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EUFAULA, Ala. (May 15, 2021) – Rookie Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Florida, jumped from third place into first on Day 3 of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundéns Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama, bringing a 20-pound, 12-ounce 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 Championship Sunday.
Fitzgerald’s three-day total of 53 pounds, 14 ounces moved him from third place into first giving him a 1 pound, 11-ounce advantage going into the final day, with pros Jason Abram of Piney Flats, Tennessee and David Walker of Sevierville, Tennessee within striking distance of the top spot. Abram maintained his second-place position for the third day in a row, bringing in an 18-pound, 11-ounce limit to put his three-day total at 52 pounds, 3 ounces, while Walker jumped from seventh place into third, with a limit weighing 20-12, to bring his total to 50 pounds, 15 ounces.
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 Lake Eufaula.
“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 has 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.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition Sunday on Lake Murray are:
1st: Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Fla., 15 bass, 53-14
2nd: Jason Abram of Piney Flats, Tenn., 15 bass, 52-3
3rd: David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-15
4th: Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., 15 bass, 47-14
5th: Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio, 15 bass, 43-13
6th: Ryan Davidson of Branchland, W.V., 14 bass, 42-6
7th: Mitch Crane of Columbus, Miss., 15 bass, 41-0
8th: Dicky Newberry of Houston, Texas, 15 bass, 40-13
9th: Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 40-11
10th: Ramie Colson, Jr. of Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 40-4
Anglers finishing 11th through 20th are:
11th: Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 40-4, $11,000
12th: Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 40-2, $11,000
13th: Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 40-0, $11,000
14th: J. Todd Tucker of Moultrie, Ga., 15 bass, 39-7, $11,000
15th: Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 39-3, $11,000
16th: Jon Englund of Farwell, Minn., 15 bass, 39-3, $11,000
17th: Tommy Dickerson of Orange, Texas, 14 bass, 38-14, $11,000
18th: Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 38-13, $11,000
19th: Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., 15 bass, 38-12, $11,000
20th: Chad Warren of Sand Springs, Okla., 15 bass, 38-9, $11,000
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 213 bass weighing 503 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 50 pros Saturday. The catch included 31 five-bass limits.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundens Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. at Lake Eufaula is hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.
In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit competition, the full field of anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The field was cut to 50 anglers on Saturday. Now, the top 10 pros based on their three-day cumulative weight advance to Sunday where the winner will be determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days of competition.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE presented by Mercury, the Pro Circuit Championship, where they will compete for up to $235,000. The 2021 TITLE will be on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Aug. 17-22, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.
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! live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers, Grundens Stop 4 Presented by A.R.E. – Lake Eufaula event will feature live on-the-water coverage and a two-hour action-packed television show that will premiere on the Outdoor Channel on Sunday, August 22 from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and re-air on the Sportsman Channel this fall. Weigh-in will be streamed and fans can catch live on-the-water action all day Sunday, May 16 on MLF NOW! beginning at 7 a.m. CT at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the MLF BIG5’s social media outlets at Facebook , Twitter, Instagram and YouTube .