Entering the 2026 Bass Pro Tour season, Takahiro Omori didn’t have any expectation or premonition that this would be one of the best years of his decorated career. The veteran pro approached it like each of the previous 34 seasons since he moved from Japan to America to chase his dream of fishing professionally. Especially as he traveled to South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell for the second event, he admitted his “expectations were way down.”
That’s when Omori surprised himself (and everyone else) by earning his first Bass Pro Tour victory and jumpstarting an incredible season. Since then, he’s finished second at REDCREST on Table Rock Lake, adding another $50,000 to his earnings tab. At Heavy Hitters, he caught the $10,000 Berkley Big Bass on the opening day, then made the Knockout Round cut thanks to a dramatic, buzzer-beating 6-pounder. As a cherry on top, he learned that he’ll be inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame this fall.
That’s already enough for Omori to call 2026 his best season since he joined the Bass Pro Tour in 2019. But he’s not done yet. His win on Hartwell qualified Omori for World Bass Enterprises’ The Champions event, which will give him the chance to compete for the biggest purse of his 35-year career. Riding momentum but still motivated as ever, Omori is energized to keep his success rolling in the final Bass Pro Tour event of the year and The Champions.
Still succeeding his way
Omori chalked up his special season to a confluence of several factors. But it certainly wasn’t a result him doing something new or different.
It’s no secret that Omori fishes his way. Most of the time, that means putting himself around shallow cover and using his smooth casting skills to pick it apart with a bladed jig. He experimented with forward-facing sonar during the early days of the technology, but he felt that he was better off sticking to his strengths than trying to beat the forward-facing sonar experts at their own game.
“I couldn’t compete with the younger guys during the early days of forward-facing sonar,” the 55-year-old said. “I mean, I tried. So, I kind of came back to where I am for my fishing style. And so far, our schedule this year somehow went perfectly to fit my fishing style.”
On paper, the two events that figured to be least conducive to Omori’s approach were Hartwell and Table Rock. Both clear-water fisheries have been dominated by forward-facing sonar in recent years.
Indeed, prior to the start of competition on Hartwell, Omori assumed his approach of running up the Tugaloo River and fishing for largemouth amid boat docks and other wood cover didn’t stand much of a chance against those targeting spotted bass on the main lake. Turns out, he topped both the Qualifying Round and the Championship Round.
“I thought I was coming here to get beat by the spots,” he said shortly after his win.
REDCREST unfolded similarly. If you’d asked during practice if he’d be happy with a runner-up finish, Omori would have answered with an emphatic yes. But his bite in the upper reaches of the river arms got better each day of the event. He sat in 13th place after Day 1, climbed to seventh at the conclusion of Day 2 to make the Championship Round, then surged up SCORETRACKER® during the third period to finish second. If he had one more day (or even a couple more hours), Omori thinks he could have run down winner Jacob Wheeler.
“If I had one more day, if this was four days just like regular Bass Pro Tour events, I think I had a chance to win,” Omori said. “Because after that, I saw (Stage 5) on Beaver (Lake), exact same conditions – the fishing got better toward the end of the week because the water was coming up. I had similar conditions. So, I wish I had one more day looking back. But I’m not complaining.”
While he didn’t end up making the Top 10, Omori puts Heavy Hitters right up there with Hartwell and REDCREST on his list of season highlights. All 13 of the scorable bass he caught from Orange Lake ate a walking topwater. That included a 10-1 giant on Day 1 that not only won him big bass cash, but marked the first 10-pounder he’d ever weighed in a tournament.
During his second day on the water, Omori only caught one scorable bass, but it was just about as memorable. After he spent more than three hours trying to get his boat unstuck from a shallow marshy area and serving a penalty for requiring assistance from an airboat, he had less than 30 minutes before lines out to catch a scorable bass and climb above the Lucas Oil Cut Line. He boated a 6-pounder with less than two minutes to spare.
Having spent more than 30 years fishing all the most famous tournament venues in the country, Omori said the opportunity to compete on Orange Lake – a storied giant factory that’s always been too small for tour-level fields – made Heavy Hitters a special treat. Of course, catching a double-digit didn’t hurt, either.
“Orange Lake was perfect,” he said. “To not have any local pressure for three or four months – they had to close the boat ramp (due to low water). Of course, Orange Lake is a great lake, too, but that kind of situation made it perfect for us to catch double-digits, and finally, I did it. So, I was really happy about it. I can say that I caught a 10-pounder in a tournament.”
Hall of Fame induction, The Champions headline exciting fall
Even before his stellar 2026 season, Omori’s tournament résumé was strong enough to get him voted into the Hall of Fame. Fellow Hall of Famer Mark Davis announced the news to Omori the day before the start of Stage 3. Even though he’d been on the ballot for a few years, Omori was stunned.
“That means a lot,” he said. “It’s a really huge deal for me. But I was not expecting that this soon. I thought the Hall of Fame was just for after you retire or after you pass away or something. It’s just a great, huge honor.”
Omori hasn’t let himself spend too much time thinking about what it will be like to be officially enshrined in the September ceremony. Right now, he’s still in tournament mode.
“It still has not sunk in, to be honest,” he said. “I’m still too busy fishing.”
Omori isn’t looking past Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Toyota on Grand Lake, which starts Thursday. He’s long prided himself on focusing on one tournament at a time. Plus, with Grand’s water being high and dirty, it might suit his style perfectly.
That said, he’s particularly excited about having locked up a spot in The Champions, which will take place Oct. 29-31 on Tennessee’s Old Hickory Lake. While the event’s payouts have made most of the headlines – a $1.25 million first-place prize and $3.25 million total purse are both the biggest in tournament bass fishing history – Omori is more excited for the opportunity to compete against a field that includes the best from both of the most prominent national tours.
“To me, it’s not just the prize money,” he said. “I came from Japan to the United States to fish the highest level, to fish against the best in the world. So, to me, to be able to fish against the Elite guys with all the top Bass Pro Tour guys, this is very exciting. It motivates me to become a better fisherman. Because if you’re not competing against the best, you don’t know how good you are.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Hall of Famer or if you won last week; every tournament is brand new. The fish don’t care who you are.”
Takahiro Omori
While Omori enjoys competing on the Bass Pro Tour for that very reason – the chance to measure himself against the best pros in the world – he’s also eager to get back to his roots by fishing a fall tournament with a five-fish limit. He thinks both of those factors boost his chances of contending.
“To be honest, my fishing style fits better for a five-fish limit tournament, because I’m not fishing for offshore schooling fish,” Omori said. “I’m usually going to the shallows, power fishing, especially against the bank. So, usually, I’m fishing for individual fish. So, I’m excited about the fall, that time of the year, grind it out for five bites a day. I’m really thankful for the opportunity to be able to fish that event.”
Given how well it’s worked for him so far in 2026, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see Omori lock a bladed jig in his hand and put himself in the mix to win the $1.25 million top prize. And even on the heels of a spectacular season and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, he’ll want the win as bad as anyone in the field. Omori, who emphasized that he has no plans to retire anytime soon, said his competitive fire is still burning as hot as it ever has.
“My mindset is always the same: Every tournament is a brand-new tournament, every day is a brand-new day,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Hall of Famer or if you won last week; every tournament is brand new. The fish don’t care who you are. I had to work the same – my way, every day – just to try to find fish to try to get by. So, nothing’s really changed.”