Okeechobee Day 3 Coverage
Can Hallman shut the door? Several pros are on his heels
Quick Links
Live On The Water Twitter stream (scroll to the bottom)
Day 3 On-the-Water Photo Gallery
Day 2 On-the-Water Photo Gallery
Day 1 On-the-Water Photo Gallery
3 p.m.: Hallman clinging to lead with weigh-in just an hour away
Bradley Hallman might still have his lead after day three's weigh-in ends, but he'll be wondering what happened to his fish today and if he needs to make a major change tomorrow. Hallman caught a giant right out of the gate this morning then hit a slump that has lasted up until now. He has a few little ones to go with it. Will he have enough to prevent a day-four charge from one of his competitors? That's hard to say. A few other top 20 anglers seem to be getting stronger as the week goes on. And tomorrow's forecast weather change is going to challenge everyone in the field.
Find out how the top 20 shakes out on FLW Live at 4 p.m. ET. We're streaming from the Clewiston Walmart.
See Brandon McMillan picking apart some Lake Okeechobee spawning flats in this day-three video
2:20 p.m.: Davis scores, Shin climbing, slow going for the rest
The afternoon lull has set in here on Lake Okeechobee, though Alex Davis, Shin Fukae and Jeff Sprague are still getting bit here and there. The rest of the field has gone quiet.
Davis is up to about 8 1/2 pounds now. Sprague has more than 10. And Shin recently landed a 5-pounder, then lost another big girl in a dense mat.
Best we can tell, only a couple of anglers still don't have a limit. That means we'll have plenty of Lake Okeechobee beauties to gaze upon at the Clewiston Walmart at today's weigh-in.
The weights throughout the field are way too close to predict who'll make the top 10. Shelton, Reehm, Sprague, McMillan, Cox and Neal all have the quality stringers needed to have a great shot at fishing tomorrow. We'll find out soon who'll make the cut.
Weigh-in begins at 4 p.m ET. You can watch live at FLWFishing.com.
Stay tuned for the final blog update at 3 p.m.
1:30 p.m.: The action slows a bit, but Hallman is chipping away at a limit
Maybe Bradley Hallman has adjusted his plan just a bit. Instead of swinging for the fences and only going for big bites, he might be looking to simply fill his limit. He has four keepers now. Three are little guys.
Elsewhere, Chris Johnston and Clark Reehm have had the hottest hands. Johnston isn't far from 20 pounds. Reehm has caught a mess of keepers.
Today is an important day. To get in the top 10 is the only way to make a run at Hallman, and tomorrow will challenge the leader. Another storm system is supposed to move through tonight and likely will leave behind lower temperatures and strong winds. There's no point in saving any fish today either. Catch as catch can, then sort it all out tomorrow.
Joshua Weaver is on the move and hunting for a limit
See Alex Davis in action
12:30 p.m.: The afternoon window is open, variety of baits in play
It's been hard to keep up with all the Twitter updates coming in from FLW's on-the-water team, what with all the catches being recorded in the last 90 minutes. Most of the pros in the top 20 have filled their limits. Several are approaching the 20-pound mark.
There's a little more variety in the patterns today compared to yesterday. Some pros are still flipping, but they're covering more ground. Others are winding swimbaits and buzz worms. A few are slow-fishing with Senkos. And topwaters are even coming out.
The biggest key to success today has been figuring out how to deal with much different conditions. Some areas are muddier; others clearer. With a more gentle wind, the water has settled out, causing the water level in some spots to rise and in others to fall.
Hallman is dedicated to his big-fish program. He said he might not get five bites, but what he catches will be quality fish. With an 8 1/2-pound lead, he might not need five bites. Still, there's a day and a half left to fish, so he better put his head down and make it happen if he doesn't want someone to catch him.
12:15 p.m.: Complete estimates for the top 20
McMillan – limit for more than 10 pounds
Shelton – limit for 9 1/4 pounds
Devere – limit for 8 pounds
Johnston – limit for 16 pounds
Reehm – limit for 13 pounds
Chandler – four for 5 1/2 pounds
Fukae – four for 9 1/4 pounds
Horton – limit for 7 1/2 pounds
Tutt – limit for 7 1/2 pounds
Young – three for 5 pounds
Bohannan – limit for 8 1/2 pounds
Neal – limit for 10 pounds
Hallman – three for 10 pounds
Stefan – limit for 7 pounds
Weyer – limit for 9 pounds
Cox – limit for 11 3/4 pounds
Davis – limit for 6 1/2 pounds
Weaver – four fish for 9 pounds
Sprague – three fish for 5 1/4 pounds
Johnson – two fish for 4 pounds
Watch a sweet video of Shin Fukae whacking a few on a swimbait on day two
Mark Rose caught up with Jeff Sprague this morning
11:15 a.m.: The bite is heating up all across Lake Okeechobee
Right now, the story of the day is that the action is really picking up. As the water warms and the clouds part, it seems like more and more fish slide into the spawning areas where most of the top 20 pros are fishing.
Brandon McMillan has reached double digits now. Clark Reehm has more than 13 pounds and has caught about a dozen keepers. Greg Bohannan filled his limit too and is catching quality keepers. Chris Johnston is whacking good fish. He just landed a 4 1/2-pounder to cull up to about 12 pounds.
Expect to see a whole bunch of mid-teen limits and pros approaching the 20-pound mark at today's weigh-in, which begins at 4 p.m. ET.
Our leader Bradley Hallman has two fish in the box. One is rumored to be 6 to 8 pounds. We're not really sure how big it is, but you can watch the video below and judge for yourself.
Mark Rose breaks down Bradley Hallman's early morning giant
10 a.m. Updates
McMillan – two fish for 5 pounds
Shelton – two fish for 2 1/4 pounds
Devere – two fish for 2 3/4 pounds
Johnston – three fish for 5 1/4 pounds
Reehm – limit for 13 pounds
Fukae – two fish for 6 pounds
Horton – three fish for 3 pounds
Tutt – limit for 9 1/2 pounds
Young – two fish for 4 pounds
Bohannan – three fish for 6 pounds
Neal – limit for 8 1/2 pounds
Hallman – one fish for 7 pounds
Stefan – two fish for 3 1/4 pounds
Weyer – one fish for 1 pound
Cox – one fish for 1 3/4 pound
Davis – two fish for 2 pounds
Weaver – two fish for 2 3/4 pounds
Johnson – one fish for 3 pounds
9:15 a.m.: Hallman scores big with a 6-pounder
Bradley Hallman is on his game this week at Lake Okeechobee. "It might just be my week," he told one of our OTW reporters.
Hallman just smoked a 6-pound-plus bass to get his day started off right. He's going to be tough to catch. Though, giants are falling on Okeechobee this morning. Follow the Twitter feed to stay up to speed (click that link and scroll down), because it's been nonstop all morning.
8:30 a.m.: Shin and McMillan on the board early
Tournament leader Bradley Hallman missed the first fish that bit, but Shin Fukae and Brandon McMillan have both capitalized on early opportunities. McMillan was the first pro to register a keeper. It weighed about 4 pounds. He's added another small keeper. Shin's first keeper will go between 5 and 6 pounds.
Several other pros have landed keepers, but all are small.
8 a.m.: Clouds and a light wind might improve the winding bite
Bradley Hallman built his lead yesterday by flipping and fishing painfully slow. Yesterday was the first day after a front, with heavy north winds and a 20-degree drop in the temperature from the day before. The slow-fishing approach was certainly called for.
Today, however, conditions might line up for a winding bite. A light breeze is blowing out of the north, and heavy cloud cover is blocking out the sun. Those are ideal conditions for the fish to move and feed.
We’ve got a full crew of reporters and marshals, along with Walmart pro Mark Rose, out on the water keeping tabs on the anglers. Stay tuned for details throughout the day.
Conditions
Current temperature: 57 degrees
Forecast high: 70 degrees
Sky: cloudy
Precipitation: 15 percent chance until about 4 p.m.; 60 percent chance after that, with evening thunderstorms a possibility
Wind: NE at 18 mph
Weigh-in Details
Watch the day two weigh-in live at FLWFishing.com starting at 4 p.m. ET.
Click here for complete tournament details.