Martin Villa stayed consistent on Day 2 to move into the lead. Photo by Matt Brown.
By Jody White, Invitationals
MLF Press Release
MARBURY, Md. – Slick and hot conditions made things a little tougher on Day 2 of T-H Marine Stop 5 at the Potomac River, and it showed on the leaderboard, as success on Day 1 was no guarantee of the same on Day 2. Moving up from third place, Martin Villa now leads going into the final day after adding 15 pounds, 7 ounces to 18-15 from Day 1 for a 34-6 total. Behind him, Nick Hatfield has 33-10, Michael Neal is third with 32-11, Cody Spetz tallied 32-9 and Potomac superstar Bryan Schmitt sits in fifth with 17-7.
While 30 pounds goes down the leaderboard to 21st place, the top five are stunningly tight. Considering how the Potomac has been fishing, and how free and easy Championship Monday is likely to be, things seem primed for one of the better Tackle Warehouse Invitationals final days of the year. With some big fish being caught, and some big hitters in the mix, it’s looking like a good day to tune in to the MLFNOW! live stream and maybe do a little less work than normal.
Hard cover has Villa on top
No stranger to the Potomac, Villa is an exceptional current fisherman who likes to hone his craft fly fishing for trout. Now, he’s in the mix for $80,000, and his efforts have him unofficially tied for the Angler of the Year lead as well.
Unsurprisingly, Villa is banking on specific pieces of hard cover at specific times. Running the tide and making a lot of effort to get on certain exact places – he checked one spot five times today before it was free of boats.
“I’m missing a grass bite – and I that know it’s the 1-2 punch that you need on this fishery – let me rephrase that, the big-fish grass bite,” Villa said. “It usually revolves around the topwater, but it just seems that when the tide is high they don’t really want to hit it, and when the tide is low I’m not really trying to be in the grass, because I’ve been fishing hard cover. And the places where the better fish are, they’re pulling off of the spawn. So, there are fish coming through every day, so hopefully there are some more there tomorrow.”
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