The fish were biting pretty well for the top 10 on the final morning of Toyota Series Southeastern Division event on Wheeler Lake. Overcast skies and a steady south wind put a perfect buzzbait ripple on the water back in the shallow flats in creeks – and the anglers were taking advantage of it.

Tournament leader Kip Carter got off to a great start in the first few minutes of competition with a solid keeper and a 4-plus-pound fish. Dustin Smith was also off to a good start with a quick limit and 3 1/2-pound kicker. By mid-morning, Harry Peyton had secured a strong 12-pound limit and Lavoyd Lemmond was putting his fifth keeper in the boat.

Early on, topwaters such as buzzbaits and frogs were scoring well for the leaders. When fishing the bottom, anglers were pitching tubes, lizards and creature baits to undercut banks.

Some anglers were planning to fish offshore today, but given the strong south wind, that may have hampered their plans. Word is the main lake was pretty rough, especially on the north side.

In all, the bite seemed to be much better when compared to the last couple days. Since no one in the event had a runaway lead coming into the day, things will be very interesting at weigh-in time. Be sure to tune in for the live weigh-in show starting at 2 p.m. CT on flwfishing.com.