By B.A.S.S. Communications


LA CROSSE, Wis. — When he decided he wanted to be a professional bass angler, Chris Johnston had no idea if he would ever be able to win a single Angler of the Year title. Now, the Otonabee, Ontario, angler’s name is written in the B.A.S.S. record books forever.

For the second straight season, Johnston is the Bassmaster Angler of the Year, accumulating 776 points during the nine-tournament season to outlast second-year phenom Trey McKinney and earn the $100,000 first-place prize.

“This is such a relief,” Johnston said. “I feel like someone lifted a bus off my chest. It is unbelievable the amount of pressure that comes with that trophy. The closer you get to winning it, the more stress there is.

“(Trey) is an unbelievable fisherman. He is going to push all of us to get better and he will have his moment on this stage.”

Johnston becomes just the fourth angler ever to win the Angler of the Year title in consecutive years, joining Kevin VanDam, Roland Martin and the late Guido Hibdon as the only anglers to do so.

“Just to be mentioned among those anglers is unreal,” Johnston said. “I never even thought it would be possible for a kid from Canada to come down here, compete and make a living fishing. Kevin VanDam is someone I’ve always looked up to and to even come close to one of his records is unbelievable.”

Remarkably, Johnston achieved his second Angler of the Year title without making a final day cut, unlike the 2024 season where he notched four Top 10s.

He opened the 2025 season with a 15th at the St. Johns River before finishing 33rd at Lake Okeechobee, which turned out to be his worst finish of the season. He added a 21st and 31st at the Pasquotank River and Lake Hartwell respectively before hitting his stride mid-season, rattling off a 15th and 13th at Lake Fork and the Sabine River. He followed that up with back-to-back 11th place showings at Lake Tenkiller and Lake St. Clair.

“I just take it one tournament at a time. I don’t want to bomb the first tournament, and I want to be in contention going into the last few tournaments,” he said. “This Angler of the Year was completely different. I was just consistent all year and cashed checks.”

He wrapped up the season with a 19th at the Upper Mississippi River, a tournament he called the most stressful of his life. Johnston and McKinney entered the season finale tied for the AOY lead, and both anglers found themselves in a hole after the Day 1 weigh-in, landing just below the Top 50.

Although the morning did not pan out how he had hoped, Johnston separated himself in the afternoon hours of Day 2, landing 16-8 to move into the Top 25.

“I gambled and went to Pool 7 in the morning. I ended up with four small ones with a 2 3/4,” he explained. “At 9:45, I didn’t have a limit, so I went back to Pool 8. I went to one little stretch and caught seven bass out of a spot the size of the back deck of my boat, including a 4-pounder. It was just one little hole in the grass.”

McKinney, meanwhile, dug himself a hole he couldn’t climb out of, bringing just 14-1 to the scales and sneaking into the Top 50.

Semifinal Saturday, however, turned out to be one of the most difficult days of the season for Johnston, who didn’t even fill out his five-bass limit until around 2 p.m. CT. His special area from Day 2 did yield a 3-pounder, an important confidence booster. At no point did he feel like he secured the title though, especially when he lost a 5-pounder with 20 minutes left in the day.

Still, with several minutes to fish, Johnston stopped in an area close to the boat ramp and made a key cull that gave him enough weight to secure 19th place and put the finishing touches on AOY.

“I thought I was coming up short. My goal was 14 pounds,” Johnston said. “I lost a 5-pounder and thought that was it. I thought I blew it. I came back up to the boat ramp and had two or three minutes to fish. I caught a 2 1/4, which gave me a half-pound cull. At that point, I knew (McKinney) would need 15 pounds to catch me. But at no point did I think I had it in the bag.”

Those types of last-minute catches made all the difference for Johnston in 2025. Two stand out above the others. At the opening event at the St. Johns River, the Elite Series champion made a stop with 10 minutes to fish that yielded an 8-pounder, anchoring an otherwise unimpressive limit on Day 2.

Then to close the gap on first place at Lake St. Clair, Johnston landed a 5-2 smallmouth with seven minutes left before check-in on Day 3, giving him an extra pound and a half and initiating the tie with McKinney heading into the last event.

“I made it back with a minute left,” he said. “Without that fish, I would have lost.

“Never give up, right?”