Arkansas' Ron Shuffield leads going into tomorrow's final round at the Eufaula BASSMASTER, but the bigger story is that Davy Hite is the 2002 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year.

Hite's phenomenal year -- two wins, a third Top 10 and whatever happens tomorrow -- was capped by his performance this week, which proved his words going into the tournament: he was fishing for the win, and was loving the pressure (for more on that, click here).

"I'm just tickled to death to win it again," Hite said, who won his first AOY title in 1997. "Winning the first Angler of the Year is great, but the second one says even more about you as a fisherman. It says that the first one wasn't a fluke, and that you're a consistent fisherman at this level."

Following are the final Top 10 AOY standings. Note that B.A.S.S. doesn't wait until after day 4 to hand out AOY points.

1) Davy Hite -- 714 points
2) Kevin VanDam -- 669
3) Tim Horton -- 654
4) Mark Davis -- 650
5) Larry Nixon -- 642
6) George Cochran -- 604
7) Bud Pruitt -- 601
8) Chuck Economou -- 599
8) Roland Martin -- 599
10) Dustin Wilks -- 592

Shuffield is Back, Brauer Too

Since B.A.S.S.'s now-defunct World Championship Fishing circuit, not much has been heard from Shuffield, who at one point was one of the hottest pros on the circuit.

"I've really struggled," he said today. "I've only had two paychecks in the last two years, and I've been disgusted with my performance. I was at the point where I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be around this sport much longer. I'm not going to be one of those guys who stayed around too long and went broke. So it feels good to catch fish again and be in a position to win a tournament."

Also back in the Top 10 is perennial fan favorite Denny Brauer, who was last in a BASSMASTER Tour (Top 150) Top 10 in January 2000.

Here are the Top 10 fishing tomorrow:

1) Ron Shuffield -- 45-10
2) Dan Morehead -- 44-14
3) Randy Blaukat -- 43-03
4) Denny Brauer -- 42-15
5) Alton Jones -- 41-00
6) Davy Hite -- 39-04
7) Aaron Hastings -- 37-05 (rookie)
8) Todd Auten -- 37-03
8) David Walker -- 37-03
10) Mike Wurm -- 37-02

For the full day 3 standings, click here.

Fish Moved Out?

Today the conditions finally caught up with some anglers who bet the farm on the shallow-water bite. Three days of high water and boiling-hot sun made the water too warm, and the bass pulled back.

"Here's what happened," said Tom Mann Jr., who fished deep the whole tournament. "The lake got full as a tick -- the water kept rising the whole time we were here. When I pre-fished I caught them really well on ledges, which is where they're supposed to be this time of year. But they're not generating so there's no current. That sent all the fish shallow.

"Then we had tremendously hot conditions, like 90-95 every day. That warmed that (shallow) water up so much this week that finally today the bass got on the drops.

"My amateur partner had 16 pounds and big bass, and I caught 5 that weighed 9 pounds. The shallow guys didn't do as well.

"The shallow fish did not replenish," Mann added. "The bass that were up there were easy to catch, especially the first day. It was a little tougher (shallow) yesterday and still tougher today. I wish the tournament started this morning."

Yes for Klein

Gary Klein didn't make the Top 10, but he did qualify for the Classic thanks to a decision he made today to fish deeper --- but not deep.

"I fished shallow most of the tournament," he said. "The only thing I did different today was that I cranked -- but shallow, stumps in 4-8 feet of water.

"I felt that the fish were moving out. I didn't know any good deep stuff so I fished all outside stuff. I had two isolated channels that I didn't think were getting a lot of pressure."

He fished a deep-diving 3/8-ounce Berkley Frenzy crankbait in the new chrome/blue back finish to catch 4 of his 5 keepers. The first fish of the day he caught with the same lure he used on days 1 an 2: a 1/2-ounce Lunker Lure Rattleback jig (black/blue) with a Berkley Power Craw trailer in the same color.

No for Blaukat

When the deep fish didn't show up on day 1, many of the pros that had been fishing deep moved shallow on day 2. The result: crowded water. But not for Randy Blaukat, who's 3rd going into tomorrow's final round, and has been fishing exclusively shallow.

"I've been fishing shallow the whole time," he said. "I haven't seen another tournament boat yet where I'm fishing. I have it totally to myself, and those spots are hard to find these days in tournaments.

"With the water up, I made a commitment to (fish shallow)," Blaukat said. "I don't know anything about the history of fishing deep here," he added, "and a lot of guys fishing deep here had a lot of local help, which I don't use."

As far as the shallow fishing moving out, Blaukat said it partly "depends on the area you're in. A lot of what's going on here is that most everybody is getting their fish early. They're pulling water until about 9:30 so that's when the shad are really active."

When the water stops moving, the shad "go down and the bite gets really tough. You can catch a few, but have to work hard. It doesn't matter what technique you're using."

Dean Rojas described the same phenomenon: "There seemed to be a lull between 9:00 and 11:00," he said. "It was very flat in the morning and it's hard to catch them when it's like that. Around noon the wind picked up and some cloud cover came in, and the fish got a little more active."

Blaukat said that he's still learning how to adjust during the slow part of the day. "I haven't made the determination whether I need to make a bait change or an area change, but I'm learning a little more every day."

Notable

> Right after weighing in, Larry Nixon flew back home to Arkansas to see his daughter graduate. Had he made the Top 10, he would have taken the red-eye back to fish in the morning.

> Rojas caught 12 1/2 pounds today, meaning that he improved his weight every day. Not bad for his first time on the lake, and after being sick as a dog for two days of practice. "I caught them all flipping," he said. "It's a bite I found on the very last day of practice, in the afternoon."

Weather Forecast

> Sat, May 11 -- Partly Cloudy -- high 91°F, low 66°F
- Wind: from the E/SE to SE to S/SE up to 6 mph

Launch/Weigh-In Info

Tomorrow's launch is at 5:30 a.m. and the weigh-in is at 3:00 p.m., both at Lakepoint State Park Marina. Also, the Bluff City Bassmasters are hosting a CastingKids event from 11:00 to 1:30 at the park.