Final round on Seminole with McMillan

Follow along as Brandon McMillan heads out on Lake Seminole in the lead on the final day of the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open #3 presented by Allstate.

Sitting in third place, Randall Tharp rounds the corner headed for Spring Creek.

McMillan methodically pitches to submerged vegetation…

only once in a very long while picking up a topwater to test it out.

Then it’s back to the flipping stick.

McMillan sets up on a fish.

It’s keeper number one…

and it comes a full hour earlier than keeper number one did on Day 2.

The morning bite has been very slow this week for McMillan.

Most of his bites have come after 10 o’clock…

with his best bites on Day 2 coming in the 3-to-5 o’clock window thanks to his late flight number.

McMillan’s co-angler, Jarrod Anderson hooks up.

That’s number one in the back of the boat.

A few pitches later and Anderson hooks up again.

This one looks a little bigger.

A nice fish goes in the well for anderson.

McMillan grinds away, optimistic after a little activity early.

This area is one McMillan has frequented throughout the event and an area that has produced several of his key fish.

But like every day, it’s time to let this area rest a while. Brandon throws on his late father’s life jacket and heads out.

A bald eagle soars over head…

giving us a quick flyby before carrying on with whatever eagles carry on with.

McMillan heads back to his sweet spot…

and plucks a nice keeper from the grass.

“I’ve never been so happy to catch a 2-pounder,” said McMillan. Starting the day with a 6-pound, 14-ounce lead over second, each fish no matter the size makes McMillan harder and harder to catch.

Anderson hooks up with what looks like a giant…

but this one turns out to be a small keeper. A keeper still though, and those are hard to come by.

McMillan swings and misses.

Becoming more and more frustrated as the fish don’t seem to be getting the bait.

McMillan swaps over to another rod to get back in quick but no luck.

Clouds and wind are not helpful for McMillan’s pattern. He needs to be able to see down into the water so he can spot clumps of hydra growing up from the bottom. Some of his better fish have come from submerged clumps in 10-to-12-feet of water. These clouds are making it very difficult to see where to pitch.