Major League Fishing announced today that Bass Pro Tour competitor Spencer Shuffield has been stripped of his 2nd-place finish at the Cayuga Lake event, which took place last month. According to an MLF media advisory, Shuffield was disqualified "for intentionally removing a hook in a bass that was caught while sight-fishing before his MLF official could verify that the fish was hooked inside the mouth."
The advisory noted that Shuffield was one of several anglers who underwent polygraph examinations after the event and that he failed the test on two questions regarding the manipulation of hooks on bass that were caught while sight-fishing.
Shuffield will forfeit all earnings (2nd-place finishers in regular-season BPT events earn $45,000) and points accrued at the event. The DQ dropped him from 15th place to 38th in the Angler of the Year standings.
The full text of the media advisory can be found here.
