Virginia pro leads Group B by 3 pounds, 9 ounces after Day 1, Group A to wrap up two-day Qualifying Round Thursday

EUFAULA, Okla. (May 1, 2024) – A Lake Eufaula that had been stingy on Day 1 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour MillerTech Stage Four Presented by REDCON1 proved a bit more fruitful when Group B took to the water Wednesday for its opening day Qualifying Round. Rookie pro Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Virginia, 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 start 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, Alabama, just 5 ounces back of Omori.

The six-day tournament, hosted by Vision Eufaula , showcases 79 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing for a purse of $659,000, including a top payout of $100,000 and valuable Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2025, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

Villa’s near-35-pound outing didn’t unfold nearly as smoothly as it might seem. The Bass Pro Tour rookie 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.”

The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day from competition Thursday, while the 39 anglers competing in Group A will wrap up their two-day Qualifying Round. Group B will finish their Qualifying Round on Friday.

The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on Lake Eufaula are:

1st:          Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 13 bass, 34-15
2nd:        Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 12 bass, 31-6
3rd:        Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 31-1
4th:         Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 10 bass, 26-9
5th:         Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 10 bass, 23-3
6th:         Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., eight bass, 19-13
7th:         Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, seven bass, 19-2
8th:         Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., seven bass, 18-11
9th:         Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 16-14
10th:      Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, six bass, 16-4
11th:      Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., eight bass, 15-0
12th:      John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., six bass, 13-11
13th:      Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 13-9
14th:      Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 12-7
15th:      Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., five bass, 11-3
16th:      Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., four bass, 10-0
17th:      Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., two bass, 9-3
18th:      Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., four bass, 9-2
19th:      Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., three bass, 8-12
20th:      Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., four bass, 8-7

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Bass Pro Shops pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee earned the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award after a 5-pound,9-ounce 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 – the 40 anglers in Group B on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers that 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. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will 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 General Tire Takeout will be 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!® live stream 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 live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com  and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

On Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF welcomes fans of all ages to visit Peter’s Point-Nichols Point for the MLF Watch Party and Kids Fishing Derby. Fans can watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen, enjoy free food, enter to win hourly giveaways and cheer on their favorite pros. The first 50 kids 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel from Pure Fishing each day. Additional fishing gear will be provided onsite for the fishing derby or kids can bring their own. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration on Championship Sunday to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.

The MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 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. The tournament features anglers competing with a 1-pound, 8-ounce 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.

The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 79 of the top professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2025 championship.

It’s early, but Stage Four continues to look like it might shake up the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race in a major way. A day after points leader Jacob Wheeler got off to a slow start in Group A, both Jesse Wiggins and Michael Neal — who entered the event in the top five in the season-long standings — find themselves well outside the Top 10 in Group B. The battle to claim the $100,000 prize might look very different once competition concludes on Eufaula.

Fishing Clash, an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s played by more than 80 million people worldwide, is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League. You can download Fishing Clash for free in the App Store and on Google Play or log on to www.fishingclash.game  for more information.

Television coverage of the MillerTech Stage Four at Lake Eufaula Presented by REDCON1 Knockout Round will air as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 12 on Discovery, with the Championship Round premiering on Oct. 19. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, Garmin, General Tire, Humminbird, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak Fishing, NITRO, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala, REDCON1, Star brite, Suzuki, Toyota, WIX Filters and U.S. Air Force.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X,  Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.