For FLW Tour pro Anthony Gagliardi, the FLW Tour Major on Lake Eufaula this week is not so much about winning – although he’d love to notch his fifth Tour win on the Alabama lake – as it is about moving up in the rankings or at least holding place.

Gagliardi started the Majors schedule off about as low as you can go, finishing 165^th on Lake Okeechobee in February, but he has dug out of that deep hole with two top 10s in the last two tournaments, finishing 9^th on Lewis Smith Lake in March and 3^rd on Beaver Lake in April.

So far this year he has picked up $44,000 in checks and is ranked 42^nd in the Angler of the Year standings. The pro from Prosperity, S.C., was the FLW AOY in 2006 and he has qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup nine of the 13 previous seasons, with two top 5 finishes in the championship.

“I’d like to have that one (Okeechobee) back, of course,” said Gagliardi, who is both hopeful and confident about the rest of the season.

“I’ve never been to Grand Lake (June 6-9), but the next two tournaments are going to be offshore tournaments and I feel very comfortable fishing like that. It is one of my strengths,” he said. “If I get by this one, then after that first tournament, I feel pretty good about making the cut.”

Gagliardi said he believes it will take 15 to 18 pounds a day to win at Eufaula this week, but it will not be easy.

“Fishing is a little tough. I’ve talked to some of the guys and we all agree that it is hard to get a bite up in the day. There is a decent morning bite; everybody is catching them first thing in the morning, and then it is pretty much a grind for the rest of the day.”

Gagliardi said the fish are in transition, with some still up on the bank and some moving out to deeper water.

“There will be some guys fishing up on the bank and some out on the deep ledges,” he said. “There will be a little bit of everything going on.”

At this point, although deep structure fishing is one of his strengths, Gagliardi said he has not found anything consistent out deep that he feels comfortable committing to.

“I am catching some early up shallow and after that I am probably going sight fishing,” he said. “It’s not an ideal time to do that. There are not a lot of new fish coming in now with the fish on the downward side of the spawning cycle, but I can pick up one here and there.”

While Gagliardi has fished Lake Eufaula in the past and picked up a check in several of the tournaments, it has not been one of his strongest lakes. However, he is pretty confident the pattern he has found will give him a decent finish this week.

“I dug myself a pretty big hole and it put me on the bubble. At least if I can leave here treading water, I can go to the last two tournaments and make the cut for the Forrest Wood Cup.”

FLW Tour Major

May 16-19, 2013

Lake Eufaula

Lakepoint Resort State Park

www.flwoutdoors.com