By MLF Communications Staff

EUFAULA, Okla. – A Lake Eufaula that had been stingy on Day 1 of the MLF Bass Pro Tour event proved a bit more fruitful when Group B took to the water Wednesday for its opening day of the Qualifying Round. Rookie pro Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Va. led the charge, stacking 13 scorable bass for 34 pounds, 15 ounces on ScoreTracker.

After spring thunderstorms caused the lake level to spike nearly 4 feet between the start of practice and the beginning of the event, it stabilized overnight, and the fish became more cooperative. Villa was one of three pros to top 30 pounds after no one hit that mark in Group A. He leads Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, by 3-9, with Randy Howell of Guntersville, Ala., just 5 ounces back of Omori.

Villa’s near-35-pound outing didn’t unfold nearly as smoothly as it might seem. He arrived at his starting spot to find current roaring through the area, which made it difficult to fish.

He then made an adjustment and caught the bulk of his weight — nine scorable bass for 25-0 — in about a two-hour span before an equipment issue prevented him from running any new water. He spent the entirety of the third period only using his trolling motor.

“When I got to my first stop, there was a pile of current ripping through there,” Villa said. “Combine that with a little bit of wind, it kind of made it difficult for me. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise, because I knew that something had changed. I completely opened my mind up, because going into that, I thought I had one thing I was looking for, and it was completely not what I was looking for. And so, I was grateful that I was able to make the adjustment.”

Villa didn’t want to divulge too many details about his tactics, but said he used finesse techniques to catch most of his bass. He fished both shallow and offshore, with a few of his fish coming from a shad-spawn bite.

The biggest key, he said, was simply finding areas “where there’s some life.” He compared the current state of Eufaula, with swaths of muddy water making portions of the 100,000-plus-acre reservoir unfishable, to Lake Okeechobee in that regard — except this week, those lifeless zones are constantly moving.

“They’re letting water loose now, and so that red mud is moving miles each day,” Villa said. “And when the wind blows with the current, it seems like it just flies out of there. I felt like I was on a tidal river when you got to certain areas.”

Once he made his adjustment, Villa generated bites in bunches. He supplemented his quantity with quality, boating a pair of 4-pounders. With catch numbers still fairly low across the field Wednesday — only 15 of 40 competitors caught at least five scorable bass — it looks like fooling fish of that caliber will be key. Eight of the Top 10 anglers in Group B landed at least one 4-pounder, and Villa caught two.

“It’s huge, because one quality female right now is worth three males,” he said. “And it’s not like we’re catching 30 scorables a day.”

While Villa felt good about making a successful adjustment, he’s concerned he’ll need to do so again when Group B returns to the water on Friday. In his words, “the one constant is change” on Eufaula this week.

Given his cushion of more than 18 pounds over the cut line, his hope is to catch five scorable bass early Friday, then use the rest of the day to explore new areas of the reservoir in preparation for the Knockout Round.

“I hope that I can do my job as a professional angler and put five fish in the boat,” Villa said. “I do feel like if I’m able to put some weight in the boat early, I owe it to myself to try some different stuff.”

Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn. earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after a 5-9 largemouth bit his wacky rig in Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and another $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The 39 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday, with the 40 anglers in Group B on the water Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish first through 10th from both groups advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round, where weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch at 7:30 a.m. CT each day from the Peter’s Point-Nichols Point Boat Ramp, located on Dabbs Road in Eufaula. Each day’s takeout is held at the boat ramp 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.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

The event features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the ScoreTracker leaderboard. Anglers are competing with a 1-8 minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.



Qualifying Group B – Day 1

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

1. Martin Villa -- 34-15 (13) -- 4-12

2. Takahiro Omori -- 31-06 (12) -- 4-05

3. Randy Howell -- 31-01 (13) -- 5-03

4. Cole Floyd -- 26-09 (10) -- 5-04

5. Drew Gill -- 23-03 (10) -- 4-09

6. Skeet Reese -- 19-13 (8) -- 3-08

7. Jeff Sprague -- 19-02 (7) -- 4-09

8. Britt Myers -- 18-11 (7) -- 5-08

9. Ott DeFoe -- 16-14 (5) -- 5-09

10. Gary Klein -- 16-04 (6) -- 3-12

11. Terry Scroggins -- 15-00 (8) -- 2-05

12. John Murray -- 13-11 (6) -- 3-04

13. Bobby Lane -- 13-09 (5) -- 4-01

14. Jacob Wall -- 12-07 (5) -- 4-09

15. Zack Birge -- 11-03 (5) -- 3-02

16. Gerald Spohrer -- 10-00 (4) -- 3-11

17. Greg Vinson -- 9-03 (2) -- 5-05

18. Ron Nelson -- 9-02 (4) -- 2-10

19. Ryan Salzman -- 8-12 (3) -- 4-03

20. Jesse Wiggins -- 8-07 (4) -- 2-06

21. Matt Lee -- 7-03 (4) -- 2-02

22. Josh Bertrand -- 7-02 (3) -- 3-10

23. Matt Becker -- 7-02 (3) -- 3-05

24. Nick Hatfield -- 5-12 (3) -- 2-04

25. Keith Poche -- 5-11 (3) -- 2-03

26. Colby Schrumpf -- 5-04 (2) -- 3-08

27. Scott Suggs -- 5-03 (3) -- 2-01

28. Stephen Browning -- 4-11 (2) -- 3-00

29. James Elam -- 4-07 (2) -- 2-05

30. Edwin Evers -- 4-04 (2) -- 2-08

31. David Walker -- 4-01 (2) -- 2-03

32. Michael Neal -- 3-12 (2) -- 2-01

33. David Dudley -- 3-12 (2) -- 1-15

34. John Hunter -- 3-08 (1) -- 3-08

35. Spencer Shuffield -- 2-09 (1) -- 2-09

36. Fletcher Shryock -- 1-09 (1) -- 1-09

36. Jacopo Gallelli -- 1-09 (1) -- 1-09

38. Adrian Avena -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00

38. Fred Roumbanis -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00

38. Joshua Weaver -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00