LEESBURG, Fla. – When it came time to make predictions for the upcoming Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech season, a few things stood out. Perhaps obviously, everyone expects big things from Santee Cooper, and everyone expects Banks Shaw to keep rolling. Additionally, Mercury pro Hayden O’Barr was tabbed as the overwhelming Rookie of the Year favorite, with four of six pundits picking him as the man to beat in 2026.
A University of Alabama grad, O’Barr put together a good college fishing career and a stunning 2025 season at all levels. In ’25, the young angler tallied up six Top 10 finishes on the Toyota Series, and finished second in the Invitationals event on the St. Lawrence when he jumped into that.
This year’s roster is loaded with exciting young anglers – the Nutt brothers, Brody Luckey, Parker Knudsen and many more could be headline talent. Still, in ’25, O’Barr hit the national stage in a big way, fishing well outside his homeland and succeeding everywhere. So, if there’s a rookie to really watch at Stop 1 Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches on the Harris Chain, it might as well be O’Barr.
Big winter in Florida could set O’Barr up for a strong start
Having already put in pre-practice time at Harris Chain and Santee Cooper, O’Barr is coming into this one after two solid weeks of Florida fishing. After entering some major team tournaments with partner Bryar Chambers, he’s starting practice at the Harris Chain in his third week of Florida fishing.
“One of the main reasons I agreed to fish the Dual Threat tournaments is because it was going to give me two weeks in Florida before the chain,” he said. “It gave me two weeks of Florida cold fronts, so hopefully I’ll be a little better prepared for this one.”
For many touring pros, Florida remains a big hurdle to get over. O’Barr has notched some good finishes there in college, including a 13th-place showing on the Harris Chain, but he’s still happy to be overprepared.
“Florida fishes so different than any other part of the country. Spending a bunch of time down here helps negate the random ideas that do or don’t work,” he said. “I learned a bit for sure. I’ve been here four times in college, I think. It was definitely tough out there in pre-practice, but I got to look at the lakes and see water color and things like that.”
For his part, O’Barr thinks Apopka will be the place to be, but isn’t sure he’ll be there.
“I think that it’s going to be really crowded in Beauclair and Dora, and trying to get to Apopka is going to be a disaster,” he said. “But, it’ll probably 1,000% be won in Apopka. I’d put the house on it. I think it is the only lake in the chain that is really still producing quality fish.
“It’s going to be a gamble,” he said. “But all the tournaments I’ve fished on the chain, it’s been won there. The other lakes on the chain can be good, but they were fishing very tough when I was there.”
With points on the line at the beginning of what he wants to be a long and successful season, O’Barr is not in love with the idea of gambling big out the gate.
“I think Apopka is going to be a boat number deal,” he said, worrying about the famously crowded lock. “There should be a bunch of guys who go down there. It’s going to be a disaster. People are going to be late. I probably won’t do it. I can’t gamble my season away. If you get stuck in that lock, your season is done before it even starts.”
Figuring out the format
O’Barr is a superlative modern angler fully capable of blasting a big bag in the three allowed hours of forward-facing sonar. But one of his points of emphasis this season is learning the mixed format, and he thinks there’s an advantage to be gained by mastering the quirks first.
“It’s still going to come down to whoever learns the format first,” he said. “That’s a big part. You can’t win it with ‘Scope. You can do well with it, but you’re going to have to catch them without it.
“You’re not going to win with just ‘Scope,” he said. “People are too good, and it’s too hard to catch five big ones in three hours – most of the time. There will be occasions, but that is not going to be the case for most of it. And the way our schedule is, there will be several where you don’t have to ‘Scope at all.”
Entering this one, O’Barr isn’t sure what the optimal strategy is.
“Here at the chain, there will be a decent amount of ‘Scoping, but I don’t think it will be what you have to do,” he said. “My opinion is to go into practice open-minded and try to see when the fish are biting the best. That’s probably when I’m going to try to use it. I’ve thought about trying to use it when other people might not be, but that might not work.”
Early returns on the format of limited ‘Scope and five fish do seem to favor a more nuanced approach. On the Bass Pro Tour, it’s become pretty standard to start every day with forward-facing sonar and then fish the other two periods without it. Last week at Okeechobee in the Toyota Series, many of the pros who used forward-facing sonar the best waited until the middle of the morning, when it seemed like fish were set up better for the tech to play.
Cashing checks = success
The last two years on the Invitationals, the Rookie of the Year has also been the Angler of the Year, as Alec Morrison and Shaw fished at superb levels. This season, O’Barr suspects that ripping off a Top 10 in every event won’t be as feasible.
“I’m excited for it,” he said. “I think it’s going to be really tough to crush them at every event – the competition is really high. It’s a good payout and a good trail that people see they can have success in. That’s why we got so many boats.”
For his part, he wants to be there on Day 3 – which should lead to a very good season.
“My main goal is just to try to cut a check in every tournament. That’s my goal, Top 50,” he said. “It’s not crazy, but I’d like to somehow cut a check in every tournament. But, we’ve got to survive Florida first – there are some hammers fishing this year.”