Tennessee pro catches 19 bass weighing 52 pounds even to grab early lead, full field to compete in Friday’s Qualifying Round

SENECA, S.C. (Feb. 19, 2026) – In its first day ever hosting the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour (BPT), Lake Hartwell surprised a few anglers. For some, that curveball wasn’t so welcome. But for pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, who leads after Day 1 of O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 Presented by Lowrance, his success came as a pleasant surprise.

“I did not see that coming whatsoever,” DeFoe admitted shortly after lines out. “I’m very thankful, very tickled that today went as well as it did.”

DeFoe totaled 52 pounds even on 19 scorable bass Thursday. He leads Tokyo, Japan’s Takahiro Omori by 3-9. The leaderboard is tightly packed from there: less than 5 pounds separates Mark Daniels Jr. in third (43-1) from Jacob Wall in eighth (38-3), setting up what should be a close contest for the Qualifying Round win and the automatic trip to the Championship Round that comes with it.

After the pros’ two days of practice, the prevailing expectation seemed to be that anglers would be able to catch a decent number of fish while using forward-facing sonar, but tricking Hartwell’s well-educated bass during the two periods without it would be a challenge. DeFoe launched Thursday morning thinking he could catch 15 to 20 pounds while using modern sonar in Period 1 and hoping he could add just a few more scorable bass from there.

So, when DeFoe only caught four scorable bass for 8-7 during the first frame, he “felt like I was behind the eight ball.” But with air temperatures climbing into the 70s and wind increasing as the day progressed, the shallow bite turned on better than DeFoe (and many others) anticipated.

“Hartwell and most clear reservoirs are very condition-oriented, and when you get a day that’s warm and windy this time of the year, it really changes the dynamic,” DeFoe explained. “I want to say I somewhat expected that. But when practice is so tough, it’s like, okay, yeah, it sounds good, but is it actually going to materialize?”

Materialize it did, and that allowed DeFoe to fish right in his wheelhouse – namely, cranking a Rapala DT-6 . He found one key spot that produced about half his weight. First, it yielded a flurry of fish early in Period 2; then he circled back a few hours later and caught a few more.

“I’ve got one special place,” he said. “So, it’s not a deal where everywhere I go after that I expect to catch them like that. I was able to go back to it today and catch some fish again. I’d love to have five of those spots, but that’s not the case currently. And I don’t truly know that five of them exist. It’s a unique place.”

DeFoe said he might rethink his strategy tomorrow, keeping open the option of using his period with forward-facing sonar later in the day or not using it at all. But one thing’s decided: He wants to win the Qualifying Round.

We’ve seen some anglers opt not to seriously pursue the automatic trip to the Championship Round, using Day 2 to scout new water instead of burning more fish. DeFoe didn’t hesitate. He wants to skip the Knockout Round.

“I will absolutely try to win the round,” he said. “There’s no question about it. That will be my goal starting at lines in.”

With conditions forecast to change once again as a cold front arrives this weekend, DeFoe said he wants to take the points and paycheck that are guaranteed by making the Top 10. He also thinks it would be beneficial to let his best spot rest on Saturday before he really needs to lean on it with $125,000 up for grabs.

“I’ve fished tournaments before where I’ve had a really good spot, and then I was able to win off of it by not having to fish it the Knockout Day and the Championship Day, two days in a row,” DeFoe said. “This spot does not have that potential by itself, but boy, it could get you off to a really good start.”

DeFoe was far from the only angler to stack up impressive weight without the aid of forward-facing sonar, and no one did so better than Omori. One of two anglers who never bothered taking the lock box off his sonar transducers all day, Omori boated 17 scorable bass for 47-7.

Omori, too, stuck in his comfort zone, running up a river to find dirtier water and fishing shallow pockets filled with cover – not an unheard-of tournament strategy on Hartwell, but one that many anglers likely wrote off given the Bass Pro Tour’s every-fish-counts scoring. The more the afternoon sunshine warmed the water, the better he found his bite. He caught seven bass for 21-4 in the third period, including three for 8-11 in the last 15 minutes before lines out.

“It warmed up in the afternoon, so the afternoon bite just took off for me,” Omori said.

Omori is hopeful that more fresh fish will swim to the shallows as the water continues to warm. But even if the areas he fished Thursday don’t reload, he’s confident he can find other spots that work for his technique.

“I have so many places to go that I didn’t touch today,” he said. “This lake is huge, and I’m expecting more fish to move up every day. It looks like weather-wise this should get better for me. So, I’m very optimistic.”

Like DeFoe, Omori is all-in on trying to win the Qualifying Round, noting that he hasn’t contended in a Championship Round in nearly two years, since REDCREST 2024 on Lay Lake.

“I want to win tomorrow,” he said. “I have not made a Top 10 in a while, so I’m ready to make a Top 10.”

The fight to finish above the Lucas Oil Cut Line is shaping up to be even more crowded than usual. After Day 1, Jeff Sprague sits in 25^th place with 23-14. Nine anglers lurk within 3 pounds of his total, while Sprague is just 2-2 back of 20^th place. That makes 15 anglers separated by just 5 pounds.

The top 25 pros after Day 1 on Lake Hartwell are:

1st:         Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 19 bass, 52-0
2nd:       Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 17 bass, 47-7
3rd:        Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 14 bass, 43-1
4th:        Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 14 bass, 43-0
5th:        Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 13 bass, 41-15
6th:        Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., 14 bass, 41-6
7th:        Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., 14 bass, 39-6
8th:        Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 14 bass, 38-3
9th:        Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 13 bass, 37-7
10th:      Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 12 bass, 35-8
11th:      Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 12 bass, 35-4
12th:      Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 12 bass, 32-9
13th:      Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 12 bass, 31-2
14th:      Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., 10 bass, 30-12
15th:      Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 11 bass, 30-5
16th:      Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 11 bass, 29-14
17th:      Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., nine bass, 29-5
18th:      Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 10 bass, 28-4
19th:      Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 10 bass, 28-1
20th:      Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 26-0
21st:      Jacob Walker, Springville, Ala., nine bass, 25-13
22nd:     Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 11 bass, 25-13
23rd:      Banks Shaw, Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-13
24th:      Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., eight bass, 24-11
25th:      Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, eight bass, 23-14

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 453 bass caught weighing 1,287 pounds, 11 ounces, caught by the 51 Bass Pro Tour anglers on Thursday.

Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was earned by Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, who caught a 6-pound, 6-ounce largemouth in the third period throwing a crankbait. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

Hosted by Visit Oconee SC , the four-day event features a roster of 51 of the top professional anglers in the world competing for a $125,000 top prize and their share of the $600,000 purse, along with valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the MLF Heavy Hitters all-star event and REDCREST 2027, the Bass Pro Tour championship.

The full field of 51 anglers compete in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. After the two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the pro with the heaviest two-day total will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers that finish 2nd through 25th will advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the top nine to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $125,000.

Anglers will arrive each morning at 6:15 a.m. ET to Seneca Creek County Park, located at 270 Seneca Creek Road in Seneca, South Carolina. Anglers will return to Seneca Creek County Park each evening following the end of competition at 3:45 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to watch the event live online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® livestream and follow along with SCORETRACKER® coverage at  MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW!®  will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com , the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21-22, from 3–6 p.m., MLF invites fans of all ages to Seneca Creek County Park, located at 270 Seneca Creek Road in Seneca, for the MLF Fan Experience & Watch Party. Fans can watch the Bass Pro Tour pros live on the MLFNOW!® big screen, enjoy free food for the first 100 fans each day, enter hourly giveaways, browse MLF merchandise and the bargain bait bin, and cheer on their favorite anglers. Youth of all ages can take part in a fishing derby (gear and bait provided, weather permitting) and a casting contest. Live music begins at 4 p.m., followed by Top 10 angler interviews and the trophy presentation at 5 p.m., including autographs and photos with Bass Pro Tour finalists. The first 50 kids ages 14 and under will receive a free rod and reel each day.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 at Lake Hartwell Presented by Lowrance features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 2026 Bass Pro Tour features a field of 51 of the best professional anglers in the world, competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2027 championship.

Television coverage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Stage 2 at Lake Hartwell Presented by Lowrance will premiere as a two-hour episode starting at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Aug. 22, on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the MLF Bass Pro Tour include: Abu Garcia, Athletic Brewing Co., Bass Force, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Cigars International, Epic Baits, Grizzly, Lowrance, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, OFF! Deep Woods, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Star brite, Suzuki Marine, Toyota, Yuengling and Zenni.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com . For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X,  Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery, Outdoor Channel, VICE, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV and Game & Fish TV, Rumble and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 20 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.