BassFan yesterday published an interesting stat that involved age. Average age for the current Top 10 in the Toyota Tundra BASS Angler of the Year (AOY) race is 34. Average age for the Top 10 in the FLW Tour AOY race is 39. But when you take Ron Shuffield out of the FLW Tour equation, average age dips to 34 – same as BASS.
In fact, Shuffield's a full 9 years older than any other angler in either Top 10. And in a year when many of his age peers like Larry Nixon, Denny Brauer, David Fritts, Rick Clunn, Peter Thliveros, Zell Rowland and Paul Elias are fighting to simply make a championship, Shuffield's chasing an AOY title.
It's no fluke, though. Shuffield finished 6th in the FLW Tour points last year. And in recent months, he's risen to 16th in the BassFan World Rankings.
His ability to go toe-to-toe with the rising force of younger talent is the direct result of three things, he told BassFan:
1. He gave up golf
2. He's on the water nearly every day now
3. He embraces new techniques and works hard to refine them
Full Respect
When asked specifically about the points races this year, and the dominance of comparatively young pros, Shuffield said: "There's no question that the young talent gets better and better every year. The younger guys are great fishermen, and more and more of them are finding their place. People like Bryan (Thrift) and Brent (Ehrler) – I rank them among the top of anybody on either tour right now as far as guys hitting their stride.
"I'm not at all surprised to see Bryan doing so well. He's been a sleeper for a long time. He was finally able to break loose and win one this year, and winning's sort of like a limit of fish in my opinion. The hardest two wins are your first and your last, and it always seems like when you win your first one, you get on a run. It happened to me in the late-'80s and early-'90s."
That's when Shuffield won the Rayburn Top 100, then finished 7th or better in three of his next five events.
The Whys
Plenty of older pros respect the new crop of talent – nothing new there. It's been that way for decades.
But when techniques and tour stops were more limited, the veterans could better rely on a limited bag of tricks. Not so anymore. In particular, the influx of young western pros, the Japanese influence, bloated fields and pressured fisheries turned the technique-map upside down.
Flipping, pitching, cranking and jigs are still a big deal much of the time, but techniques like spinnerbaiting, buzzbaiting and Carolina-rigging are barely a blip on the radar.
The way Shuffield sees it, in order to compete against the younger crowd in today's tour scene, you not only have to experiment with new techniques, but master them. At the same time, you have to mimic the time investment young pros make and spend as many hours as possible atop an aquatic environment.
He's done all that, as he described under three separate topics:
Gave Up Golf
"I'm fishing an awful lot. I quit playing golf 3 years ago. I was spending more time playing golf than working on my fishing."
Started Guiding
"With my guide service on Lake Fork (FishWithRon.com), I'm staying really busy and I'm on the water almost every day. I'm also fishing local tournaments with my brother-in-law. I'm just keeping myself on the water and maybe that time is keeping me more in-tune."
Shuffield says his son Spencer (right) has been a big help – the two share information about emerging techniques.
Adapted
"I'm more adaptable than I've been in the past. It's no secret that in my early days, I made my claim to fame with a jig. It was one of the things I was able to do and I grew real good at it. But I hardly ever throw a jig anymore. I've gotten better with a wide variety of techniques, and I'm real comfortable putting down the flipping stick and grabbing a shakey-head or a jerkbait. I think one reason you see the young guys doing so well is they're so well versed in all techniques, and they're really good at everything they do. You can't just have a few good tournaments anymore and hope those get you through the year."
And it's interesting that Shuffield maintains a direct connection to the younger set through son Spencer, who's a 4th-year FLW Tour co-angler. The two travel and fish together, and regularly convo about new techniques and developments.
"Spencer has the opportunity to fish with a lot of the young guys," the elder Shuffield noted. "He shares info with me – some technique that he saw and learned – and he teaches me. I then go and try to refine them to suit me.
"And to tell you the truth, as I get older, it's hard to pick up a flipping stick and flip all day. I have shoulder issues, and aches and pains I didn't have when I was younger. I'm really just trying to adapt and survive. I think this year will be my 25th year as a pro, and I definitely consider myself a survivor. The reality is it's just a lot of hard work and effort and the willingness to change."
Notable
> Shuffield next week gets the rare opportunity to fish a close-to-home event at Lake Ouachita. He lives about 45 minutes from there, so he'll sleep in his own bed. He did note, however, that he knows very little about the post-spawn bite at the venue.
> Shortly after the run mentioned above (that started at Rayburn), he won two events in the same year – the 1991 Bull Shoals Top 100 and the Grand Lake Invitational. The 1993-94 season was also a good one, when he scored a Top 5 in three consecutive Invitationals.
> He no longer fishes for PTSI – the company doesn't run an FLW team anymore.
> Spencer finished in the Top 10 in the co-angler Tour points the previous three seasons and was runner-up twice. He's currently 6th in the points.
