -- 5 - 1 (5) -- 52 - 9 (20) -- $19,000
6. Brandon McMillan -- Clewiston, Fl -- 22 - 8 (5) -- 9 - 9 (5) -- 32 - 1 (10) -- 12 - 2 (5) -- 44 - 3 (15) -- 7 - 1 (5) -- 51 - 4 (20) -- $18,000
7. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 20 - 12 (5) -- 10 - 4 (5) -- 31 - 0 (10) -- 9 - 5 (5) -- 40 - 5 (15) -- 10 - 0 (5) -- 50 - 5 (20) -- $17,000
8. Clark Reehm -- Huntington, Tx -- 13 - 9 (5) -- 13 - 12 (5) -- 27 - 5 (10) -- 12 - 11 (5) -- 40 - 0 (15) -- 8 - 8 (5) -- 48 - 8 (20) -- $16,000
9. Charlie Weyer -- West Hills, Ca -- 11 - 4 (5) -- 23 - 2 (5) -- 34 - 6 (10) -- 9 - 1 (5) -- 43 - 7 (15) -- 4 - 4 (3) -- 47 - 11 (18) -- $15,000
10. William (Billy) Shelton III -- La Crosse, Va -- 12 - 9 (5) -- 17 - 11 (5) -- 30 - 4 (10) -- 11 - 7 (5) -- 41 - 11 (15) -- 2 - 11 (2) -- 44 - 6 (17) -- $14,500
