Omori edges Lucas for Qualifying Round win

Takahiro Omori hasn't utilized live sonar through two days of competition at the Lake Hartwell Bass Pro Tour, yet he'll find himself with a day off Saturday after prevailing in a Qualifying Round duel with Justin Lucas. 

Omori came away on top with a two-day total of 31 fish for 88-3, edging Lucas by nine ounces and clinching a day to rest and prep for Sunday's final round. It guarantees Omori his first top-10 finish since REDCREST in 2024. Both Omori and Lucas amassed nearly 20 more pounds than Mitchell Robinson, who wound up third with 68-10. 

“This is the only time of the year I might get to out-fish those guys (who use forward-facing sonar),” said Omori. “Because the prespawn fish are coming back to the shallows.”

Hartwell is best known for its prolific spotted bass population, but 30 of Omori’s 31 scorable bass have been largemouth. He’s looking for dirty water in shallow pockets way up a river and using his trademark casting accuracy to pick apart any cover he can find – the exact type doesn’t seem to matter.

“Shallow stuff, whatever I see,” Omori said when asked what he’s been targeting. “Boat docks, laydown trees, brushpiles, whatever. Just power-fishing shallow.”

Omori, who started the day about 4 1/2 pounds back of Day 1 leader Ott DeFoe , slipped to sixth after a slow first period. But as the near-80-degree air temperatures warmed the shallow water, his bite kept getting better. Around the midpoint of Period 2, Omori caught a 6-1 largemouth – easily his biggest of the event so far – to take the lead. He would only relinquish it for a few seconds the rest of the way.

“I was expecting to catch them all day,” Omori said. “For some reason this morning I had a couple of missed bites, and I only caught two in the first period. All those forward-facing sonar guys catch them so good, so I had to catch up later.”

Lucas didn’t start Friday with any aspirations of contending for the Qualifying Round win. His Day 1 total of 26-0 had him inside the cut line, but not by much, so his primary objective was just to ensure his spot in the Knockout Round.

Lucas opted to use his forward-facing sonar during Period 1 and caught nine scorable bass for 25-5. He didn’t make any strategic shift from Day 1, when he caught four for 10-4 during his ‘Scope period. Lucas said he “just fished better.” That gave him a lot more breathing room over the cut and allowed him to run new water in Periods 2 and 3.

“I caught so much weight, I felt like I was good,” Lucas said. “And so I just went practicing and started catching a lot of fish.”

Keith Carson made the biggest rally, catching 15 bass weighing 42-2 to end the day in 12th after starting in 40th place, but he wasn’t the only angler to start the day below the cut line and move into the Top 25. Six anglers did so in total, including pros Nick Hatfield and Fletcher Shryock, both of whom caught 4-pounders in the final 30 minutes to seal their spots in the Knockout Round.

Here's how the top 10 lined up at the conclusion of the Qualifying Round: 

1. Takahiro Omori: 31, 88-3

2. Justin Lucas: 30, 87-10

3. Mitchell Robinson: 24, 68-10

4. Adrian Avena: 21, 68-8

5. Brent Ehrler: 24, 68-5

6. Dustin Connell: 23, 65-14

7. Justin Cooper: 23, 65-9

8. Zack Birge: 22, 63-6

9. Ott DeFoe: 23, 62-15

10. Mark Daniels Jr.: 21, 61-10

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