19 brandonMcMILLAN
Tactics
by Colin Moore
25 LbS, 12 oZ
“Really, I didn’t have a whole lot to lean on when it start-
ed,” confesses McMillan of his Cup debut. In fact, what he
did find was a small cove off the main lake that had been
gouged out by a discharge pipe. It was like a community cen-
ter for passing shad that, in turn, collected hungry bass.
Though McMillan only counted on catching one or two
keepers from the spot, which was roughly 30 feet wide by 50
feet long and 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep, it proved to be much more
productive. On the first morning of the tournament, it took
him about 30 minutes to catch a limit that weighed almost 15
pounds. Afternoon thunderstorms had filled the cove with
floating pine straw, leaves and other debris, and McMillan
decided a frog was the best lure choice.
“I went back Friday,” he says. “The fish were still there,
busting shad, but they had started to wise up, and I just
couldn’t get many of them to cooperate.”
McMillan was shy of a limit on Friday and dropped from
second to 20th in the standings. In round three, he started at
the same spot, had one bite during a timespan of about an
hour and then left.
Baits
The Florida pro employed a SPRO Bronzeye Frog (killer
gill) to catch the bulk of his fish. Otherwise, he fished a Zoom
crankbait, a Zoom flipping tube (black and blue) and a 4x4 jig.
On day three, he switched to a drop-shot rig baited with a
Zoom Z-Drop Worm (green pumpkin).
20 rayHANSELMAN
Tactics
by Sean Ostruszka
24 LbS
Two patterns emerged for the Texas pro prior to the tour-
nament.
First, he figured out he could usually junk-fish a small
limit in the morning around industrial areas near Decatur.
Once he had a limit, Hanselman would run to one of two
lily pad fields to cull up.
One pad field he shared with the likes of Brad Knight and
Andy Morgan. The other, which he located using satellite
images online, he had to himself all three days and was where
he caught the majority of his weight until storms on day three
killed his shallow bite.
On day two, Hanselman was able to make the cut thanks to
a midday mayfly hatch that opened up a brief pattern window.
Baits
80
A Strike King Rage Twin Tail Menace Grub did much of
the work for Hanselman. He used a glacier-colored Menace
Grub on a 4/0, 3/16-ounce belly weighted hook, swimming it
around to catch a limit in the industrial areas.
He threw the Menace Grub around some in the lily pads,
too, but in those areas he relied more on a Strike King Sexy
Frog in a green pumpkin/pearl belly color.
FLWFISHING.COM I OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2016