With the past two years golden, Chris Johnston hopes the third time’s a charm as well.
Johnston’s back-to-back Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles put the 36-year-old Canadian in elite company, whether he fully realizes it or not.
“Honestly, I don’t let it get to my head,” he said. “It doesn’t seem real still.”
There have been 28 AOYs in the award’s 57 years. Johnston became just the 13th angler with multiple titles and only the fourth to win in successive years, putting his name alongside Roland Martin, Guido Hibdon and Kevin VanDam.
The group of eight with two AOYs includes Jimmy Houston, Larry Nixon, Davy Hite and Brandon Palaniuk. A third title would put him in rarified air with Bill Dance, Mark Davis and Aaron Martens.
“When you say it like that, it’s super cool,” he said. “I never expected to be mentioned among those guys’ names, to be honest, so pretty humbling when people talk about it, but it really hasn’t sunk in.
“I just still see myself as a Canadian kid that just likes to go fishing down in the States and have fun and get lucky, cash a few checks and maybe win a tournament.”
Johnston became the first Canadian to win an Elite in 2000 when he weighed 97 pounds, 8 ounces on his home waters of the St. Lawrence River. Johnston also has been runner-up six times in his seven Elite seasons, qualifying via the points each year for Classics while also in the AOY hunt in four of the past five years.
In 2021, Johnston finished second in points to Seth Feider, then was third the next year. In the final three northern events, he made up 100 points on Palaniuk, actually taking the BassTrakk AOY lead in the final event before Palaniuk rallied.
After an 18th in the 2023 race, Johnston posted four Top 10 finishes, including a second at Lake Champlain and fourth at the St. Lawrence, to win the 2024 AOY by 24 points over rookie Trey McKinney. He became the first international angler to win AOY.
Last year, Johnston doubled up with consistency. He didn’t have a Top 10 but twice finished 11th, had four finishes in the teens and a worst of 33rd. McKinney, who had a win among five Top 10s, again was runner-up, just eight points back.
Johnston said for 2026, as he pursues a three-peat, he’d be happy just to be in the AOY conversation.
“I hope so, but I’m going to take it one tournament at a time,” he said, mentioning half the events allow forward-facing sonar. “I think that benefits me. I can catch them both ways, so I think it’s going to be a good year for me.
“I like the schedule. I plan on being in the Top 10 in AOY, but I’ll just take it one tournament at a time. You never know. It’s still fishing.”
Days, event and AOY races can be on a razor’s edge, Johnston said, acknowledging a lot of things went right for him. Most importantly, he kept himself in position to capitalize on others’ miscues the past two years.
“You could look back at almost any AOY race and it just comes down to one or two moments that makes a difference,” he said, “and luckily it worked in my favor.”
McKinney was leading the 2024 race for much of season before a punch-in-the-gut disqualification. Last year, McKinney stumbled out of the gates with an 89th on the St. Johns before rallying. Przekurat led AOY for four events last year before surprisingly tripping on Lake St. Clair.
“One bad tournament and it cost him, on a lake that he always does well on,” Johnston said. “You can look back at any year, not necessarily just me, but things had to go right to win the Angler of the Year.
“If it had been one fish you didn’t catch, it probably would have been a different outcome.”
Johnston can pinpoint several 11th-hour bites that helped him in 2025. First was an 8-pounder on his way back in at the St. Johns, which gained a massive 30 to 40 points. There was his biggest bass on Lake St. Clair, a 5-4, with six minutes left in his day and another last-second catch at Tenkiller, each adding critical points.
“That was literally at check-in. I had three or four minutes to fish, caught a 3.5,” he said. “It was my biggest fish of the day. There were a lot of things that just went right.”
A favorable schedule can turn the tide. Like in 2024, this year’s Elite season ends with Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence. In winning his first AOY, Johnston trailed by 39 points then posted a fourth and second, including a record-tying limit on the St. Lawrence, to win.
Like he said in 2024, he’d love nothing more than to have a shot when the circuit ends close to home this year.
“Oh yeah. I’m excited for Champlain, even with no scope,” he said. “That’s going to be a different one. I’ll probably have to relearn that lake. I don’t think the smallmouth relate to structure like they used to.
“It’s very weird. I know a bunch of spots where I caught them for 15 years previous to LiveScope. Now with LiveScope, it’s like they don’t relate to those boulder piles. They’re all just floating around.”
Anglers can use forward-facing sonar at Lake Martin, the Arkansas River out of Muskogee, Okla., Lake Murray, the Pasquotank River and the St. Lawrence. It will not be allowed at Guntersville, Tombigbee, Santee Cooper and Champlain.
“I like it because I think most well-rounded anglers are going to come out on top,” Johnston said. “When you look at the Classic cut or the top 10 in AOY, you’re going to see guys who can catch them anyway. It doesn’t matter what you throw at them. They’re going break down a lake and catch them.
“It’s going to show the most versatile fishermen, and hopefully it quiets down all the talk, shuts up the people who are negative. It gives the rookies, or who people call ‘Scopers, a chance to prove themselves.”
Seeing the past several rookie classes excel with wins, including a Classic title, Johnston said the recent newcomers can’t be dismissed because of the new rules. He thinks McKinney, along with other well-rounded young guns, will still excel.
“Don’t count the kids out,” he said. “What it comes down to, these young guys are putting more time on the water than anyone else. That’s what people forget. They say, ‘Oh, they just use scope.’ Well, no, they’re on the water seven days a week while we’re up hunting.”
Johnston’s hunt for a rather exclusive spot in B.A.S.S. history begins this week on Guntersville. Only Martin (1971-1973) and KVD (2008-2011) won AOYs in three or more consecutive seasons.
A three-peat would be quite the charm, yet a Classic title is also on Johnston’s radar. That would raise him to an entirely different echelon, and when the day comes, he “could retire a happy, happy man.”
