San Mateo, Florida, pro catches 15 Bass weighing 62 Pounds, 3 ounces to pace Group A Qualifying Round, 16 anglers in Group B to compete Sunday

OCALA, Fla. (May 16, 2026) – Low, dirty water had some pros tempering expectations ahead of Orange Lake’s national tournament debut at Kubota Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops. Florida native Terry Scroggins, who knows the fishery as well as anyone in the field, said it’s “100% fishing tough for Orange Lake right now.”

Yet, on Saturday, the lake showed why it’s earned a reputation as Florida’s premier big-bass factory.

The bite may not have been fast and furious throughout the opening day of the Qualifying Round for Group A, but the 16 anglers combined to catch 10 bass over 6 pounds, including some savage topwater strikes. Scroggins used his local expertise to boat three over 7 on his own. He racked up 62 pounds, 3 ounces on 15 scorable bass to take a commanding lead. He’s 27-3 ahead of Takahiro Omori in second place and nearly 44 pounds clear of the Lucas Oil Cut Line.

Omori, meanwhile, earned the first of the boosted Berkley Big Bass payouts that are unique to Heavy Hitters by landing a 10-1 lunker. The biggest bass in Heavy Hitters history, it earned Omori $10,000.

Scroggins entered Day 1 feeling like he could catch 15 scorable bass, which proved dead on. But the way his day unfolded has him more optimistic about the rest of the event than he was at takeoff.

Scroggins, who resides about an hour away from Orange Lake, started Saturday on the southern end of the fishery in an area that featured cleaner water and gaps in the hydrilla – two ingredients that aren’t easy to find right now. Thus, he figured it would attract quite a bit of pressure. Indeed, Omori and Cole Floyd – the two anglers right behind him on SCORETRACKER® – spent most of the morning within eyesight.

That area produced nine scorable bass for Scroggins before noon, headlined by an 8-9 and a 7-14. He then spent the latter half of the day running new water and was pleased to add six more bass to his total, including a 7-5.

“I went to an area where I thought I could catch four or five scorables, and I ended up catching eight or nine out of there,” Scroggins said. “But I left out of there pretty early and just went and ran some new stuff and found a couple more areas that’s got ‘em. So, I feel good about it.”

Getting extra time to scout new water during competition could be especially valuable at this event. With Orange Lake fishing small due to the low water and Heavy Hitters spanning six days, Scroggins doesn’t think the best spots from Day 1 (like the area he started in) will still be viable come the Knockout and Championship Rounds.

“Where we caught them, I was in there, Takahiro was in there, Cole Floyd was in there, and then Todd Faircloth came in there,” he said. “And then there’s no telling who’s going to be in there tomorrow. That area is going to get beat up. It’s not going to be good. So, it’s important to find some new stuff.”

The other thing that has Scroggins feeling optimistic is how he caught many of his fish. In addition to a vibrating jig, he mixed in a topwater prop bait. While far from a secret, he thinks his years of experience throwing the bait in Florida could give him an edge. It yielded eight of his bass Saturday, including four of the five he caught over 4 pounds.

With a huge cushion over the cut line, Scroggins plans to devote the entire second day of qualifying to looking for even more new water – and hunting for a $10,000 big bass, of course.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I left out of there where I caught them this morning around 12 o’clock or so – partway through the second period. And I caught a 5, a 7 and a 4, and I got just as many bites not in that area as I was in there. So, I feel good about it.”

Omori lands first tournament 10
There have been a lot of big bass caught during the first six editions of Heavy Hitters, both in terms of size and the paychecks they’ve earned the anglers who caught them. But never had one cracked double digits.

It took less than one period on Orange Lake for Omori to change that. His 10-1 claimed Berkley Big Bass honors by more than a pound over Floyd’s 8-14, earning him the first of four $10,000 prizes that will be handed out each day of the Qualifying Round.

Like all eight scorable bass Omori caught on the day, that giant ate a topwater walking bait. It also marked the first 10-pounder the newly minted Bass Fishing Hall of Famer has ever caught in a tournament.

The 15 anglers in Group A will now have the day off Sunday, while the 15 anglers in Group B will begin their Day 1 Qualifying Round. Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition on Monday.

The standings for the 16 pros from Qualifying Group A after Day 1 on Orange Lake are:

1st:        Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 15 bass, 62-3
2nd:      Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, eight bass, 35-0
3rd:       Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, seven bass, 31-13
4th:       Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., seven bass, 22-11
5th:       Brent Chapman, Lenexa, Kan., seven bass, 22-1
6th:       Colby Miller, Elmer, La., three bass, 19-14
7th:       Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 18-11
8th:       Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., four bass, 18-8
9th:       Alton Jones Jr., Lorena, Texas, seven bass, 18-5
10th:     Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., five bass, 15-10
11th:     Jake Lawrence, Paris, Tenn., five bass, 15-5
12th:     Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, five bass, 13-14
13th:     Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 13-5
14th:     Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., three bass, 8-8
15th:     Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., two bass, 6-4
16th:     Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, two bass, 4-14

Full results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 92 bass weighing 326 pounds, 14 ounces caught by the 16 pros on Saturday, which included one 10-pounder, three 8-pounders and three 7-pounders caught from Orange Lake.

Hosted by the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Kubota Heavy Hitters at Orange Lake Presented by Bass Pro Shops features the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.

The 16 anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 16 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Thursday’s final-day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

In addition to overall tournament awards, Berkley Big Bass bonuses are awarded in each round of competition with payouts of $10,000 for the single biggest bass on each day of the Group A & B Qualifying Round, $30,000 for the biggest bass in the Knockout Round and $100,000 for the biggest bass in the Championship Round.

Fans are encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

To qualify for Kubota Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2025 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 32 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live each day 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.

Television coverage of Kubota Heavy Hitters 2026 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET on July 4 and running each Saturday through Aug. 15 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on Discovery, with re-airings on the Outdoor Channel.

Proud sponsors of the 2026 Kubota Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops include: Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bass Force, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Black Buffalo, BUBBA, Grizzly, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, MillerTech, NITRO Boats, OFF! Deep Woods, Onyx, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Star brite, Toyota, YETI, 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, Rumble 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, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV, Game & Fish TV and 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.