By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Spencer Shuffield keeps track of the total number of hours he puts on his Mercury outboard motor each year. In 2021, that figure (199) was too low for his liking.
"I did not spend the time on the water that I had in previous years, and that showed up in my fishing in finishes that weren't as high," said the Arkansan, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday. "I wasn't as sharp or as quick on the water.
"It's like in any sport – if you're not getting the reps, you're not going to be as strong. You still know how to do the reps, but the strength and the stamina aren't there."
He'd put in 499 hours in 2020, when he finished 2nd in the final MLF Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) standings upon his return to the sport after a 4-year hiatus. His 2021 campaign certainly wasn't bad by any standard – he finished 29th in the points and easily qualified for the TITLE Championship – but he had two 101st-place finishes and a 75th, all of which were worse than anything he posted the previous year.
He's already got over 200 motor hours this year and he leads a tight points race with half of the season in the books. He's had finishes of 4th at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, 24th at the Harris Chain and 37th at Pickwick.
Capturing the points title wouldn't be as financially rewarding as winning his first tour-level event would be – the former results in paid entry fees for the following season while the latter is worth $100,000. Nonetheless, he'd prefer to have the AOY crown.
"It's worth a lot more than 100 grand in my opinion," he said. "In my fishing career, even locally fishing team tournaments, it's always been about the AOY at the end of the year. It's the most coveted title on any tournament trail.
"I just feel like it would be such an accomplishment considering how good all these guys are now with all the technology and YouTube and everything like that. Everybody who's fishing at the pro level is a pretty good stick. You can look up anything about any body of water you're going to and a guy can become a pretty well-versed angler on a place he's never made a cast on."
Had Other Things Going On
Shuffield's reduced outboard time last year wasn't the result of any conscious desire to not fish. He just had a lot of other stuff happening, such as building a new home in Hot Springs and increased involvement with the activities of his three children.
He vowed that this year he'd be on the water at least 4 days during the weeks he was home between tournaments. He said he's actually been averaging 6 days.
"I wasn't going to let last year happen again," he said. "I've been on the water every day since I've been back from Pickwick. I live on Lake Hamilton, but I've also been to Ouachita, DeGray, Conway and some others."
The second half of the six-tournament season gets under way Thursday at Lake Guntersville. That's where he made his professional debut in 2011 in the event in which Paul Elias blew away the field with the newfound Alabama Rig. Shuffield finished 38th.
One Goal in Mind
Shuffield goes into the Guntersville derby with a 6-point lead over fellow Arkansan and former AOY Mark Rose. Three other competitors – Mitch Crane, Jacopo Gallelli and Josh Butler – are within 15 points and the Top 11 are separated by less than 40.
"I'm at the point in my career where I feel like I should have a legitimate shot at the AOY every year because of the way I've matured in my fishing, but I've got my work cut out for me," he said. "Mark's right behind me and you know he's going to have a good finish at Guntersville."
He badly wants to remain among the Top 10 and qualify for the 2023 Bass Pro Tour, as he feels he's well-suited to compete in a format in which every scorable fish counts toward an angler's total.
"The BPT – that's my deal," he said. "I've always concentrated on numbers instead of size. I've never dedicated a lot of time to catching bigger fish, even though I've caught a lot of big ones.
"Ever since I got my own boat, I've always tried to figure out which baits would get a lot of bites. I'd rather catch a hundred 2-pounders than five 10-pounders. I love getting a bite and I love reeling them in."
