Deuces are wild for Chris Johnston.
The No. 2 son in Canada’s Johnston fishing family stands second in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, just two steps away from his second AOY.
“I wouldn’t even have words to describe it if it did happen,” Johnston said. “It’d be an incredible feat. It would mean a lot. I would be a happy man.”
If Johnston averages two spots better than AOY leader Jay Przekurat in each of the final two tournaments, he would become only the fourth angler to win consecutive titles. He knew Kevin VanDam was the last to do it in 2011, his fourth consecutive and last of seven.
Probably because he was only 1 year old at the time, Johnston wasn’t privy that Guido Hibdon won successive titles in 1990-91. Roland Martin’s run might be considered ancient history for Johnston, who turns 36 on July 13. The Great American Fisherman won a record nine AOYs — three times successively, 1971-73, 1978-79 and 1984-85.
“I did not know that,” Johnston said. “That’s pretty good company to be with. It’s incredible just to be mentioned in the same category.
“Honestly, back seven, eight years ago, I didn’t expect to win one of them. Now, I’m looking at two in a row. It’d be incredible.”
Johnston is among the 16 anglers with one AOY, and there’s work ahead if he hopes to become the eighth with two. With 595 points after seven events, Johnston trails Przekurat (598) by three, and Trey McKinney (586) is nine behind him. Fourth-place Patrick Walters is 45 back of the lead.
“Now, I got to chase down Przekurat and fend off McKinney,” Johnston said. “I guarantee they’re both going to catch them in the next two tournaments. I don’t even think anyone’s looking at the fourth on, because you know somebody in the top three is going to catch them.”
The two-tournament sprint begins at Lake St. Clair, Aug. 7-10, and the season finale on the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wis., is Aug. 21-24.
“All I can ask for is to have a chance coming up on the Northern Swing,” Johnston said. “Jay is going to be tough to beat. He’s having a phenomenal year. I know he’s going to catch them in the last two.
“McKinney, he’s going to catch them too. Between the three of us, I feel like whoever wins is going to need top 15s in the last two, maybe even two Top 10s. I feel the competition is that stiff. Those guys are catching them in every event.”
Przekurat has led the point standings the past four tournaments, but his semi-comfortable lead of 42 points was whittled down at Tenkiller with his first missed cut of the year. McKinney, who started 89th at the St. Johns, has climbed into contention with four Top 10s and no missed cuts.
Johnston has been steady, making all seven two-day cuts, with a best of 12th and lowest of 33rd. He stood fourth, 54 points behind Przekurat, before 13th at Sabine and 12th at Tenkiller.
Last year, Johnston became the 28th person, the first from Canada, to win in the award’s 55th year. While he’d like to see No. 2, he doesn’t want it followed by a nine. Przekurat or McKinney could become the 29th man to hoist the prestigious trophy.
“Yeah, keep it at 28,” Johnston said. “I’d like that this year for sure.
“I feel like, especially the past couple of years, it’s kind of been kind of a curse. You win AOY and the next year you have a bad one. I was just happy to be in Classic contention after the first few tournaments.”
During his 2024 AOY campaign, Johnston posted four Top 10s and only missed one cut. He had the advantage of closing it out on his home waters of the St. Lawrence River, where he’s finished sixth or better in six Elites there with a win and two runner-up finishes.
Johnston liked his chances, heading home down 13 points to Justin Hamner, but the Top 10 were only separated by 50 points, adding to the anxiety.
“I was super excited but also super nervous,” Johnston said, “because there’s so much pressure. Even taking the AOY out of it, I feel there’s more pressure on me to win the St. Lawrence. Then you add the AOY on top, so there’s even more pressure.”
Standing 15th after Day 1 at St. Lawrence put Johnston two points behind new leader Jacob Foutz, but a mediocre Day 2 knocked him 16 points back.
“I got a little spun out, probably didn’t make the right calls,” Johnston said. “They didn’t set up the way I wanted them to. I was kind of having a bit of a home-field curse. I was trying places where I caught them in the past, and they just weren’t biting for me. And I got spun out a little bit.”
Then came a historic Day 3. With 29 pounds, 5 ounces, Johnston tied Bryant Smith for the heaviest bag of smallmouth in B.A.S.S. history. His 27-point improvement, from 31st to fourth, combined with Foutz falling from ninth to 35th, made Johnston the first international AOY.
This year, Przekurat might have the home-field advantage. While he’s nine hours from St. Clair, his home in Plover, Wis., is just two hours from La Crosse. Both McKinney and Johnston don’t expect Przekurat to suffer any kind of curse.
“He definitely has more of an advantage than me,” Johnston said. “I know he’s from that way — I don’t know how well he knows (La Crosse). He’s probably going to have a top 15 there.”
But first it’s smallmouth on St. Clair, where Przekurat won an Open last year. Like Przekurat, Johnston is well-versed catching the brown bass, but the big bowl near Detroit is too much hit-and-miss for his liking.
“To be honest, St. Clair is not my favorite lake,” he said. “There’s not a lot of structure, and I feel there’s a lot of luck involved. If you find the right group of fish, you could win the tournament.
“Any smallmouth tournament, I’m going for the win, then we’ll just see how the old AOY race falls after that. I may gamble a little bit, maybe a little more than normal.”
Johnston said most of the checks cashed as St. Clair are anglers fishing in Anchor Bay, but he’d rather find a magic pod away from the crowd.
“I don’t like fishing in Anchor Bay around everyone,” he said. “I feel there’s a lot of luck involved. Everyone’s throwing the same bait, everyone’s looking at the deep fish on LiveScope. I prefer to find them on structure, where they live there, stay there.
“It’s fun, I like fishing St. Clair, but from the tournament point of view, I just don’t like the randomness.”
There will also be some anxiety to repeat, especially since realistic chances at AOY are usually few and far between. Now double that. But Johnston said he’s not feeling the added stress of home-lake expectations.
“I feel way less pressure this year going to St. Clair and the Mississippi River,” he said. “I just feel like I can have fun, go fishing.
“I would like to get a Top 10 on St. Clair then a top 15 on the Mississippi River, that would give me a good chance.”
The race will most likely go down to the wire, maybe the final weigh-in, and a second AOY would propel Chris Johnston into another echelon of greatness.
“There’d be only one thing left to try to win,” he said of the Bassmaster Classic, “then I could retire a happy, happy man.”
