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