By MLF Communications Staff

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. – Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark. caught 13 scorable bass Friday, with his best five weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the two-day Group B Qualifying Round of the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Cayuga Lake. Shuffield’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 50-10 earned him the victory by a 10-ounce margin and advances him, along with the other Top 20 pros from Group B, into Saturday’s Knockout Round.

The lake was the real star of the tournament on Friday as the fishery absolutely showed out with numerous limits of huge, healthy smallmouth and largemouth bass being caught. Of the 40 anglers who competed Friday, 35 of them weighed in five-bass limits greater than 20 pounds – an astonishing figure that had MLFNOW! broadcaster J.T. Kenney calling the "Big Bass Factory of the North.”

Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tenn. caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 50 pounds even to end the round in second place, and Heavy Hitters 2023 champion Alton Jones Jr., of Waco, Texas, finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 48-12. Day-1 leader Cody Meyer of Star, Idaho, finished the round in fourth place with a two-day total of 10 bass for 47-11. Rounding out Top 5 was Mark Rose of Wynne, Ark., who caught 26-02 on Friday to finish with a two-day total of 10 bass for 47-06.

The remaining 40 anglers – the top 20 from each group – now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round on Sunday. Weights will carry over from the Knockout Round into the Championship Round, which will feature the final 10 anglers competing for the heaviest two-day cumulative total and the top prize of $100,000.

“Today was a very productive day,” Shuffield said in his post-game interview. “I broke 50 pounds and that’s what I really wanted to do – break 50 with all smallmouth – and we did it. It was a great day and I can’t wait to get back out here again tomorrow.”

Like the majority of the field, Shuffield sight-fished for smallmouth on Friday, and he caught his fish dropshotting a Strike King Baby Z-Too.

“I’ve been throwing the chartreuse color called siren, but I honestly don’t think color even matters,” Shuffield said. “I threw it on an Ark Reinforcer 7-foot, 3-inch medium-light rod paired with 15-pound Yo-Zuri SuperBraid line and an 8-pound Yo-Zuri T7 Premium fluorocarbon leader. I just worked down the bank, finding big smallmouth on beds.”

After catching his limit, Shuffield was able to spend the rest of the afternoon scouting new areas and looking for smallmouth to target during the Knockout Round.

“I marked probably 8 or 9 more bass over 5 pounds, and one that was for sure over 6-plus,” Shuffield said. “And the 6-pounder is sneaky, so I feel really good about that one.

“The guy that wins this thing is going to be the guy that finds them again tomorrow in the Knockout Round,” Shuffield went on to say. “The key will be finding a stretch that a bunch of guys aren’t already fishing, and then find four to seven good ones on it. If you can find the smallmouth, they’re absolutely ready and willing to bite. I’m looking forward to it.”

Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award went to Takahiro Omori, who weighed in a 7-02 smallmouth that bit his dropshot rig in Period 2. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Frontenac Park, located at 15 Creamery Road in Union Springs. Takeouts are held at the park beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

On Saturday and Sunday, the MLF Fan Experience will take place at Bass Pro Shops, located at 1579 Clark Street Road in Auburn, , from 1 to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to celebrate fishing and the outdoors. Fans can hang out and watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen during the MLF Watch Party. On Sunday at 5 p.m., the final 10 Championship Round anglers will be on hand for the trophy celebration and to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The tournament features pros competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, with each angler’s five heaviest bass per day tallied as their day’s weight.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney breaks down the extended action live from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET on each competition day. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Qualifying Group B – Day 2

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Spencer Shuffield -- 26-01 (5) -- 24-09 (5) -- 50-10 (10) -- 5-05

2. Matt Becker -- 24-02 (5) -- 25-14 (5) -- 50-00 (10) -- 5-09

3. Alton Jones Jr. -- 24-12 (5) -- 24-00 (5) -- 48-12 (10) -- 5-06

4. Cody Meyer -- 26-11 (5) -- 21-00 (5) -- 47-11 (10) -- 5-07

5. Mark Rose -- 21-04 (5) -- 26-02 (5) -- 47-06 (10) -- 6-02

6. Dean Rojas -- 25-10 (5) -- 21-09 (5) -- 47-03 (10) -- 5-10

7. Adrian Avena -- 21-02 (5) -- 25-14 (5) -- 47-00 (10) -- 6-06

8. Jonathon VanDam -- 24-10 (5) -- 21-12 (5) -- 46-06 (10) -- 5-06

9. David Dudley -- 23-02 (5) -- 22-00 (5) -- 45-02 (10) -- 5-07

10. Casey Ashley -- 22-13 (5) -- 21-15 (5) -- 44-12 (10) -- 4-14

11. Takahiro Omori -- 17-10 (5) -- 26-15 (5) -- 44-09 (10) -- 7-02

12. Greg Vinson -- 21-03 (5) -- 23-00 (5) -- 44-03 (10) -- 5-05

13. Ott DeFoe -- 22-14 (5) -- 21-05 (5) -- 44-03 (10) -- 5-03

14. Terry Scroggins -- 18-04 (5) -- 25-13 (5) -- 44-01 (10) -- 5-10

15. Chris Lane -- 23-04 (5) -- 20-12 (5) -- 44-00 (10) -- 5-05

16. Jordan Lee -- 18-04 (5) -- 25-02 (5) -- 43-06 (10) -- 5-10

17. Marty Robinson -- 19-05 (5) -- 23-12 (5) -- 43-01 (10) -- 7-00

18. Cole Floyd -- 21-09 (5) -- 21-03 (5) -- 42-12 (10) -- 4-06

19. Anthony Gagliardi -- 18-00 (5) -- 24-07 (5) -- 42-07 (10) -- 5-06

20. Andy Montgomery -- 21-06 (5) -- 21-00 (5) -- 42-06 (10) -- 6-08

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

21. Andy Morgan -- 20-01 (5) -- 22-01 (5) -- 42-02 (10) -- 4-11

22. Dave Lefebre -- 17-01 (5) -- 24-09 (5) -- 41-10 (10) -- 5-02

23. Bryan Thrift -- 15-13 (5) -- 25-06 (5) -- 41-03 (10) -- 5-14

24. Michael Neal -- 19-11 (5) -- 21-07 (5) -- 41-02 (10) -- 4-11

25. Boyd Duckett -- 17-02 (5) -- 23-10 (5) -- 40-12 (10) -- 5-09

26. Cliff Crochet -- 21-06 (5) -- 19-04 (5) -- 40-10 (10) -- 5-12

27. Fletcher Shryock -- 19-02 (5) -- 21-08 (5) -- 40-10 (10) -- 5-10

28. James Watson -- 19-10 (5) -- 20-15 (5) -- 40-09 (10) -- 4-09

29. Josh Butler -- 17-02 (5) -- 23-05 (5) -- 40-07 (10) -- 5-10

30. Britt Myers -- 21-14 (5) -- 18-01 (5) -- 39-15 (10) -- 5-01

31. Mitch Crane -- 12-01 (3) -- 27-07 (5) -- 39-08 (8) -- 5-12

32. Randy Howell -- 17-11 (5) -- 21-13 (5) -- 39-08 (10) -- 4-08

33. Randall Tharp -- 14-04 (5) -- 24-12 (5) -- 39-00 (10) -- 6-06

34. Ryan Salzman -- 18-08 (5) -- 20-01 (5) -- 38-09 (10) -- 5-06

35. Kelly Jordon -- 15-00 (5) -- 22-12 (5) -- 37-12 (10) -- 5-07

36. Wesley Strader -- 13-13 (5) -- 23-14 (5) -- 37-11 (10) -- 5-01

37. David Walker -- 11-15 (5) -- 24-00 (5) -- 35-15 (10) -- 5-06

38. Timmy Horton -- 19-11 (5) -- 15-15 (5) -- 35-10 (10) -- 4-00

39. Brent Chapman -- 17-07 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 33-02 (10) -- 4-07

40. Roy Hawk -- 21-01 (5) -- 9-14 (3) -- 30-15 (8) -- 4-03