Bradley Hallman of Norman OK. Opens up his lead over Alex Davis of Alabama heading into day 3 of the FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee event. : Photo Courtesy of FLW Outdoors

How tough did the bite become as the cold front moved across Lake Okeechobee? Well, it only took 25 pounds, 9 ounces for Jim Tutt to make theTop 20 cut and continue fishing Saturday.

If he hopes to fish in Sunday’s final round, Tutt needs to pick up the pace only slightly, as Greg Bohannan currently occupies the 10^th spot with 29-8.

Then there’s Bradley Hallman. Hallman actually improved on his 25-pound first day weight with a sack that went 25-7 today (two ounces less than Tutt’s two-day total). He enjoys an eight-and-a-half-pound lead at the midway point of 2016’s first FLW Tour event.

Billy Shelton had the big bass of the day on the pro side at 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Okeechobee are:

               1st:          Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., 10 bass, 50-7

               2nd:         Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 41-15

               3rd:          Charlie Weyer, West Hills, Calif., 10 bass, 34-6

               4th:          Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-6

               5th:          Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 32-5

               6th:          Brandon McMillan, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 32-1

               7th:          Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 31-0

               8th:          Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 10 bass, 30-7

               9th:          Billy Shelton, La Crosse, Va., 10 bass, 30-4

               10th:        Greg Bohannan, Bentonville, Ark., 10 bass, 29-8

               11th:        Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., 10 bass, 28-6

               12th:      Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, nine bass, 27-12

               13th:        Clark Reehm, Huntington, Texas, 10 bass, 27-5

               14th:        Kevin Johnson, Surprise, Ariz., 10 bass, 27-4

               15th:        John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 26-9

               16th:        John Devere, Berea Ky., 10 bass, 26-7

               17th:        Keystone Light pro Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 10 bass, 26-3

               18th:        Andy Young, Mound, Minn., 10 bass, 26-2

               19th:        Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 10 bass, 25-12

               20th:        Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 25-9

Hallman said he started out flipping the same stuff that produced yesterday but got no bites. “The water clarity was different due to the strong north wind, so I only focused on those spots for about 15 minutes apiece and then moved on. Half of the cover I ended up hitting today was new.”

Hallman gave away an invaluable fishing tip for anyone who wants to become a better flipper – turn your back to the breeze: “In this kind if wind, you have to put your back to it in order to get a better presentation. The bait is so much more efficient and has a lot more action when you throw it.

“I caught a mix of spawning and post-spawn bass, which is good,” said Hallman, noting that he only caught 6 keeper bass today. “The weather tomorrow is supposed to be similar to today but with less wind from the north. As long as it doesn’t get too cold, I can live with it.”

From the back deck:

Tim Cales of Sandstone, West Virginia, won the co-angler division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 11 ounces, followed by Gary Haraguchi of Redding, California, who finished in second place with 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 5 ounces worth $7,500.

“I got laid off from my job a month ago, so this has really been a blessing for me,” said Cales, who is fishing his second season as a co-angler on the FLW Tour. “I caught most of my fish this week on a Deep Creek Lures Lizard and a Vertical Lures Creature X.”

For the 2^nd srtraight day a co-angler caught the biggest bass of the day. In fact, Greg Manfield’s 8-2 is the biggest bass of the whole derby so far. The angler form Minnesota won $250 for the feat.

The top 10 co-anglers finished:

               1st:          Tim Cales, Sandstone, W. Va., 10 bass, 30-11 $20,000

               2nd:         Gary Haraguchi, Redding, Calif., 10 bass, 27-5, $7,500

               3rd:          Greg Mansfield, Burnsville, Minn., 10 bass, 26-5, $5,250

               4th:          Maurice Cobb, Kuttawa, Ky., 10 bass, 25-4, $4,000

               5th:          Vincent Yonemitsu, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 25-3, $3,000

               6th:          Spiro Agouros, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, eight bass, 25-0, $2,500

               7th:          Frank Divis Sr., Farmington, Ark., 10 bass, 23-9, $2,000

               8th:          Todd Lee, Jasper, Ala., 10 bass, 22-1, $1,800

               9th:          Larry Mullikin, Lauderhill, Fla., nine bass, 21-12, $1,700

               10th:        Logan Thomas, Gilbertsville, Ky., 10 bass, 21-12, $1,600