Lake Eufaula Day 3 Coverage

Plenty of excitement, but plenty of heartbreak today

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2:20 p.m.: Final minutes on Eufaula will decide the top 10

Only 10 anglers will fish again on Lake Eufaula tomorrow. The other half of the top 20 goes home.

For several pros, the drive back is going to include flashbacks to missed opportunities. For every hawg caught today, it feels like another one jumped off or broke the line when it tangled in a thick brush pile. Lost fish very well could cost a few pros their shot at fishing on the final day.

For Wesley Strader and Dave Lefebre, today will be a memorable one for positive reasons. Wesley has 20 pounds or so in the boat. Lefebre is a little behind, but he's crushing giants too. Of course, he lost a few good ones that would've boosted him to a giant bag. John Cox also has a strong limit to bring to weigh-in.

Troy Morrow might slide out of today with the lead, but it won't be by much. And the guys behind him in line very well could change. Clent Davis is still in the hunt, but his weight will fall today. Randy Haynes is really struggling.

The pros have just a few minutes left before they have to check in and head to the Eufaula, Ala., Walmart. Check out the weigh-in on FLW Live at 4 p.m. CT on FLWFishing.com

12:20 p.m.: Wesley Strader is putting on a clinic

He's been the story of the day so far, and Wesley Strader just keeps sackin' fish. He has around 20 pounds now. He needs a huge sack to challenge the lead, but to have a shot at winning, he just needs to make the top-10 cut. It looks like he's in good shape to do just that.

Troy Morrow has been pretty slow for the last couple hours. He's still around 14 1/2 to 15 pounds. Clent Davis hasn't made a move yet. We estimate his weight at around 12 pounds.

The brush piles are getting hammered right now. Several pros are sharing the exact same piles, but they're still catching some.

About three-quarters of the field has a limit, doing one of three things: casting to brush piles, working shallow grass and pads, or dragging Carolina rigs and the like on ledges.

11:31 a.m.: Watch out for Lefebre and Strader

It's been a magical 2015 Walmart FLW Tour season for Wesley Strader and Dave Lefebre. Strader is the current AOY leader, but his standing is being threatened by rookie Zack Birge and several others this week. Today, however, Strader is proving that he's on his game right now, perhaps like never before in his career. The Tennessee pro has a 17-pound limit in the boat. He had a deficit of about 10 pounds to make up coming into today, and Morrow has about 14 1/2, so he's by no means taking over the lead. He is giving himself a great chance to fish again on tomorrow's top-10 day.

As for Lefebre, he hopes to make another magical comeback this weekend. He has more than 15 pounds in the box. His biggest is a 5-pounder. He still has a long way to go from 20th place.

10:57 a.m.: Zack Birge, Bryan Thrift and Darrell Davis are hanging around

Tournament leader Troy Morrow has 14.47 pounds, according to his digital scale, but he's not put this one away yet. Darrell Davis has culled several times and has about 12 pounds, we think. Bryan Thrift filled his limit. He's got around 15. Zack Birge has a limit, and while it's not big, it looks like he's figured out where his fish moved after they slid off the brush piles yesterday. He'll get back on track shortly. You can bet on that.

John Cox is having a good morning. He's not catching a lot of fish, but he's catching big ones. Cox has a 3 1/2, 6 and 3 in the box. He just made a really long run. Maybe the move will help him secure his limit.

Randy Haynes, Ramie Colson Jr., Clent Davis, Anthony Gagliardi, Scott Martin – they're all quiet this morning. It's almost lunchtime here at Lake Eufaula, so let's see who can get on them before we make the turn into the afternoon.

10:05 a.m.: Morrow is out in front, but Thrift and Lefebre are hot on his heels

Troy Morrow filled his limit with a 3-pounder at around 9:45. He's got two 1 1/2-pounders that he needs to cull out and he'll be in great shape to hold his lead today, assuming no one else smashes a mega-limit.

Of course, Dave Lefebre is gaining ground from 20th place and hoping that he has a little more magic like he had at Beaver Lake, when he made an epic comeback on the weekend to win. Lefebre only has four right now, but that includes a 3- and 5-pounder.

Bryan Thrift is one shy of a limit too. He's got a pair of 2-pounders, a 3 1/2 and a 5.

Several pros have made major technique changes, either going from deep to shallow or shallow to deep. Most of the top 20 pros are still fishing deep, leaving a lot of shallow water to guys like Darrell Davis and Jeff Gustafson. Perhaps a window will open and the bank bite will get hot today.

9:25 a.m.: Fishing is hot for most of the field

Condition update: The sun is high, but the wind is blowing, making for comfortable fishing conditions on Lake Eufaula. The wind should help sustain the shallow bite.

Overall, fishing has really picked up. Troy Morrow has four keepers. Darrell Davis has four too, and one quality fish. Shin Fukae has caught nine keepers that have culled him up to 11 pounds or so.

Wesley Strader and Zack Birge have really come on strong lately. Birge caught three keepers in about five minutes. And Wesley has four keepers, with two of them going about 3 pounds each.

Clent Davis is hoping to catch Morrow in the lead, and a 4-pounder in the livewell will certainly help.

There's no clear leader right now. In fact, it's very, very close across the board.

8:15 a.m.: Morrow, Gussy, Cox and Thrift off to a strong start

Despite the current, which should've actived the offshore fish, and a breeze, which should've helped the shallow bite, fishing has been a little tough this morning. A lot of short fish are being caught. In fact, Zack Birge has caught about five non-keepers and not a single keeper yet.

Leader Troy Morrow has a 4-pounder and 2-pounder in the box. Jeff Gustafson caught a 4 on a topwater. John Cox is working shallow cover and caught a 3 1/2-pounder. Adn Bryan Thrift has a 5-pound kicker to go with a 2-pounder.

The rest of the field is quiet, including Clent Davis, who's in second place. He can see fish on his depth finder, but they haven't turned on yet. It's all about timing out on the ledges and brush piles.

6:55 a.m.: Day three begins with good current flow

They've asked for it all week, and they've got it this morning. "It" is current flowing through Lake Eufaula. The current should position the fish within brush piles where pros can make careful, targeted casts to catch them.

No keepers to report just yet. Stay tuned to the live feed all day for updates.