How Takahiro Omori won the Hartwell MLF BPT

Are you surprised Tak won? Heck no you’re not surprised! He’s the OG risk it all to come to the US of A to catch bass with no money and no English, and somehow not just do it but win multiple tournaments including a Bassmaster Classic. Yes he inspired Japanese cats, and also guys like MDJ and Carl Jocumsen to do what God put on their hearts.

That Bassmaster Classic win was one of the best ever – he was unofficially way behind and caught 3 fish in literally the last few minutes including an almost 5-lber to beat Aaron Martens (and KVD behind him) by 2 and change.

That Classic was on Wylie, NC which according to my memory and old video looked pretty muddy, and Tak was fishing shallow cover – just like what went down on Hartwell. Also no FFS in both tournaments for Tak. 😁 Here’s how he got his latest win.

Going in and practice

> “The last time I fished [Hartwell] was the 2015 Classic [where he got 3rd]. It was freezing cold. It was the same week, so I was thinking – spots.

> “I didn’t have high expectations because now with FFS, all spotted bass is gonna kill me. So I was not too excited, to be honest….

> “What happened is day the before practice…it rained pouring rain all day long. That made the water muddy in the back end of the creeks. And [they had an] unseasonable warm trend, a near record-high week.

> “So the 1st day of practice I went around to all the back ends of the creeks looking for off-colored water for pre-spawn largemouths. I caught a 5-lber and a couple more 2-lb plus.

> “The 2nd [and final practice] day I went down the main lake and looked for spotted bass. I only caught one, 1.5-lb.

> “So I wasn’t sure what I was gonna catch during the tournament. But my best chances are largemouth and that’s what I’m good at. So I went to shallow-water power-fishing like I usually do.

> “Wed was our day off. I was sitting in my camper – by the way I’m the only guy [still in a] camper. So I was totally isolated. Nobody talked to me…nothing – so maybe this week I’d just focus doing my own thing….thinking about this warm weather should bring more pre-spawn largies to the back end of the creeks.”

He said he was all in with the ChatterBait:

> “You can skip it under docks, you can fish laydowns to riprap – you can cover a lot of water with it.”

Tournament

> “The 1st day I ran up to the one of those back ends of a creek [with] off-colored water and had a bite. The 1st period I caught 5 scorable fish.

> “I knew the guys on the spotted bass with FFS were gonna blow it away – but they didn’t. I thought they would catch more.

> “So I was thinking in the 2nd period and 3rd period the fishing will get better because of the warm weather and the sunshine. My largemouth spots will only get better and I can maybe catch up to those guys.

> “Because usually after those FFS periods, they slow down a lot. And if I I can keep catching 5-6 fish each period I’ll be up there. That’s how I ended up 2nd on day 1.

> “I had 6-7 back ends creeks where I found off-colored water, and I was running between those creeks that were like 6-10 miles apart. I’d have to run all the way to the back, come all the way out, then run to another creek. I was running like over 100 miles a day.”

[He said he was basically junk-fishing, and did the same thing with the same bait every day.]

> “Day 2, the morning I only caught 2 but I caught them good for the 2nd and 3rd periods. I ended up winning that 2-day combined [weight] so I skipped to Championship Day.

> “…different creeks too…some new places also. It was totally pattern fishing – running and gunning and pattern fishing. It didn’t matter if I fished it the day before or never fished it before.  As long as I saw the same ingredients, I fished it.

> “Shallow water was better, muddier was better. Sometimes you’d see a lot of shad flipping. But basically the water temperature…was like the high 50s. It’s just the time of year – [the fish] were doing pre-spawn things.

> “I didn’t think anybody had won [after getting a pass into] Championship Day. [Jacob Wheeler did it last year on KY Lake and I believe it happened one other time as well.] So no pressure…the worst I get is 10th place.

> “I only caught 1 fish the 1st period, but it was cold and windy – gusts 30+ mph. So I knew if I can catch fish in that afternoon bite…[and] those Scope guys never took off in the morning. They couldn’t fish that main-lake stuff…just guessing that’s what they were fishing.

> “I might grind out the next 2 periods. I was very optimistic – I was just glad to be fishing in the top 10 Championship Day.

> “I never lost fish. I missed one of those 4-lbers and it came back to get it for my next cast. Which usually didn’t happen this week – you only had 1 chance.

> “I didn’t catch very many compared to the 1st 2 days of the tournament. That was my worst day [but] enough to win. I ended up catching 12 fish and I only caught 1 the 1st period so I must have caught 5-6 each [of the next 2 periods].”

He said the wind the final day jacked up some of his creeks. Either blowing away mud or causing too much wave action even with the mud.

Baits

> 3/8-oz Z-Man JackHammer (white/chart) with a 5″ Z-Man DieZel Minnow (‘pearl’ and ‘hot chart’).

> 3/8 because he was fishing shallow, and he tied his own skirts: “I make hand-tied skirts with Skirts Plus material – because the skirts that come with it, I don’t like some of those colors.

> “I had one rod in my my hand in my hand and one rod on the dock – one each with a different color trailer.

> “I had 8-9 rods with the exact same setup. I don’t have to retie, and if my line gets a little loose I just put that one in my rod locker and pick up a new one. Or during a break, I wouldn’t even retie – just pull a new one out.

> “You don’t have time to do tackle in this format. You gotta keep your bait wet. FFS guys are not making a cast til they see fish. I have to wet my bait every second.

> Why he used a big trailer: “The water was muddy. And that ElaZtech plastic has so much buoyancy [a 5-inch bait] gives it more lift in shallow water. It’s harder to skip because it’s so bulky, but I was fishing for a 2-lb minimum size in off-colored water so why not use a 5-inch.”

> 7′ MH Daiwa Tatula Elite Tak signature composite Cranking Rod: “I use the same rod for squarebills, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, topwater, jerkbaits – all moving baits. Rick Clunn told me to me to use a composite rod many years ago [for a] better hookup ratio. I believe it.”

> Daiwa Zillion Reel (9:1): “That [retrieve ratio] is all I got. I’ve been using this reel for like 8-9 years now. They do make a 10:1 – I use the 10:1 for flipping and pitching stuff.”

> 16-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro: “It’s low stretch and very sensitive but low stretch is the key. The tip of that rod is a little softer so I use no-stretch fluoro for my line to balance stuff.”

Electronics

> “You gotta have a GPS to run around with a good map of course. But I was more using my eyes.” [He runs Lowrance stuff.]

> “Power-Poles were very important too. Because the wind would blow you out after you caught a fish, or would try to push you when you were skipping your bait under a dock. In shallow water it’s very important to have Power-Poles to stay in your location.

> “It was so windy you would blow away without Power-Poles. They were really helpful.”

Shoutouts

> “My total package, especially Bass Cat [he runs a Cougar] and Yamaha. They’re very strong. I ran 100 miles every day to cover a lot of creeks. The boat is fast, it floats shallow. That was very important.”