It’s said you can’t win a tournament on the first day, but you sure can lose it. Takahiro Omori nearly lost it on the first day of the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Wheeler.
Omori found himself in 72nd place after bringing in a mere 10-7, as the fish he located seemed to have vanished. He relocated them on Day 2, and he never looked back, coming from behind to squeak out a victory over Dave Lefebre.
It’s hard to believe it, but this marked Omori’s first victory since 2005, and it seems to be coming on a positive trend. Omori dominated the PAA Series for awhile, but he also went three years on the Elite Series with only one top 10. Since the start of the 2014 season, though, he has eight top 20s and four top 10s. His latest success jumped him up nine spots to 37th in the two-year ranking and 30th in the one-year ranking.
As for Lefebre, the former FLW Tour pro struggled mightily in his first Elite Series event. It’s been a different story since, finishing 15th, 33rd and now second. He’s now knocking on the door of the top 10, sitting in 12th in our ranking.
Third-place finisher John Crews continues to stay steady in the mid 30s of our rankings. He was 39th and now is 35th. However, Steve Kennedy parlayed his fourth-place finish – and second top 10 in a row – into a 15-spot jump to 66th.
Also, all the Elite Series pros are set to drop off the Toledo Bend event from 2014 this week, which should help the likes of Michael Iaconelli, Justin Lucas and Omori.
Meanwhile, Skeet Reese will have to wait two years for this Wheeler event to stop hurting his average. Ranked eighth before the tournament, he fell to 15th after this weekend.
