JASPER, Texas– Bradley Hallman walked on stage with a stoic manner on Day 2 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Central Open at Sam Rayburn presented by Mossy Oak Fishing. But when tournament director Hank Weldon announced his Day 2 bag weighed 12 pounds, 2 ounces, and Hallman began to dig his two biggest bass out of the weigh-in bag, a wide smile crossed his face.
He had done the math in his head and as he held up his bass for the crowd to see, he shouted, “We did it!”
It was an outpouring of joy and, even more so, relief. It was an exorcizing of the past two Opens seasons, where he came so close to achieving his goal just to fall a couple points short each time.
This year, it was his time. Next year, Hallman will once again join the Elite Series ranks.
With a 16th-place finish at Sam Rayburn, Hallman won the Central Opens points race with 547 points, securing one of the three Elite Series invites offered in the division this year. His three-year stint in the Opens has been some of the toughest of his career.
“I have been doing this a long time,” Hallman said. “To get through this 225 boat field has been the hardest, uphill battle I have ever tried to do.”
“(The Elite invite) has been attainable every year,” he added. “The first year we all went into the final event with a chance to make it. Scott Martin made it, the rest of us didn’t. Last year, going into the last one at Grand Lake I had a shot, but I had to make a Top 10. I finished 12th. That’s how little I missed it by. Then we came down here, and I had a little better chance, but I was still tied for 5th and the guys around me were James Niggemeyer and Nick LeBrun, guys who catch them here. David Gaston caught them all year. I came down here and we went to work. Nothing changed. Every day I put my nose to the grindstone and keep beating on the wall hoping it will crumble.”
Hallman was part of the 2006 Elite Series rookie class and competed for six seasons, securing five Top 10 finishes in that stretch. Several years later, Hallman rejoined the professional ranks on the FLW Tour and collected two victories before he began his quest for requalification through the Opens in 2020.
A lot has changed since Hallman’s rookie year. Technology has advanced tremendously and the explosion of college and high school fishing is creating quality anglers faster than ever. Both factors make the Opens a gauntlet, something Hallman was prepared to face.
“I knew what I was getting into when we got here three years ago,” Hallman said. “Scott Martin and all of us came over and I knew what the young guys were about. I know what college and high school fishing has done.”
Hallman entered the final event of the season in contention in both the Central points and the Overall points race. Sam Rayburn was a critical juncture not only because it would determine his fate for the year, but his career as a whole potentially.
“If I didn’t get in (after this tournament), I wasn’t sure if I would ever try it again,” Hallman said. “My wife even asked me before I left, ‘If this doesn’t work out, are we going to do this again?’”
Practice didn’t treat Hallman well, but looking at the bags in local tournaments, he anticipated that if he could catch around 15 pounds the first day he would be okay. He did just that, securing 15-7 on the first day to put himself in position for a good finish and to claim the coveted Elite Series bid.
“(Practice) was hard. We could catch some fish, but it was hard,” he said. “Looking at the weights over the past two weeks, the winning stringers looked great but the ones below that dropped off pretty quick. So there was a chance 15 pounds would be 15th or 20th. Even 10th if it was really tough and that is what happened.”
Hallman himself hasn’t looked ahead to the 2023 schedule, but his goals are pretty simple: win a couple blue trophies and contend for a Classic title. Known for his shallow water expertise, particularly with a flipping stick, the beginning of the season is right in his wheelhouse.
The season starts at Lake Okeechobee, where Hallman won his first FLW Tour event in 2016 followed by Lake Seminole, where shallow bass could absolutely play a factor. Then in April, Hallman returns to Santee Cooper where he placed 13th in his rookie season.
“I have some goals. I have won at every level of FLW,” Hallman said. “I want some blue trophies to go with the black ones and I want a shot at Classic before I quit fishing,”