By MLF Communications Staff
Bluebird skies and a calm breeze created a variety of options for 156 bass fishing professionals throughout Day 1 of the MLF Pro Circuit event at Alabama's Lake Guntersville. With bass in various stages of the spawn, anglers could pretty much pick their poison, targeting fish on beds, chasing the shad spawn and firing up offshore schools, which was where Spencer Shuffield racked up a limit weighing 25 pounds, 6 ounces to grab the early lead.
Shuffield, the leader in the Angler of the Year points race, ended the day with a 3-04 advantage over Michael Neal, the 2021 AOY, who finished the day with a five-bass limit weighing 22-02.
“Today was really good,” Shuffield said. “I found four big schools during the last afternoon of practice. I pulled up on the first one and caught an 8-pounder. As I was reeling that one in, about a hundred more fish came up and were schooling – and probably 30 of those were over 6 pounds.”
Shuffield said he chose not to start the day on his honey hole because no other anglers were on it and he wanted to keep it that way, so he went to work on one of the other schools that were firing early this morning.
“I caught a few there, but then I went back to that big school I found in practice and had over 25 pounds within eight casts,” Shuffield said. “I jumped off a 9-pounder as well, so it’s definitely the winning spot, no doubt. It’s just a matter of who gets on it over the next two to three days.”
Although the spot was empty right after takeoff, Shuffield said there was a local angler fishing there when he pulled up later that morning.
“He was so great and let me move into the spot,” Shuffield said. “I did see Alex Davis over there after I left today, and I watched him pull a couple 4-pounders out of it, but I know he lives here and knows the lake – and probably that spot – so I’m pretty sure he’ll fish it smart too.
“It wouldn’t bother me if [Davis] pulled up on it and caught another 20 pounds out of it. There are that many fish there – you can see hundreds of them on the Livescope and they are biting,” Shuffield continued.
With the weights zeroing after Day 3, Shuffield said his only fear is blowing out the spot too early in the event, and although he feels it might be better to just leave it alone for a few days until he needs it, with 11 bags weighed in over 20 pounds on Day 1 alone, staying ahead of the pack may prove to be a challenge.
“If the weights didn’t zero before Championship Sunday, I would hammer down on them the next two days for sure, but I’ve got to be a little strategic about it,” Shuffield said. “I’d hate to pressure it the next two days, then be hurting during the final round, but honestly I’ve got a good enough shallow bite going that I can go catch 15 pounds really easily doing that.
“I figure if I can just catch 14 to 15 pounds the next two days, I can make the top 10, then this spot would be fresh and I could pull up there on the final day,” Shuffield continued. “There’s potentially a 30-plus-pound bag there for sure, so I really want to try to save that spot for the championship round.”
Shuffield said although he has options deep or shallow, he caught all his fish on Day 1 offshore, fishing ledges, on a Duel Hardcore Bullet Crank 7+.
“That’s a new crankbait that just came out at ICAST last year,” Shuffield said. “It gets down to 26 feet on 14-pound fluorocarbon and you can throw it really far, but we haven’t visited any fisheries where I’ve been able to throw it.
“The fish I’m targeting are in about 22 feet of water, so getting that crankbait down to that depth is key,” Shuffield continued. “The bass just aren’t used to seeing crankbaits that deep, so that’s the deal, for sure.”
In Pro Circuit competition, the full field of anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The Top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition on Sunday, where weights are zeroed, and the winner is determined by the heaviest weight from the final day of competition.
Anglers take off at 6:30 a.m. CT each day from the Lake Guntersville State Park, located at 1155 Lodge Drive, in Guntersville. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park daily at 2:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the live on-the-water action all four days of competition online on MLF NOW! beginning at 7 a.m. CT at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Day 1 Standings
1. Spencer Shuffield -- 25-06 (5)
2. Michael Neal -- 22-02 (5)
3. Ron Nelson -- 21-13 (5)
4. David Walker -- 21-09 (5)
5. Tom Monsoor -- 21-06 (5)
6. Jared McMillan -- 21-03 (5)
7. Josh Butler -- 20-14 (5)
8. Dylan Hays -- 20-07 (5)
8. Jacob Wall -- 20-07 (5)
10. Skeet Reese -- 20-06 (5)
11. Alex Davis -- 20-05 (5)
12. Nick Hatfield -- 19-13 (5)
13. Bill McDonald -- 19-09 (5)
14. Jeff Bridges -- 19-04 (5)
15. Martin Villa -- 19-01 (5)
16. Rusty Salewske -- 19-00 (5)
17. Cal Lane -- 18-14 (5)
18. Shonn Goodwin -- 18-12 (5)
18. Clayton Batts -- 18-12 (5)
18. Justin Lucas -- 18-12 (5)
21. Ramie Colson Jr -- 18-10 (5)
22. Tom Redington -- 18-07 (5)
23. Jason Reyes -- 18-04 (5)
24. Josh Bragg -- 18-02 (5)
25. Todd Walters -- 18-01 (5)
26. Mickey Beck -- 18-00 (5)
27. Grae Buck -- 17-15 (5)
28. Robert Nakatomi -- 17-12 (5)
28. Joshua Weaver -- 17-12 (5)
30. Kerry Milner -- 17-11 (5)
30. Derrick Snavely -- 17-11 (5)
30. Clabion Johns -- 17-11 (5)
33. Kurt Mitchell -- 17-09 (5)
33. Joe Wieberg -- 17-09 (5)
35. Jamie Horton -- 17-08 (5)
35. Tyler Stewart -- 17-08 (5)
37. Casey Scanlon -- 17-07 (5)
38. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 17-06 (5)
38. Colby Miller -- 17-06 (5)
40. Braxton Setzer -- 17-03 (5)
41. Larry Nixon -- 17-02 (5)
41. Kyle Gelles -- 17-02 (5)
43. Dakota Ebare -- 17-01 (5)
44. Nick Lebrun -- 16-15 (5)
45. Shane Lineberger -- 16-14 (5)
46. Cody Pike -- 16-13 (5)
47. Randy Howell -- 16-12 (5)
48. Charlie Evans -- 16-11 (5)
48. Blake Hall -- 16-11 (5)
48. Andrew Loberg -- 16-11 (5)
51. Mark Rose -- 16-08 (5)
51. Jason Lieblong -- 16-08 (5)
53. Ricardo Gonzalez -- 16-07 (5)
54. Barron Adams -- 16-04 (5)
54. Mitch Crane -- 16-04 (5)
54. Takayuki Koike -- 16-04 (5)
57. Randy Despino -- 16-02 (5)
57. Darrell Davis -- 16-02 (5)
57. Kyle Weisenburger -- 16-02 (5)
60. Jim Moynagh -- 16-01 (5)
60. Mike Surman -- 16-01 (5)
62. Matt Becker -- 16-00 (5)
63. Matthew Stefan -- 15-15 (5)
64. Robby Lefere -- 15-14 (5)
65. Colby Schrumpf -- 15-13 (5)
65. Evan Barnes -- 15-13 (5)
65. John Hunter -- 15-13 (5)
68. Kyle Cortiana -- 15-12 (5)
69. Keith Carson -- 15-11 (5)
70. Lane Olson -- 15-10 (5)
71. Jim Tutt -- 15-07 (5)
72. Ricky Robinson -- 15-06 (5)
73. Chase Serafin -- 15-05 (5)
74. James Niggemeyer -- 15-02 (5)
74. Brian Latimer -- 15-02 (5)
76. Jimmy Washam -- 15-01 (5)
77. Chris Groh -- 15-00 (5)
77. Jon Canada -- 15-00 (5)
79. Steve York -- 14-14 (5)
80. Terry Bolton -- 14-10 (5)
80. Chad Grigsby -- 14-10 (5)
80. Brandon McMillan -- 14-10 (5)
80. Tai Au -- 14-10 (5)
84. John Voyles -- 14-08 (5)
85. Bobby Lane -- 14-07 (5)
86. Steve Lopez -- 14-05 (5)
87. Mike McClelland -- 14-03 (5)
88. Pete Ponds -- 14-01 (5)
88. Clark Reehm -- 14-01 (5)
88. Jimmy Neece Jr -- 14-01 (5)
88. Corey Neece -- 14-01 (5)
88. Kyle Hall -- 14-01 (3)
93. Gary Yamamoto -- 14-00 (5)
93. Cole Hewett -- 14-00 (5)
93. Laramy Strickland -- 14-00 (5)
96. Richard Lowitzki -- 13-15 (5)
97. Jacopo Gallelli -- 13-14 (5)
98. Jason Abram -- 13-13 (5)
98. J Todd Tucker -- 13-13 (5)
98. Blake Smith -- 13-13 (5)
101. Dicky Newberry -- 13-10 (5)
102. Ron Farrow -- 13-09 (5)
103. Wesley Strader -- 13-08 (5)
104. Brad Knight -- 13-04 (5)
105. Joey Cifuentes -- 13-03 (5)
106. Greg Bohannan -- 13-02 (5)
106. John Cox -- 13-02 (5)
108. Tommy Dickerson -- 13-01 (5)
108. Cole Floyd -- 13-01 (5)
110. Randall Tharp -- 12-14 (5)
111. Jeff Reynolds -- 12-13 (5)
112. Grant Galloway -- 12-12 (5)
113. Troy Stokes -- 12-11 (5)
114. Nick Gainey -- 12-10 (5)
114. Tim Frederick -- 12-10 (5)
116. Justin Cooper -- 12-09 (5)
117. Mark Fisher -- 12-07 (5)
118. Scott Wiley -- 12-06 (4)
119. Chris Lane -- 12-02 (5)
119. Lance Oligschlaeger -- 12-02 (5)
121. Mitchell Webb -- 12-01 (5)
122. Tyler Woolcott -- 12-00 (5)
123. Lance Crawford -- 11-15 (5)
124. Charlie Ingram -- 11-14 (5)
124. Jordan Osborne -- 11-14 (5)
126. Brandon Mosley -- 11-13 (5)
127. Jason Vance -- 11-11 (5)
128. Aaron Britt -- 11-10 (5)
129. Terry Luedtke -- 11-09 (5)
129. Dave Parsons -- 11-09 (5)
129. Stephen Albertson -- 11-09 (5)
129. Miles Howe -- 11-09 (5)
133. Billy Hines -- 11-07 (5)
133. Andy Newcomb -- 11-07 (5)
135. Jimmy Reese -- 11-06 (5)
136. Michael Matthee -- 11-02 (5)
137. River Lee -- 10-12 (5)
138. Jeff McLain -- 10-08 (5)
139. Chad Warren -- 10-06 (5)
140. Shannon Abbott -- 10-02 (5)
141. Brett Hite -- 10-00 (5)
142. Matt Reed -- 9-08 (4)
143. Scott Towry -- 9-07 (5)
144. Miles Burghoff -- 9-02 (4)
145. Rusty Trancygier -- 8-15 (4)
146. Jason Meninger -- 8-11 (4)
147. Stuart Arthur -- 7-13 (2)
148. Christian Greico -- 7-11 (3)
149. Scott Dobson -- 7-09 (2)
150. Darrel Robertson -- 7-05 (3)
151. Cole Harris -- 7-02 (3)
152. Phillip Dutra -- 7-00 (3)
153. Lendell Martin Jr -- 5-15 (2)
153. Cameron Mattison -- 5-15 (2)
155. Bruce Parsons -- 5-06 (3)
156. Jason Blair -- 5-03 (2)
