SENECA, S.C. (Feb. 19, 2026) – In its first day ever hosting the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour (BPT) tournament on 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, 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 25th place with 23-14. Nine anglers lurk within 3 pounds of his total, while Sprague is just 2-2 back of 20th 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 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.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/mlf-hartwell-21926.html
Major League Fishing (MLF)