By MLF Communications Staff
Rookie Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Florida, jumped from 3rd place into 1st on day 3 of the MLF Pro Circuit event at Lake Eufaula in Alabama, bringing a 20-12 limit to the stage. Lake Eufaula has been anything but predictable during the four-day event, which features bass fishing professionals from around the world competing for a top prize of up to $135,000; however, a handful of anglers have consistently stayed in the Top 10 all three days to move on to the final round.
Fitzgerald’s three-day total of 53-14 gave him a 1-11 advantage going into the final day, with Jason Abram of Piney Flats, Tennessee and David Walker of Sevierville, Tennessee within striking distance of the top spot. Abram maintained his 2nd-place position for the third day in a row, bringing in an 18-11 strubger to put his three-day total at 52-03, while Walker jumped from 7th place into 3rd with a limit weighing 20-12 for a 50-15 aggregate.
Fitzgerald, who brought in his biggest limit of the week on day 3, has continued to improve his weights each day of the competition by focusing on little brush piles scattered across the lake.
“I’m not fishing the big, beautiful piles set out on the obvious contour breaks,” said Fitzgerald. “Instead, I’m focusing on more isolated objects scattered out across vast flats. Some of it is brush, but smaller pieces of brush that have been there for a while – a single limb or laydown buried in the bottom.”
While other anglers are running bigger brush piles, Fitzgerald said he has 20 isolated pieces he's been rotating through and hasn’t had much traffic around those areas.
One pile, which Fitzgerald referred to as “magic brush”, has produced half of his total weight for the event.
“I don’t know what it is about this one brush top,” said Fitzgerald. “It doesn’t look like anything special – just a little top about half the size of my boat. There are a hundred others out there just like it, but for some reason I catch a good fish there every time I stop to fish it. I have not seen a single boat around it all week, but I had a couple spectators around me today, so I’m hoping they don’t fish it before tomorrow.
“I think the shad in the area are probably a factor because I can see balls of shad all around it on my LiveScope and when I catch a bass there, it’s belly is full of shad. I haven’t stopped there long enough to see how many I can catch off of it, but I may just go fish it all day tomorrow and see what it can produce.”
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. CT on Sunday from Lakepoint Resort State Park, located at 104 Lakepoint Drive in Eufaula. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park Sunday at 3 p.m. Fans are encouraged to follow the action online through the MLF NOW! livestream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Day 3 Standings
1. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 15-11 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 20-12 (5) -- 53-14 (15)
2. Jason Abram -- 20-03 (5) -- 13-05 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 52-03 (15)
3. David Walker -- 12-04 (5) -- 17-15 (5) -- 20-12 (5) -- 50-15 (15)
4. Bobby Lane -- 20-08 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 11-00 (5) -- 47-14 (15)
5. Cole Floyd -- 11-08 (5) -- 18-08 (5) -- 13-13 (5) -- 43-13 (15)
6. Ryan Davidson -- 16-06 (5) -- 10-02 (4) -- 15-14 (5) -- 42-06 (14)
7. Mitch Crane -- 16-00 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 11-01 (5) -- 41-00 (15)
8. Dicky Newberry -- 13-06 (5) -- 17-05 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 40-13 (15)
9. Skeet Reese -- 17-04 (5) -- 13-09 (5) -- 9-14 (5) -- 40-11 (15)
10. Ramie Colson Jr -- 14-01 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 40-04 (15)
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 4.
11. Michael Neal -- 9-08 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 14-06 (5) -- 40-04 (15) -- $11,000
12. Chris Lane -- 7-03 (4) -- 18-01 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 40-02 (14) -- $11,000
13. Dakota Ebare -- 11-08 (5) -- 13-00 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 40-00 (15) -- $11,000
14. J Todd Tucker -- 12-01 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 39-07 (15) -- $11,000
15. Kyle Hall -- 13-04 (5) -- 15-09 (5) -- 10-06 (5) -- 39-03 (15) -- $11,000
16. Jon Englund -- 9-05 (5) -- 18-02 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 39-03 (15) -- $11,000
17. Tommy Dickerson -- 10-14 (5) -- 16-03 (5) -- 11-13 (4) -- 38-14 (14) -- $11,000
18. Jim Tutt -- 10-14 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 12-03 (5) -- 38-13 (15) -- $11,000
19. Casey Ashley -- 14-06 (5) -- 12-04 (5) -- 12-02 (5) -- 38-12 (15) -- $11,000
20. Chad Warren -- 12-08 (5) -- 17-10 (5) -- 8-07 (5) -- 38-09 (15) -- $11,000
21. Jimmy Washam -- 14-10 (5) -- 9-11 (5) -- 14-02 (5) -- 38-07 (15) -- $10,500
22. Miles Burghoff -- 11-10 (5) -- 13-12 (5) -- 13-00 (5) -- 38-06 (15) -- $10,500
23. Jared McMillan -- 15-05 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 7-11 (4) -- 37-13 (14) -- $10,500
24. Lawson Hibdon -- 13-06 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 10-10 (5) -- 37-02 (15) -- $10,500
25. Troy Morrow -- 14-04 (5) -- 10-13 (5) -- 11-14 (5) -- 36-15 (15) -- $10,500
26. Danny Kirk -- 14-09 (5) -- 12-04 (5) -- 10-01 (4) -- 36-14 (14) -- $10,500
27. John Cox -- 19-02 (5) -- 8-01 (4) -- 9-00 (5) -- 36-03 (14) -- $10,500
28. Mike McClelland -- 10-12 (5) -- 13-06 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 36-01 (15) -- $10,500
29. Alex Davis -- 11-09 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 11-08 (5) -- 35-15 (15) -- $10,500
30. Shin Fukae -- 13-11 (5) -- 11-05 (5) -- 10-12 (5) -- 35-12 (15) -- $10,500
31. Cody Huff -- 12-11 (5) -- 11-11 (5) -- 11-05 (5) -- 35-11 (15) -- $10,000
32. James Niggemeyer -- 10-06 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 10-10 (5) -- 35-04 (15) -- $10,000
33. Kyle Weisenburger -- 11-01 (5) -- 13-06 (5) -- 10-13 (5) -- 35-04 (15) -- $10,000
34. Cal Lane -- 10-12 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 8-01 (4) -- 35-03 (14) -- $10,000
35. Brad Knight -- 16-04 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 3-10 (2) -- 35-00 (12) -- $10,000
36. Terry Bolton -- 14-01 (5) -- 11-08 (5) -- 9-05 (5) -- 34-14 (15) -- $10,000
37. Jeremy Lawyer -- 14-06 (5) -- 15-04 (5) -- 5-02 (3) -- 34-12 (13) -- $10,000
38. Justin Lucas -- 18-03 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 4-03 (4) -- 34-03 (14) -- $10,000
39. Ron Nelson -- 14-10 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 4-09 (2) -- 34-02 (12) -- $10,000
40. Takayuki Koike -- 11-04 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 7-09 (4) -- 33-15 (14) -- $10,000
41. Scott Dobson -- 12-06 (5) -- 14-08 (5) -- 5-07 (2) -- 32-05 (12) -- $10,000
42. Barron Adams -- 14-05 (5) -- 12-09 (5) -- 5-00 (3) -- 31-14 (13) -- $10,000
43. Evan Barnes -- 18-06 (5) -- 6-06 (4) -- 6-15 (4) -- 31-11 (13) -- $10,000
44. John Voyles -- 16-13 (5) -- 8-04 (4) -- 5-14 (4) -- 30-15 (13) -- $10,000
45. Laramy Strickland -- 9-15 (5) -- 14-09 (5) -- 6-05 (3) -- 30-13 (13) -- $10,000
46. Joshua Weaver -- 13-08 (5) -- 10-10 (5) -- 6-01 (3) -- 30-03 (13) -- $10,000
47. Darrel Robertson -- 13-06 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 4-06 (3) -- 29-13 (13) -- $10,000
48. Jon Canada -- 15-14 (5) -- 8-04 (3) -- 4-07 (2) -- 28-09 (10) -- $10,000
49. Corey Neece -- 14-01 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 1-08 (1) -- 27-10 (11) -- $10,000
50. John Hunter -- 12-08 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 3-06 (2) -- 27-10 (12) -- $10,000