GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (May 13, 2022) – Pro Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas brought a limit weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces to the scales Friday to maintain his lead after Day Two of the Stop 4 tournament on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama. Shuffield’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 44-1 gives him a 1-pound, 9-ounce lead going into the third day of competition as 156 professional anglers compete for up to $135,000.
Lane Olson of Forest Grove, Oregon, made a massive jump from 70th place to slide into second place on Friday with a monster limit weighing 26 pounds, 14 ounces, for a two-day total of 42-8. The 2021 Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee finished the day in third place with 10 bass weighing 41-9, while rookie Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee moved into fourth with a two-day total of 40 pounds, 12 ounces. New Hope, Alabama pro Jacob Wall finished the day with a five-bass limit weighing 19-14 for a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 5 ounces to round out the top five.
“The fish were biting like crazy right off the bat this morning,” Shuffield said. “Then they just stopped biting. I didn’t sit there and hit them hard like I would have if I needed a big bag. I fished out around them more than anything, but they just quit biting the crankbait I’d been catching them on.
“I threw a flutter spoon and a hair jig at them, but the wind was blowing from the side in a screwy direction, and I just wasn’t feeling it today,” Shuffield continued. “There were still hundreds of them there though. I was reeling in a white bass and an 8-pounder chased her all the way to the boat.
“I knew I already had four fish for over 14 pounds, so my heart just wasn’t really in it.”
Shuffield said he wasn’t too worried if the spot did shut down over the next two days, because he had some alternate options in place.
“I can go catch 13 to 14 pounds fishing shallow a hundred times over, but as far as catching a big bag, I’ll definitely have to catch them out on the ledges the rest of the event,” Shuffield said. “I’ve got four places where I feel like I have the potential to catch 20 pounds, and two of them are really good spots. That’s why I’d like to make it to Championship Sunday because I feel like I’d have all of those places to myself by then.”
As far as his strategy for Day Three, Shuffield said he plans to see what he needs to make it into the top 10 and go from there.
“If it looks like I’m only going to need 10 pounds to make it to the final round, I’m not even going to those big schools of fish tomorrow,” Shuffield said. “I’m just going to fish shallow all day, catch 13 pounds and have fun. I just need to make it into the top 10, then Sunday I’ll go hammer them.”
Although he isn’t leading the pack, Olson made quite the splash on Day Two as well, coming from behind to narrowly edge out Neal for the second-place spot.
“I fished up shallow most of the day yesterday and had maybe 10 ½ pounds or so,” Olson said. “I ended up running down the lake and pulled up on a ledge that I knew there were some fish on and ended the day with 15-10. I actually started on that same ledge the first morning, but never had a bite.”
Olson said he thinks the fish pulled up once the current started rolling in, a key learning which carried him to second place on Day Two.
“This morning I started on that ledge again and they weren’t there, so I went looking for them,” Olson said. “Within 10 minutes or so I found them again.”
Olson said he doesn’t foresee catching another 26 pounds on Saturday but is hopeful that he can get on them enough to at least make it into the Top 10 on Sunday.
“I’m just fishing out deep and have about 20 different rods rigged up on my deck that I’m throwing, but I caught those on a crankbait and a jig in about 15 to 20 feet of water,” Olson said. “I’m hopeful that I can replicate that again tomorrow.”
The top 50 pros that made the cut after Day 2 and will fish Saturday on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 44-1
2nd: Lane Olson of Forest Grove, Ore., 10 bass, 42-8
3rd: Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 41-9
4th: Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tenn., 10 bass, 40-12
5th: Jacob Wall of New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 40-5
6th: Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., 10 bass, 39-10
7th: Nick Lebrun of Bossier City, La., 10 bass, 39-1
8th: Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 38-12
9th: Derrick Snavely of Piney Flats, Tenn., 10 bass, 38-11
10th: Robert Nakatomi of Sacramento, Calif., 10 bass, 38-9
11th: Josh Butler of Hayden, Ala., 10 bass, 38-2
12th: Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 37-11
13th: Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 37-4
14th: Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 36-10
15th: Alex Davis of Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-15
16th: Dylan Hays of Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 35-14
17th: Jared McMillan of Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 35-11
18th: Cal Lane of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-11
19th: Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa., 10 bass, 35-8
20th: Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Fla., 10 bass, 35-7
21st: Keith Carson of DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 35-3
22nd: Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 35-2
23rd: Steve York of Bronson, Mich., 10 bass, 35-0
24th: Josh Bragg of Fayetteville, Ga., 10 bass, 35-0
25th: Kyle Cortiana of Broken Arrow, Okla., 10 bass, 34-15
26th: Tyler Stewart of Dubach, La., 10 bass, 34-15
27th: Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-13
28th: Shonn Goodwin of Moore, Okla., 10 bass, 34-13
29th: Mickey Beck of Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-7
30th: Clabion Johns of Social Circle, Ga., 10 bass, 34-7
31st: Mike McClelland of Blue Eye, Mo., 10 bass, 34-5
32nd: Brandon Mosley of Choctaw, Okla., 10 bass, 34-3
33rd: Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 33-15
34th: Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa., 10 bass, 33-14
35th: Casey Scanlon of Eldon, Mo., 10 bass, 33-13
36th: Blake Hall of Decatur, Ala., 10 bass, 33-13
37th: Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va., 10 bass, 33-13
38th: Brian Latimer of Belton, S.C., 10 bass, 33-12
39th: Larry Nixon of Quitman, Ark., 10 bass, 33-12
40th: Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 33-9
41st: Ramie Colson, Jr. of Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 33-7
42nd: Kyle Weisenburger of Columbus Grove, Ohio, 10 bass, 32-15
43rd: David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-14
44th: Ricky Robinson of Greenback, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-14
45th: John Hunter of Shelbyville, Ky., 10 bass, 32-14
46th: Chad Warren of Sand Springs, Okla., 10 bass, 32-10
47th: Jim Moynagh of Shakopee, Minn., 10 bass, 32-10
48th: Takayuki Koike of Otsu Shiga, Japan, 10 bass, 32-10
49th: Jeff Bridges of Pilot Point, Texas, 10 bass, 32-8
50th: Bill McDonald of Greenwood, Ind., 10 bass, 32-7
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Jimmy Neece, Jr. of Bristol, Tennessee brought a bass weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces to the scale on Friday to win the day's $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award. Overall, there were 723 bass weighing 2,170 pounds even caught by 151 pros Friday. The catch included 132 five-bass limits.