A pro angler is in trouble in an FLW bass tournament when he starts worrying about his co-angler.
On Saturday, during the third round of the FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake, Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs fished the lower end of the lake with Bryan New of Belmont, N.C.
Shuffield led the pro division going into the third round, and New led the co-angler division. The co-angler fishes from the back of the boat and is pretty much at the pro’s mercy. The pro determines where they fish and sets the pace. He also gets first shot at all the best targets.
Shuffield struggled to catch a fish Saturday in the coves and pockets near Starkey Marina. He needed windroiled water to use his jerkbait effectively, but there was no wind in the pocket where he spent the early morning. Several fish hit the lure but didn’t take it. Shuffield complained about this phenomenon after Friday’s second round, too, but his frustration boiled over after it happened repeatedly Saturday.
Meanwhile, New consistently caught fish but none big enough to keep.
“I need to be on the other side of the lake in that wind,” Shuffield said.
He finally pulled up the trolling motor and sped across the lake to a wind-pummeled point.
It didn’t do him any good at first, but New caught them at an accelerated rate with his shaky head jig and swimbait. Again, none were keepers, and one was a small striper, but it didn’t matter.
All those fish coming over the back deck distracted Shuffield. He finally regained his focus when he caught his second keeper of the day. He caught it at precisely the same moment New caught another sub-legal largemouth.
Shuffield caught four fish- one shy of a limit - that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces for a three-day total of 34-5. He led the tournament going into Saturday but finished 12th to win $12,000.
New caught two bass that weighed 4-1 for a three-day total of 22-13. He finished third and won $5,000.
JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Beaver Lake also hosted the BASS Nation Junior State Championship on April 6, and four anglers from Rogers won everything.
Dayten Schuerman and Calvin Neff, both ninth-graders, gave Rogers High School the senior division championship. Dalton Johnson and Trevor Brunson, also of Rogers, won the junior division. Brunson attends Kirksey Middle School, and Johnson attends Elmwood Middle School.
Along with Schuerman and Neff, Warren Basinger and Dalton Baker of Magnolia will compete in the BASS Nation high school national championship July 16-19 at Kentucky Lake.
Schuerman and Neff will be part of the BASS state team that will compete against eight other states in the BASS central division championship June 4-6 on Lake Eufaula.
Roy Brunson, the BASS Nation Arkansas state youth director, explained the junior championship’s unique format. Each team competes together as a high school unit, Brunson said. That’s a departure from the previous format when anglers were paired randomly. The new format makes it essentially a high school championship.
Each team may weigh in a maximum of six fish in the one-day championship, but each angler may only catch a maximum of three fish. That gives each angler an equal opportunity to contribute and prevents one angler from dominating the fishing.
Schuerman and Neff weighed in six bass that weighed 9.43 pounds. Trevor Brunson and Johnson caught six bass that weighed 8.6 pounds. They caught all of their fish on red Storm Wiggle Wart crankbaits.
ARKANSANS ON TOP
Mike McClelland of Bella Vista won his seventh Bassmaster tournament last week by edging Mark Davis of Mount Ida in the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Table Rock Lake.
The victory also was McClelland’s fourth Elite Series title, and it broke a six-year drought.
McClelland beat Davis by only 13 ounces, but Davis extended his lead for Bassmaster Angler of the Year. He now has a 35-point lead over Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Davis said that an early lead is nice, but he isn’t going to relax.
“I know how AOY goes,” Davis said. “You can have one bad day, one bad event. It’s not three strikes you’re out. It’s one strike, you’re out.
“Happy to lead? Yes. But I know what can happen.”
The AOY title in 2014 would be Davis’ fourth. His first was in 1995, the same year he took his sole Bassmaster Classic victory. He followed with AOY titles in 1998 and 2001.
Sports, Pages 38 on 04/13/2014