GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (May 14, 2022) – While Lake Guntersville continues to show out for anglers across the board, pro Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas , finished yet another stellar day, bringing a limit weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces to the stage Saturday to lead the final 10 anglers and advance to the final day of competition at the tournament on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama. Shuffield’s three-day total of 63 pounds, 7 ounces, was a mere 12 ounces over rookie Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, who brought a limit weighing 21-15 to the scales for a three-day total of 62 pounds, 11 ounces, good for second place.
Pro Lane Olson of Forest Grove, Oregon, moved from second place to third, with a limit weighing 19 pounds, 1 ounce, for a three-day total of 61-9, while the reigning Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee, finished the day in fourth place, with a limit weighing 19-9, giving him a three-day total of 61-2. REDCREST 2022 Champion “Big Fish” Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the stage – the biggest bag of the day, 22 pounds, 9 ounces – for a three-day total of 59-13 to round out the top five.
After starting the day in 32nd place, pro Brandon Mosley of Choctaw, Oklahoma, made the biggest move of the day, bringing a limit weighing 20 pounds, 4 ounces to the scale for a three-day total of 54-7 to slide into the tenth and final spot in Sunday’s Championship Round.
The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition will resume tomorrow on Championship Sunday, where weights are zeroed, and the angler that catches the heaviest five-fish weight will earn the top prize of up to $135,000.
“I caught a limit pretty quick today, then idled around and ended up finding some good stuff later in the day,” Shuffield said. “I had 18 pounds or so and made a cast on a new school I found and caught a 4½-pounder to cull out a 3½-pound spotted bass, so it worked out pretty good.
“The spot where I’ve been catching my big fish all week, I thought I could win off of that spot, but after today I no longer think you can win there. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know if I’m going to try to fish it tomorrow,” Shuffield continued. “The second school I found during practice had the same potential as that main spot, I just haven’t had a chance to fish it because there have been two or three other guys on it all the time.”
Shuffield said fish out on the ledges just don’t seem to want to bite when there are multiple guys fishing them, and that rings especially true for the bigger bass.
“Today I was able to pull up on that second spot and there was no one on it,” Shuffield said. “The fish were set up just right and biting nearly every cast I threw at them, and there were even bigger ones following the ones I had hooked up all the way to the boat.”
Shuffield has caught all his fish this week on the Duel Hardcore Bullet Crank 7+, and said his last good fish today was caught on a Duel Hardcore Bullet Crank 5+, a new bait that will premiere at ICAST later this year.
“The cool thing about that crankbait is that you typically have to have current on those ledges to make the fish bite it, but the way I’m fishing it is forcing them to bite,” Shuffield said. “I feel like as long as they are bunched up together, current or no current, I can still get them to bite, just because of the way I’m presenting it. It’s completely a reaction deal, they have no choice but to snap at it, and they’ve been eating it really well.
“I’d be netting a 4-pounder on that second spot today and there would be six or seven 5-plus-pounders right there with her,” Shuffield continued. “I’ve left a lot of big ones out there this week, so I’m really looking forward to getting back out there and leaning into them tomorrow.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition Sunday on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 63-7
2nd: Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tenn., 15 bass, 62-11
3rd: Lane Olson of Forest Grove, Ore., 15 bass, 61-9
4th: Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 61-2
5th: Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., 15 bass, 59-13
6th: Nick Lebrun of Bossier City, La., 15 bass, 58-9
7th: Jacob Wall of New Hope, Ala., 15 bass, 56-7
8th: Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 55-12
9th: Josh Butler of Hayden, Ala., 15 bass, 55-9
10th: Brandon Mosley of Choctaw, Okla., 15 bass, 54-7
Anglers finishing 11th through 50th are:
11th: Derrick Snavely of Piney Flats, Tenn., 15 bass, 54-5, $11,000
12th: Blake Hall of Decatur, Ala., 15 bass, 53-12, $11,000
13th: Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 53-7, $11,000
14th: Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., 15 bass, 53-2, $11,000
15th: Jared McMillan of Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 52-6, $11,000
16th: Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Fla., 15 bass, 52-4, $11,000
17th: Kyle Cortiana of Broken Arrow, Okla., 15 bass, 52-4, $11,000
18th: Dylan Hays of Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 51-12, $11,000
19th: Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 51-8, $11,000
20th: Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 51-0, $11,000
21st: Ricky Robinson of Greenback, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-14, $10,500
22nd: John Hunter of Shelbyville, Ky., 15 bass, 50-11, $10,500
23rd: Mickey Beck of Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 49-13, $10,500
24th: Grae Buck of Green Lane, Pa., 15 bass, 49-7, $10,500
25th: Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 49-3, $10,500
26th: Kyle Weisenburger of Columbus Grove, Ohio, 15 bass, 49-2, $10,500
27th: Brian Latimer of Belton, S.C., 15 bass, 49-0, $10,500
28th: Alex Davis of Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 48-12, $10,500
29th: Larry Nixon of Quitman, Ark., 15 bass, 48-11, $10,500
30th: Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va., 15 bass, 48-10, $10,500
31st: Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 48-9, $10,000
32nd: Tyler Stewart of Dubach, La., 15 bass, 48-4, $10,000
33rd: Takayuki Koike of Otsu Shiga, Japan, 15 bass, 48-4, $10,000
34th: Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, 14 bass, 48-2, $10,000
35th: Josh Bragg of Fayetteville, Ga., 15 bass, 47-15, $10,000
36th: Steve York of Bronson, Mich., 15 bass, 47-8, $10,000
37th: Casey Scanlon of Eldon, Mo., 15 bass, 47-5, $10,000
38th: Clabion Johns of Social Circle, Ga., 15 bass, 47-2, $10,000
39th: Chad Warren of Sand Springs, Okla., 15 bass, 47-0, $10,000
40th: David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 15 bass, 46-0, $10,000
41st: Robert Nakatomi of Sacramento, Calif., 13 bass, 45-8, $10,000
42nd: Ramie Colson, Jr. of Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 45-8, $10,000
43rd: Jim Moynagh of Shakopee, Minn., 15 bass, 44-15, $10,000
44th: Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., 13 bass, 44-13, $10,000
45th: Cal Lane of Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 44-9, $10,000
46th: Mike McClelland of Blue Eye, Mo., 15 bass, 44-8, $10,000
47th: Shonn Goodwin of Moore, Okla., 14 bass, 44-4, $10,000
48th: Jeff Bridges of Pilot Point, Texas, 14 bass, 44-2, $10,000
49th: Bill McDonald of Greenwood, Ind., 15 bass, 43-15, $10,000
50th: Keith Carson of DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 35-3, $10,000
For a full list of results visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 236 bass weighing 739 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 49 pros Saturday. The catch included 43 five-bass limits.