Takahiro Omori scored his first Bass Pro Tour win and was the only angler to never use his forward-facing sonar throughout all of Stage 2. Photo by Phoenix Moore.
By Mitchell Forde
BASS PRO TOUR
OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. — Prior to the Bass Pro Tour’s first ever visit to Lake Hartwell, the prevailing expectation was that finesse techniques and spotted bass would rule O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 Presented by Lowrance. A few anglers have managed to contend in past tournaments on the famed fishery by catching shallow largemouth, but given the Bass Pro Tour’s every-fish-counts scoring, the February timing of this event and the fact that the water is about 7 feet low, no one would have predicted that bladed jigs, dirty water and largemouth would dominate.
That included Takahiro Omori.
The angler best known for exclaiming “I knew it!” after he caught the winning fish at the 2004 Bassmaster Classic admitted that he didn’t anticipate being able to contend on Hartwell while sticking in his power fishing wheelhouse – much less earning his long-awaited first Bass Pro Tour win.
“To be honest, I had no motivation to come here,” the Tokyo, Japan, native said. “I thought I was coming here to get beat by the spots.”
But Omori never wavered from his game plan. The veteran pro spent the entire event in the Tugaloo River, using his smooth casting skills to pick apart whatever shallow cover he could find in the backs of creeks. He never even bothered to turn on forward-facing sonar.
The result was a near wire-to-wire win. After he finished Day 1 in second place, Omori topped the Qualifying Round, earning an automatic trip to Sunday’s Championship Round. There, he overcame a slow start to stack up 36 pounds, 6 ounces on 12 scorable bass. With post-frontal, windy conditions making the bite tough on everyone, that was enough to edge Jacob Walker by 2-10. His first tour-level victory since 2018 and the ninth of Omori’s decorated career earned him $125,000.
Here’s how the Top 10 pros finished the Championship Round:
Takahiro Omori – 36-6 (12)
Jacob Walker – 33-12 (12)
Matt Becker – 29-4 (11)
Banks Shaw – 27-9 (10)
Jacob Wall – 23-15 (9)
Spencer Shuffield – 22-6 (9)
Jesse Wiggins – 19-6 (5)
Jacob Wheeler – 14-14 (6)
Ott DeFoe – 14-7 (6)
Justin Cooper – 13-12 (5)
As he often does upon arriving to a fishery, Omori spent his first day of official practice looking for a pattern that would suit his strengths. He was able to generate a few bites from shallow, dirty water, but not enough to keep him from spending the second day trying finesse tactics on the main lake.
Like most of the field, Omori found the bass living in the clear sections of Lake Hartwell finicky when he could use forward-facing sonar to present his baits and downright uncooperative without it. So, he decided he was better off sticking to his strengths.
“I felt I can catch more fish just fishing shallow, power fishing,” he said. “I catch more fish the way I’m fishing than with forward-facing sonar.”
As the warm, sunny weather boosted the water temperature, Omori’s bite kept getting better. He caught 17 scorable bass for 47-7 on the first day of qualifying, more than 21 pounds of which came in the third period. On Day 2, he added another 40-12, which was just enough to out-duel Justin Lucas for the Qualifying Round win by 9 ounces.
It got to the point that it wasn’t only Omori prioritizing shallow largemouth. More than half the Championship Round field spent their periods without forward-facing sonar in dirty water, many of them relying on vibrating jigs. While it’s rare for that to become the predominant pattern on Hartwell, Omori said it’s “just that time of year.”
“You can expect largemouth to come back to the backs for prespawn,” he said.
Each day he took the water, no one managed to squeeze as much out of the bladed jig bite as Omori. Part of that can be chalked up to his years of experience dissecting shallow cover and his ability to put his bait where few others can. No one else was quite as committed to the shallows, either. Omori was one of two anglers in the event who never turned on forward-facing sonar and the only one to advance past the Qualifying Round. By Sunday, he had just two rods on his front deck – identical setups save for the color of his ChatterBait trailer.
Speaking of that trailer, Omori differentiated his bladed jig by pairing it with a big, gaudy plastic. He used a 5-inch Z-Man Diesel MinnowZ in either pearl or hot chartreuse on a 3/8-ounce Z-Man Evergreen Jack Hammer ChatterBait. He wielded that on a 7-foot, medium-heavy Daiwa Tatula Elite rod with a Daiwa Zillion reel spooled with 16-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon.
“Number one, I’m fishing off-colored water,” Omori said of his trailer choice. “The bigger bait, they can see better. And you’re fishing for minimum 2-pound fish. So, you need a bigger bait for 2-pounders.”
Just enough to rally for the win
Omori was happy just to make Championship Sunday. It marked his first Top 10 in nearly three years, since REDCREST 2024 on Lay Lake. But he also understood that the opportunity to win on the Bass Pro Tour, and especially to do so fishing his way, doesn’t come often.
He knew the biggest obstacle to claiming his first BPT trophy would be falling too far behind in the first period. The vast majority of anglers opted to use their one allotted period per day with the technology during Period 1, which also happened to be when Omori’s shallow bite was slowest.
Fortunately for Omori, the chilly, blustery conditions that greeted the field shut down the main-lake bass. During the first three days of the event, at least three anglers had topped 20 pounds in Period 1 while using forward-facing sonar, with at least one cracking 30. But at the end of the first frame Sunday, Banks Shaw led with just 17-3.
The colder conditions challenged Omori, too. He caught just one scorable bass for 2-15 in the first period. But when he found himself less than 15 pounds off the lead, he liked his chances.
“I was worried about the cold,” Omori said. “But the gusting winds maybe blew the guys on the main lake. It was kind of good for me, because they can’t stay in a spot to fish for those spots. Nobody blew it away after the first period. So, it was perfect conditions for me, actually.”
Omori was the only angler to top 10 pounds during Period 2. By its end, he’d closed to within 6 pounds of Shaw. About 30 minutes into the final period, he took the lead for the first time. But he could never gain enough separation to get comfortable. Three different anglers held the top spot on SCORETRACKER® during the final period (Omori, Shaw and Walker), while Matt Becker multiple times pulled within one scorable bass of the lead.
“With this group, I expected that,” Omori said. “I know they’re going to catch fish. But it was a lot of stress.”
With the wind blowing out some of the pockets he planned to fish, Omori spent about half the Championship Round fishing spots he hadn’t previously visited during the tournament. That included his final stop, which produced a 2-11 largemouth. That fish turned a 1-ounce deficit to Walker into a 2-10 lead. Walker, who failed to boat a scorable bass during the final 45 minutes, couldn’t answer.
After getting confirmation that he’d won, the usually stoic Omori pumped both fists into the air. Upon getting off the water, he revealed that a few friends had already asked him if he planned to retire now that he’d finally checked off his first Bass Pro Tour win.
Omori assured that “I’m not quitting anytime soon.” But that shows how big an accomplishment this was to him. Between earning his first victory in 57 BPT events and doing so by fishing his way without forward-facing sonar, this win meant something special.
“I know that technology is important and efficient,” Omori said. “It’s harder and harder to just make a Top 10. So, this win means a lot. Because all of the younger guys just win everything nowadays.”
Walker takes Angler of the Year lead
It’s been a bittersweet start to Walker’s Bass Pro Tour career. The rookie has finished a combined two bites and less than 4 pounds away from winning each of his first two BPT events. He finished second to Drew Gill by 1-5 at Stage 1 on Lake Guntersville, then came up 2-10 short on Hartwell.
The good news for Walker is that’s earned him $90,000 through two events. He’s also the new leader in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race. Close behind him is fellow rookie Banks Shaw, who has also finished in the top five of both of his first two Bass Pro Tour starts. Rounding out the top three is Jacob Wheeler, who’s stalking his fifth AOY title in the past six years.
There’s still plenty of events left to shake up the standings. The Bass Pro Tour will return to action March 5-8 for Stage 3 on Texas’ Lakes Whitney and Waco.
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