Photos: B.A.S.S.
Takahiro Omori won the recent Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake Wheeler despite being in 72nd place after the first day. He had found the winning fish during practice, but for some reason they were gone during the first day of competition. He went back the second day and they were back. He proceeded to catch the three biggest limits of the event on the final three days to take the title. His win was due to his persistence, confidence in what he had found and knowing what techniques to try under each of the different conditions he faced.
Practice
Many anglers had written off the famed Decatur Flats area on Wheeler and instead focused on other areas. Omori found fish offshore there and they were big.
He was covering water quickly and used a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 squarebill in a shad pattern. He was using a 7’, medium-heavy Daiwa cranking rod and Daiwa Zillion with the 9.1:1 gear ratio. “The fast retrieve really allowed me to cover water quickly as I searched during practice,” said Omori.
Once he arrived at the eventual winning area, he caught a five pounder; shook off a six and that fish had a four-pounder following it. This gave him the confidence in the area to start there on the first day.
Day 1
He started on his area the first part of the day and the fish were nowhere to be found. “They were just gone, but I knew they had to be there somewhere,” recalled Omori. He gave it some more time, but eventually had to run down lake to try to salvage the day. Focusing on laydowns, he pitched a Texas-rigged lizard with a 7’3, heavy Daiwa Black Label flipping/pitching rod that is only available in Japan. He paired it with a Zillion in the 9.1:1 gear ratio and was able to catch a limit for 10-lbs, 7-oz.
Days 2, 3 and 4
After seeing his results from the first day and where he stood in the standings, Omori decided to give the Decatur Flats another shot. The result was three straight bags over 20-lbs. His approach was to use a Carolina-rig, walking topwater bait and a swimbait. Each of them played a role in his win and he varied his approach based on the conditions and time of day.
The topwater bait was something that he picked up after seeing bass chasing schools of shad and busting them on the surface. He used a chrome colored walking bait and would make long casts to them whenever he saw surface activity. He used a 6’6”, medium-heavy Daiwa Black Label rod with a Daiwa Zillion in the 9.1:1 gear ratio and said the rod length was helpful for how he was working the bait.
“Usually I use a 7’ rod for topwater, but that shorter rod really helps me when twitching the bait quickly with my rod pointed down.
The reel was key too because it has the TWS (T-Wing System) which allowed me to get really long casts when I would see a fish bust on the surface.”
Less Aggressive Fish
Carolina-rigging a creature bait was another tool Omori used during the event and it helped him catch less aggressive bass in the area. “I wanted to give the fish a different look once in awhile and I would pick it up when the bite slowed down,” he said.
He rigged the creature bait on a 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook with a 1-oz weight and fished it on the same rod and reel he used for pitching laydowns the first day.
Bigger Bass
The swimbait was the most important part of his win as it accounted for most of the big fish he caught on the final two days. He only started using it on Day 3 and admitted that he usually doesn’t even try swimbaits in competition since they always seem to let him down on tournament days.
“I decided to put the 6” swimbaits in the boat after the second day to try to get more of those 4- ,5- and 6-lb fish that were in my area,” he shared. “I usually don’t even bring the swimbaits, because they mess me up and I spend too much time trying to make it work.”
The swimbait he used is an out of production model from Bass Pro Shops and the key was to fish it very slow. He used this bait with a 7', medium-heavy Daiwa cranking rod and Zillion reel in the 9.1:1 gear ratio with 20-lb Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon.
Omori’s win was an amazing comeback and one of the best comebacks in Elite Series history. His rise from 72nd place on the first day to hoisting the trophy on the final day was amazing and it was all due to him believing in what he had found in practice and not giving up on his area.
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