OCALA, Fla. – As he prepared to take to the water at Orange Lake, Florida, for Kubota Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops, Kansas pro Brent Chapman was already getting his mind right for the marathon ahead – not only for the long days of practice and the six-day tournament, but for a pair of flights halfway across the country and back, right in the middle of the Heavy Hitters schedule.
Immediately after he puts his boat on the trailer and unloads his gear following lines out at 3:45 p.m. ET on Day 1, Chapman will hustle from Ocala to Jacksonville International Airport (111 miles away) to catch a 7:45 p.m. ET flight bound for Kansas City.
His eventual destination: Baldwin City, Kansas, where his daughter Makayla will be walking across the commencement stage at Baker University to receive her BS in Psychology (with minors in Communications, Conflict Management and Studio Art).
“It’s going to be a crazy week,” Chapman admitted. “Literally the minute I’m done on Saturday, I’ll have to pull the boat out, throw everything in my truck with a change of clothes, and haul as fast I can to Jacksonville to fly to Kansas City.”
Makayla’s graduation ceremony is at noon CT on Sunday; Chapman’s wife Bobbi will shuttle him back to Kansas City International that night for a late flight back to Jacksonville, where he’ll land and drive the two hours back to Ocala. He expects to arrive in Ocala around 1 a.m. Monday morning, and meet his official for his second day of qualifying around 6 a.m.
“So I guess my time to work on tackle is between 1 a.m. and lines in,” Chapman joked.
It’ll be a hectic (possibly exhausting) 48 hours for the Mercury pro, but Chapman is matter-of-fact about his approach and preparation, and surprisingly comfortable with how he believes the weekend could play out.
“Thankfully, it’s Florida and I’ll probably have one or two techniques that I can plan around,” he said. “I might just have a few extra rods rigged up with fresh line, and just go with those on the second day instead of trying to rig with no sleep.”
Orange Lake wasn’t a total mystery to Chapman entering the week – he spent some time on the lake in 2023 shooting content, catching his personal-best largemouth (an 11-pound, 3-ounce giant) in the process. He returned to Orange Lake early in the 2026 season to run the lake again and get a feel for water levels, aquatic vegetation, etc.
“I was really intrigued to find out how low the water was, and I learned that it can be very, very difficult to navigate,” Chapman said. “I’m not going to exaggerate, but I’m excited about this lake. I think there will be some amazing fish caught.
“With the water being a couple feet low, I think it could turn into a grinder, and I’m all about those kinds of tournaments. I can put my blinders on and just grind it out.”
Easy to be a proud dad
Chapman is understandably excited about Makayla’s graduation, regardless of the lack of sleep he’ll endure for a couple of days. He’s an admitted “proud dad” who speaks glowingly of both Makayla and her older brother Mason, both of whom grew up traveling the country with their parents and getting a thorough home-schooled education from Bobbi while Brent fished the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bass Pro Tour.
Chapman is of the opinion that tournament travel and life away from home prepared his children to function as young adults in a different way than a more traditional upbringing ever could.
“For their whole childhoods, Makayla and Mason were around other adults and were always in different places, and I really think that’s what gave Makayla the ability communicate with adults from a young age,” Chapman said. “She grew up around the Martens, Howells, Lanes and Joneses, basically on giant field trips to different parts of the country. She went to college a more well-rounded young person who had seen most of the country, and who already knew how to communicate with adults.
“Makayla finished her four-year degree in three years, she’s a motivated, disciplined young woman. She also has this gift for painting and drawing and is a second-degree blackbelt in Shindo Jinen-Ryu (karate). I don’t know where she gets it all from – probably her mom – but I can’t say enough about her. I’m so excited to see her walk across that stage, there’s just no way I’m going to miss that. It’s only a couple of days of craziness, I figure I can handle it.”