Shuffield Tops 100 Pounds To Pace KO Round

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Photo: MLF/Rob Matsuura

Spencer Shuffield eclipsed the century mark on Saturday without visiting his best water.

By MLF Communications Staff

MANY, La. – After hovering near the top of the leaderboard in the two-day Qualifying Round, Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas, finished Day 5 of competition on top, catching 30 scorable bass weighing 101-14 to pace the Knockout Round and advance to the final day of competition at the MLF Bass Pro Tour season opener at Toledo Bend Reservoir.

Shuffield took over the lead mid-day, rising to the top of a stacked field advancing into Sunday’s Championship Round. Other qualifiers include REDCREST 2021 champion Dustin Connell of Clanton, Arkansas, two-time Angler of the Year (AOY) winner Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tennessee and reigning AOY Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tennessee, along with three Bass Pro Tour rookies – Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois, local favorite Justin Cooper of Zwolle, Louisiana, and Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Virginia.

In the Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Shuffield joined an exclusive club of BPT anglers by stacking more than 100 pounds of bass on ScoreTracker in a single day. A handful of anglers have put up 100-pound days during the first six Bass Pro Tour seasons, but Shuffield is the first to do so with all largemouth. Perhaps even more impressive than hitting the century mark is that he did so while keeping some fish in reserve for the Championship Round.

While weights will zero when the Top 10 anglers return to the water, Shuffield is optimistic that he can put up even bigger numbers and claim his first career BPT win.

“Tomorrow it’s all going to get left out there on the table, so I’m looking forward to it,” Shuffield said. “I haven’t been able to truly lean on these fish yet this week. Tomorrow, we get to – and, man, it would be sweet to break 200 pounds because it’s definitely possible.”

Shuffield finished the Knockout Round 21-14 ahead of second-place Connell, who racked up more than 45 pounds in the first period before switching to practice mode. Wheeler finished third with 72-12. Those three have looked to be the most in tune with Toledo Bend’s bass all week.

Shuffield said he’d never fished Toledo Bend prior to December, when he spent a few days on the massive reservoir to pre-practice for the event. Ever since that visit, he’s had his sights set on taking home the first trophy of the year.

One of the best on tour at using forward-facing sonar to target suspended fish, Shuffield figured Toledo Bend’s shad-hungry bass would set up to his liking. A successful practice only bolstered his confidence.

While Shuffield racked up more than 130 pounds across the two-day Qualifying Round, easily earning a spot in the Knockout Round, he emerged a bit disappointed. Saturday was more like the success he experienced during practice.

“I kind of lost contact with these bigger fish after practice for some reason,” Shuffield explained. “I had ‘em dialed in really good in practice, and then got out here first day of the tournament; they had really changed on me. The water went from 48 to 52 (degrees), and it was warming up a lot this morning and they had moved again, back out to kind of where they were in practice. I think a lot of that had to do with cloud cover, and the water was back to 50 degrees this morning.”

Like just about everyone else in the Top 10, Shuffield has caught the majority of his fish this week with a soft-plastic minnow affixed to a jighead. The key, he said, has been locating groups of bigger-than-average bass. He certainly found them Saturday, boating 10 fish of 4 pounds or bigger.

“It’s the type of bait that I’m looking for,” Shuffield said. “It’s all threadfin shad, of course, but when you find the bait set up correctly on the right type of area and place, you find the bigger quality fish.”

The scariest part for the rest of the field: Shuffield didn’t even visit his most promising spots during the Knockout Round. He ran all new water, adding a few more areas to his arsenal that he could turn to on Sunday. He also thinks he’ll have his fish to himself, saying he didn’t see another competitor all day.

“I said coming into the day that if I could make it to tomorrow without fishing through my best stuff, then I felt like I could win,” Shuffield said. “Today was brand new water, every bit of it.”

With the forecast calling for lighter winds during the Championship Round and the likes of Connell and Wheeler sure to keep the pedal to the metal all day, prepare for fireworks. While he brought up the possibility of hitting the 200-pound mark, Shuffield realistically thinks it will take about 120 pounds to claim the $100,000 first place prize.

“I’ve got four, five, six areas that really, really got ‘em, so I’m really excited about tomorrow, getting to come out here — it’s going to be no wind — so I’m looking forward to putting the pedal to the gas,” Shuffield said.

Mark Daniels, Jr., of Tuskegee, Alabama, caught an 8-15 largemouth on a jerkbait in the first period to claim Saturday’s Berkley Big Bass Award. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The final 10 anglers competing in Sunday’s Championship Round will launch at 7:30 a.m. CT from Cypress Bend Park, located at 3462 Cypress Bend Drive in Many. The takeout will be held at the park beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the ScoreTracker leaderboard and event coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com .

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on Sunday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

Knockout Round

(Figure at far right denotes weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Spencer Shuffield -- 101-14 (30) -- 5-14

2. Dustin Connell -- 80-01 (30) -- 3-15

3. Jacob Wheeler -- 72-12 (22) -- 5-09

4. Zack Birge -- 65-13 (20) -- 7-12

5. Drew Gill -- 60-13 (18) -- 5-01

6. Matt Becker -- 55-12 (18) -- 4-15

7. Justin Cooper -- 52-07 (20) -- 5-11

8. Alton Jones Jr. -- 50-13 (17) -- 4-11

9. Martin Villa -- 43-00 (14) -- 5-10

10. Jesse Wiggins -- 38-15 (14) -- 3-15