By MLF Communications Staff
While Lake Guntersville continues to show out for anglers across the board, Spencer Shuffield put together yet another stellar day, bringing a limit weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces to the stage on Day 3 to lead the final 10 anglers and advance to the last day of competition at the MLF Pro Circuit event on Alabama's Lake Guntersville. Shuffield’s three-day total of 63-07 was 12 ounces more than rookie Nick Hatfield, who brought a limit weighing 21-15 to the scales for a three-day total of 62-11.
Lane Olson dropped from second place to third with a limit weighing 19-01 for a three-day total of 61-09, while reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) Michael Neal finished the day in fourth place with a limit weighing 19-09, giving him a three-day total of 61-02. REDCREST 2022 champion Bobby Lane brought the biggest bag of the day to the stage – 22-09 – for a three-day total of 59-13 to round out the Top 5.
After starting the day in 32nd place, Brandon Mosley made the biggest move of the day, weighing a 20-04 stringer for a total of 54-07 to slide into the 10 and final spot in Sunday’s Championship Round.
Weights will be zerooed for the Championship Round and the angler who 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 4 1/2-pounder to cull out a 3 1/2-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 final 10 anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. CT Sunday from the Lake Guntersville State Park, located at 1155 Lodge Drive in Guntersville. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will also be held at the park at 2:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged 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.
Abu Garcia will be giving a free rod and reel combos from 12:30-2:30 p.m. to the first 100 high school anglers to check in at the MLF booth and fans can also meet PAW Patrol’s Marshall and Skye prior to the weigh-in from 1-2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Day 3 Standings
1. Spencer Shuffield -- 25-06 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 19-06 (5) -- 63-07 (15)
2. Nick Hatfield -- 19-13 (5) -- 20-15 (5) -- 21-15 (5) -- 62-11 (15)
3. Lane Olson -- 15-10 (5) -- 26-14 (5) -- 19-01 (5) -- 61-09 (15)
4. Michael Neal -- 22-02 (5) -- 19-07 (5) -- 19-09 (5) -- 61-02 (15)
5. Bobby Lane -- 14-07 (5) -- 22-13 (5) -- 22-09 (5) -- 59-13 (15)
6. Nick Lebrun -- 16-15 (5) -- 22-02 (5) -- 19-08 (5) -- 58-09 (15)
7. Jacob Wall -- 20-07 (5) -- 19-14 (5) -- 16-02 (5) -- 56-07 (15)
8. Ron Nelson -- 21-13 (5) -- 16-15 (5) -- 17-00 (5) -- 55-12 (15)
9. Josh Butler -- 20-14 (5) -- 17-04 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 55-09 (15)
10. Brandon Mosley -- 11-13 (5) -- 22-06 (5) -- 20-04 (5) -- 54-07 (15)
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on Day 4
11. Derrick Snavely -- 17-11 (5) -- 21-00 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 54-05 (15) -- $11,000
12. Blake Hall -- 16-11 (5) -- 17-02 (5) -- 19-15 (5) -- 53-12 (15) -- $11,000
13. Justin Lucas -- 18-12 (5) -- 16-01 (5) -- 18-10 (5) -- 53-07 (15) -- $11,000
14. Rusty Salewske -- 19-00 (5) -- 20-10 (5) -- 13-08 (5) -- 53-02 (15) -- $11,000
15. Jared McMillan -- 21-03 (5) -- 14-08 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 52-06 (15) -- $11,000
16. Trevor Fitzgerald -- 17-06 (5) -- 18-01 (5) -- 16-13 (5) -- 52-04 (15) -- $11,000
17. Kyle Cortiana -- 15-12 (5) -- 19-03 (5) -- 17-05 (5) -- 52-04 (15) -- $11,000
18. Dylan Hays -- 20-07 (5) -- 15-07 (5) -- 15-14 (5) -- 51-12 (15) -- $11,000
19. Skeet Reese -- 20-06 (5) -- 13-09 (5) -- 17-09 (5) -- 51-08 (15) -- $11,000
20. Chris Lane -- 12-02 (5) -- 21-07 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 51-00 (15) -- $11,000
21. Ricky Robinson -- 15-06 (5) -- 17-08 (5) -- 18-00 (5) -- 50-14 (15) -- $10,500
22. John Hunter -- 15-13 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 17-13 (5) -- 50-11 (15) -- $10,500
23. Mickey Beck -- 18-00 (5) -- 16-07 (5) -- 15-06 (5) -- 49-13 (15) -- $10,500
24. Grae Buck -- 17-15 (5) -- 17-09 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 49-07 (15) -- $10,500
25. Matt Becker -- 16-00 (5) -- 17-14 (5) -- 15-05 (5) -- 49-03 (15) -- $10,500
26. Kyle Weisenburger -- 16-02 (5) -- 16-13 (5) -- 16-03 (5) -- 49-02 (15) -- $10,500
27. Brian Latimer -- 15-02 (5) -- 18-10 (5) -- 15-04 (5) -- 49-00 (15) -- $10,500
28. Alex Davis -- 20-05 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 48-12 (15) -- $10,500
29. Larry Nixon -- 17-02 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 48-11 (15) -- $10,500
30. Cody Pike -- 16-13 (5) -- 17-00 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 48-10 (15) -- $10,500
31. Dakota Ebare -- 17-01 (5) -- 19-09 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 48-09 (15) -- $10,000
32. Tyler Stewart -- 17-08 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 13-05 (5) -- 48-04 (15) -- $10,000
33. Takayuki Koike -- 16-04 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 48-04 (15) -- $10,000
34. Jason Reyes -- 18-04 (5) -- 19-07 (5) -- 10-07 (4) -- 48-02 (14) -- $10,000
35. Josh Bragg -- 18-02 (5) -- 16-14 (5) -- 12-15 (5) -- 47-15 (15) -- $10,000
36. Steve York -- 14-14 (5) -- 20-02 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 47-08 (15) -- $10,000
37. Casey Scanlon -- 17-07 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 13-08 (5) -- 47-05 (15) -- $10,000
38. Clabion Johns -- 17-11 (5) -- 16-12 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 47-02 (15) -- $10,000
39. Chad Warren -- 10-06 (5) -- 22-04 (5) -- 14-06 (5) -- 47-00 (15) -- $10,000
40. David Walker -- 21-09 (5) -- 11-05 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 46-00 (15) -- $10,000
41. Robert Nakatomi -- 17-12 (5) -- 20-13 (5) -- 6-15 (3) -- 45-08 (13) -- $10,000
42. Ramie Colson Jr -- 18-10 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 45-08 (15) -- $10,000
43. Jim Moynagh -- 16-01 (5) -- 16-09 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 44-15 (15) -- $10,000
44. Tom Monsoor -- 21-06 (5) -- 13-12 (5) -- 9-11 (3) -- 44-13 (13) -- $10,000
45. Cal Lane -- 18-14 (5) -- 16-13 (5) -- 8-14 (3) -- 44-09 (13) -- $10,000
46. Mike McClelland -- 14-03 (5) -- 20-02 (5) -- 10-03 (5) -- 44-08 (15) -- $10,000
47. Shonn Goodwin -- 18-12 (5) -- 16-01 (5) -- 9-07 (4) -- 44-04 (14) -- $10,000
48. Jeff Bridges -- 19-04 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 11-10 (4) -- 44-02 (14) -- $10,000
49. Bill McDonald -- 19-09 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 11-08 (5) -- 43-15 (15) -- $10,000
50. Keith Carson -- 15-11 (5) -- 19-08 (5) -- 0-00 (0) -- 35-03 (10) -- $10,000