Q&A with Martin Villa: How fly fishing, saltwater roots led to Bass Pro Tour success

This Q&A initially published in the June-July issue of MLF Bass Fishing magazine. To subscribe to the magazine and receive six issues for just $10 a year, click here: https://majorleaguefishing.com/join/

When Virginia-based Bass Pro Tour angler Martin Villa first experienced a bass tournament, the then-20-year-old jokingly told the other anglers that he’d be back the following week to beat them. Youthful bravado aside, little did Villa know that first-time exposure to competitive fishing was his first step toward competing on Major League Fishing’s top circuit. Now 41, the Mercury pro just wrapped up a highly successful rookie season, finishing 17th in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year standings, qualifying for REDCREST 2025 and making his wife, Jamie, and sons William (9 years old) and Austin (7) proud. We caught up with him midway through the 2024 campaign for a quick round of Q&A.

MV: I feel blessed to have climbed up and survived the season. It gives you some confidence to know you can compete at the highest level. But you still have to work on every aspect of your game, whether you think you do or not. 

MV: I’m trying to evolve with the format. I’m not saying that winning is getting lucky, because it’s not, but to hold onto six days of fish and catch the best on the final day is a problem I struggle with. The fine line of catching them just enough is the key to survival in the every-fish-counts format. 

If there ever was [a learning experience] for me, it was [Stage Four on Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma]. That tournament lasted one day too long – it was a new thing for me, because I caught the biggest fish of the day (during Day 2 of qualifying) and then proceeded to shake off big fish. It felt hard to wrap my head around. The biggest thing is trying to catch them multiple ways and then finding out what works best on the final day – the key is to make it to the final day and then close your eyes and swing for the fence. 

There are people who compete well at the five-fish format but can’t do this [format]. Bass fishing is the art of a female bass, and that’s usually not fast and furious. I feel like there’s 100% capable sticks out there who thump people on the five-fish format but will never compete in the every-fish format. I feel like the guys who are successful at this format are finding the ‘lifeline of the lake’. It’s been an eye-opener. 

MV: I was a (fly-fishing) purist; there was a long period in my life when I would hold my nose up to conventional tackle. I started bass fishing when I was 20 years old. 

MV: It’s fly fishing only for Atlantic salmon. It’s a very visual thing. They swim thousands of miles to get to you. If you talk to anglers who fished all species and asked if they had only one to fish for, it would be the Atlantic salmon. 

MV: Yes, 100%. Purism comes in many forms. There are bass anglers who only like to flip, or ones who only use artificial lures. Growing up fly fishing, I frowned on conventional tackle. Then I got into bass fishing, and when I came back to fly fishing, I was twice the fisherman I was [before]. I’ve learned so many things from one [method] that I incorporate into the other – it’s looking at the same fish with a different lens, and you bring your own little spin on it. 

MV: Trout are very predatory; the brown trout could compare to a bass. They will sometimes bite off more than they can chew – I’ve seen 3-foot snakes hanging out the mouth of a 22-inch brown trout. But the older they get, the wiser they get. 

MV: You never know when there’s a giant hatch with smallmouth on them. But I won’t use (the fly rod) unless I think it’s the most efficient way. One of the most sacrilegious things you can do as a fly fisherman is fishing for spawning fish, and my favorite way to catch a bass off a bed is with a fly rod. I’m not doing it unless it’s efficient, so it’s going to have to be a hatch. 

MV: The perfect fly-fishing day would be beautiful scenery and beautiful weather and a fish dancing on the surface. The perfect bass-fishing day would be to hold up a trophy. I’ve caught plenty of bass but never held up one of those trophies. 

We have the best fishing in the country in Virginia, and the cobia will come to us on a spawn and are very accessible with fly rods. The show Spanish Fly had a huge impact on my life. There was a fly-fishing mentality of (anglers) keeping to themselves, but Spanish Fly brought everyone together. [Jose Wejebe’s] favorite thing was to fish topwater for cobia, and that was the first I’d heard of cobia. They’re fun to catch and just an awesome fish – very fast-growing, and they’re great for sashimi. 

MV: Oh yeah, all the time. The most exciting fish to fish for are the ones you will eat that night. Brook trout are my favorite to eat. We call them Appalachian salmon, but you’ve got to be careful to not overharvest them and just pick out the males. 

MV: I don’t really have one; it’s whatever floats the boat. My favorite would be chili-flavored breading with a grilled pineapple slice and cilantro and onions. 

MV: I like a lot less about it than I do fishing. I got into the trade because they said there would never be equipment made to do your job. I got into it because it was a job, and I stayed into it too long to leave it. I work to fish.   

MV: I’m more proud of a happy customer. When I build something, it lasts a lifetime. It’s disappointing to see what building has come to. The culture of building to build the best just isn’t there anymore. But for masons, we haven’t changed. A chimney will still last you a lifetime. 

MV: It’s been difficult. Up until now, I leaned more to the fishing while it was going on. And once the season is over, I’ll be a fulltime mason again. The ability to compete with the pros only comes with time on the water.  

MV: Go fishing with my sons and take the family fishing. Fishing, swimming, camping – that’s what we love to do. 

MV: I first saw a bass-fishing tournament when I was in my teens, and I asked what they were doing. I knew most of them there, and so the younger version of me said, ‘I’ll be back next week to beat all of you.’ From there, it was local trolling-motor-only tournaments, then BFLs and on up the ladder. In 2018, I was on the verge of getting out of competitive bass fishing. The love for saltwater was deep inside of me, and I had to make a choice: either purchase a Ranger or a center console with a tower. That’s when MLF came out, and I saw the new style of tournaments there. So, in 2020, I pulled the trigger on a Ranger and told my family I would give it four years, and if I couldn’t achieve the goals in four years, I would wash my hands of competitive bass fishing. Luckily, I made that choice, because here I am at the highest level. 

My oldest son has shown interest in fishing tournaments, and as much as I want to start him at a young age and create a monster in the industry, I want him to enjoy his childhood with traditional fishing. Tournaments make you look at it in a different way, and I want him to grow up with how I had it – before tournament angling changes the way you look at traditional fishing. I see the excitement in my kids’ eyes when they catch a hand-size bluegill and don’t want to take that from them because I know competitive angling will do that. We want our children to be children for as long as possible, and that’s true for fishing, too. 

MV: Yes, on the James River in 2022. I was below par in the points with two tournaments left, and I really wanted to qualify for the TITLE championship on the St. Lawrence. On Day 1, I had 12 pounds and was sitting in like the 80s. I was questioning my existence there, because the pros were on my home waters and they ‘pro’d’ me. I didn’t sleep that night, and I knew the next day would be a defining day. I caught a 19-pound bag, and it built confidence in me and allowed me to climb in the points. That was the turning point. 

Then I made a Top 10 and was inside the cut line for the championship on Champlain. I finished 12th at that one, then I got a Top 10 on the St. Lawrence. So, three exceptional finishes in a row after a night where you feel you didn’t belong changed my view on my abilities and whether or not you belong there. 

MV: Hopefully I don’t ever retire! Every day we get to cast a rod is a blessing from God, and I hope to walk the fine line of being a successful pro and a successful family man. We don’t get to decide the day we retire in this industry. I just hope that I can make my family proud and my friends proud and find a little part of the industry that has my name on it.