2023 Tackle Warehouse Invitationals T-H Marine Stop 5 at the Potomac River Day 2: Villa Take Lead!

 

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.”

TOP 10 BELOW

2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the Potomac River Day 2: Hibdon Continues Lead!

Canadian Erik Luzak 109th

Another generation of the Hibdon clan using a jig to claim the
lead for a second day. (Photo: MLF) 

Kyle Wood

TACKLE WAREHOUSE PRO CIRCUIT 

Press Release 

Day 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the Potomac River was tougher for some, but not for leader Lawson Hibdon, who bested his Thursday weight and added another 17 pounds, 8 ounces to his total to bring himto 34-8 after two days. Extending his lead to more than 2 pounds, Hibdon is looking to keep on pace for a win in his rookie season, though it won’t be an easy road as some certified hammers sit in the rearview waiting to strike.

Still, Lawson has proven to be one of the most consistent pros in the field, though he says his Day 2 looks better on paper than it actually was.

“It started off a lot slower than I was hoping,” Hibdon said. “I really thought that I was going to be able to pull up to a stretch of docks and catch about 12 pounds in the first 30 minutes and I didn’t.

“It was a lot tougher day today, and it doesn’t look like it, but it was. I only caught eight or nine keepers and had about 15 bites but they were just missing it and it was a weird day.”

With years of experience on Ozark fisheries, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hibdon has been catching fish off docks. What may come as a surprise is the fact he’s leaning on grass as well and doing a good job of it.

“It’s probably a 50-50 split,” he said of his grass and hard-cover pattern. “Some of the bigger ones I’ve caught have been around docks, rocks and basically anything that looks right. I’m just going until I see something that looks right, but about half of ‘em have been out of the grass too.”