The second event of the 2026 Bass Pro Tour season, O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 Presented by Lowrance will take the 51-angler field to South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell. While this will be the first ever BPT tournament on the historic fishery, just about everyone in the field has some history on Hartwell. That makes things easier for Phoenix Fantasy Fishing Presented by 13 Fishing players, although the recent sub-freezing temperatures in the region and the every-fish-counts format will make this event different than any previous Hartwell tournament.
Once again, the top Fantasy Fishing scorer at this event will win prizes from 13 Fishing and BUBBA, while every player will earn points in the season-long race to win a fishing trip with Bobby Lane as well as the new Beat JT Kenney competition. Remember to set your lineups before lines in at 7:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 18.
Here is everything you need to know to pick a winning roster on Hartwell.
Mining Hartwell history
Hartwell has long been a tournament hotspot, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that four anglers in the field have won high-level events on the fishery. South Carolina native Casey Ashley has done so twice, prevailing in a 2014 FLW Tour event as well as the 2015 Bassmaster Classic. He should be a near lock in fantasy lineups for this one.
Outside of Ashley, the angler with the best track record on Hartwell is Brent Ehrler. While he makes his home about 2,000 miles away from the fishery in southern California, Ehrler has found a kinship with Hartwell. He won an FLW Tour event in 2012 and also has a pair of runner-up finishes on the fishery.
Mitchell Robinson won the most recent national event on Hartwell when he prevailed at the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event last spring (beating fellow BPT rookie Dustin Smith by 2 ounces). The youngest Robinson also won a high school national championship on Hartwell the year prior. Finally, Alton Jones won his Bassmaster Classic on Hartwell in 2008. While modern electronics have changed winter fishing a lot since then, it’s worth noting that took place at almost exactly the same time of year as Stage 2.
Other obvious choices
Drew Gill probably won’t win every single tournament he enters in 2026. But after starting two for two, do you really want to bet against him? He belongs in the same tier as Jacob Wheeler right now – no-brainer picks at every event. The other angler who has worked his way into that conversation (despite fishing just one career BPT event) is Banks Shaw. The rookie finally saw his Top-10 streak snapped at the Pro Circuit opener on the Harris Chain, but only after he started 2026 with a fifth-place finish on Lake Guntersville and a Toyota Series win on Lake Okeechobee. Shaw also has three Top 10s on Hartwell between Invitationals and college events.
Looking for revenge
There are a couple ways to approach the second event of a season: Do you stick with anglers who did well at the first event and who have some momentum, or do you target those who struggled and might be extra motivated for a bounce-back performance? It’s probably smart to include a mixture of both, especially considering there are some excellent anglers who should be mad at ‘em following sub-par finishes at Guntersville.
We’ve already mentioned Robinson, who finished 50th in his BPT debut. Fellow South Carolina native Anthony Gagliardi will also look to bounce back after he finished 41st. Gagliardi lives on Lake Murray, but he has some solid history on Hartwell, too, with a pair of Top 10s. Jake Lawrence and Alton Jones Jr. both surprised by missing the cut at Guntersville, and both should be desperate for a high finish to avoid falling too far behind in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year race.
Spotted bass slayers
Lake Hartwell’s prodigious spotted bass population always factors into tournaments, but the every-fish-counts nature of this event might make it even more spot-heavy. That could play into the hands of Dustin Connell and Jesse Wiggins. While both live in Alabama, they’ve proven to be among the best at understanding and catching spotted bass across the country.
More names to know
- Zack Birge: He might sometimes get overshadowed by the young anglers who have taken the BPT by storm or the perennial dominance of Wheeler, but very few anglers have been more consistent than Birge. Since the start of the 2024 season, he’s notched eight Top 10s in 19 events and missed a check only twice. After a fourth-place showing on Guntersville, I expect him to keep it rolling.
- Bryan Thrift: Thrift has a bit of a checkered history on Hartwell, with two fifth-place finishes and a few bombs in past FLW Tour events there. But the Lake Norman local certainly knows blueback herring lakes and spotted bass, and with this event likely setting up to have lots of fish offshore, it could be in Thrift’s wheelhouse.
- Spencer Shuffield: Shuffield has strung together five straight finishes in the top 15 dating back to last year. He’s also one of the best with forward-facing sonar, which I expect to be a big deal in this event.
My picks
Flight 1: Casey Ashley, Dustin Connell, Brent Ehrler, Drew Gill, Alton Jones Jr.
Flight 2: Zack Birge, Mitchell Robinson, Banks Shaw, Bryan Thrift, Jacob Wheeler