The West Memphis, Ark., native moves on to the final day of competition as the No. 1 seed with a five-bass limit Saturday of 15-10. Rose’s three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 54-8 gives him a dominating lead heading into Day 4.

     “It’s awful special to be able to come out and be in the lead here,” said Rose, who is hunting for his sixth FLW tournament championship. “The Tennessee River just has a really special place in my heart. I’m fishing with a lot of confidence right now, just doing what I love to do.”

     Rose said the bites were hard to come by Saturday and he really credits his Lowrance Structure Scan as being the key to his success.

     “You have to idle and find these fish, and see where and how they’re set up,” Rose said. “You have to use your Lowrance to find the depths and positioning, and then decide what baits to throw. I couldn’t be doing this without it.

     “I know what the fish are doing, it’s just a matter of if they’re pulling up,” he continued. “There are a lot of fish out deep, and I’m having to catch the few aggressive ones that are pulling up to feed. I’m still only getting 6 or 7 bites a day. I lost a big one today, and it’s key to get those big bites. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and make the most of it.”

     Rose did not want to give out any information about his specific baits, but did give a few hints.

     “I’m throwing some reaction baits in the morning,” he said. “They seem to be biting the aggressive stuff earlier in the day. Then I’ve been slowing it down with some plastics and getting a few bites that way as well. I’m really wearing out my area, though. I’m milking it for all it is worth and I really hope that there are five more bites there for me tomorrow. It’s slim pickings.”

     Pro Blake Nick of Adger, Ala., remains in the No. 2 position through three days of competition, and advanced to the final round of 10 pros with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47-7.

     The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Wheeler Lake are:

            1st:     National Guard pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 54-8

            2nd:    Blake Nick, Adger, Ala., 15 bass, 47-7

            3rd:     Chevy pro Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 15 bass, 46-15

            4th:     Shane Long, Willard, Mo., 15 bass, 42-9

            5th:     Michael Williamson, Fort Smith, Ark., 15 bass, 39-15

            6th:     Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 15 bass, 39-9

            7th:     EverStart pro Randall Tharp, Gardendale, Ala., 15 bass, 38-12

            8th:     National Guard pro Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 15 bass, 38-3

            9th:     Folgers pro Scott Suggs, Bryant, Ark., 15 bass, 37-3

            10th:   Jerry Lawler, Athens, Ala., 15 bass, 36-4

     Finishing in 11th through 20th are:

            11th:   Russell Lane, Prattville, Ala., 15 bass, 35-3, $6,720

            12th:   National Guard pro Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 15 bass, 34-4, $6,720

            13th:   Art Ferguson III, Saint Clair Shores, Mich., 15 bass, 34-2, $6,720
14th:   Goodwill pro Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 14 bass, 33-15, $6,720

            15th:   Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 15 bass, 33-14, $6,720

            16th:   Tommy Martin, Hemphill, Texas, 15 bass, 33-10, $6,424

            17th:   National Guard pro Jonathan Newton, Rogersville, Ala., 15 bass, 33-0, $6,424

            18th:   Corey Saint, Lexington, Ala., 12 bass, 31-14, $6,424

            19th:   Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 31-6, $6,424

            20th:   Castrol pro Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 14 bass, 29-9, $6,424

     Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.

     Overall there were 95 bass weighing 198 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 17 five-bass limits.

     Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

     Nick Loeffelman Jr. of Valles Mines, Mo., won the co-angler division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 33 pounds, 7 ounces, followed by Jonathan Henry of Grant, Ala., in second place with 14 bass weighing 28-2 worth $4,309

     “This is such an experience,” said Loeffelman Jr. “It is awesome. I knew I would need at a five-bass limit today and luckily I was able to catch that by 9:30 a.m. Then it got very tough and I didn’t catch another fish throughout the entire day. I was pretty nervous.”

     Loeffelman Jr. said that all of the fish that he weighed in this week came on a Crock-O-Gator Shaker Head with a green pumpkin-colored Zoom Trick Worm.

     “I’m not much of a deep fisherman,” Loeffelman Jr. said. “I’m from Lake of the Ozarks. So here, I still used the same baits – just another 10 feet deeper. One thing that really helped me this week was all three of my boaters gave me plenty of water to fish. I knew if I just did my thing and the fish cooperated it would work out for me, and this time it did.”

     The top 10 co-anglers finished:

            1st:     Nick Loeffelman Jr., Valles Mines, Mo., 15 bass, 33-7, $20,000

            2nd:    Jonathan Henry, Grant, Ala., 14 bass, 28-2, $4,309

            3rd:     Alan Hults, Gautier, Miss., 15 bass, 26-7, $2,825

            4th:     Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 15 bass, 25-15, $2,232

            5th:     Mark Horton, Nicholasville, Ky., 15 bass, 23-10, $1,639

            6th:     Ben Todd, Pierson, Fla., 11 bass, 23-0, $1,342

            7th:     George Yund, Albany, N.Y., 13 bass, 21-14, $1,045

            8th:     Casey Martin, New Market, Ala., 12 bass, 21-6, $1,177

            9th:     Kevin Brumfield, Madison, Miss., 15 bass, 20-6, $867

            10th:   Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., 12 bass, 20-6, $808

     For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.

     Overall there were 58 bass weighing 95 pounds, 9 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included six five-bass limits.

     Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

     The top 10 pros will take off at 6:30 a.m. from Ingalls Harbor located at 802 Wilson St. in Decatur on Sunday. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 2800 Spring Ave. S.W. in Decatur beginning at 4 p.m.

     Fans will be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at the Walmart located at 2800 Spring Ave. S.W. in Decatur on Sunday from noon – 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

     Coverage of the Wheeler Lake tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs October 28 from 1 – 2 p.m. ET. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

     For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter atTwitter.com/FLWFishing.