BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Ewing Minor was only 8 years old when he first started kayaking out to his local waters in Virginia. Admittedly, he was probably too young to be doing it on his own, but from that point on, it became his favorite way to fish.
With dozens of trophies and banners across multiple trails, the now 24-year-old is arguably the best kayak angler in the country right now and made his case even stronger by earning the most prestigious honor in the sport.
Minor claimed the Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year title, earning 995 points during the regular season and National Championship to claim the $5,000 first-place prize, the youngest angler to do so in the short history of the event.
“I’ve been trying to get this one for a couple years now,” the Carson-Newman graduate said. “You really have to have an incredible season to do it. All the stars have to align across multiple events. My (top) finishes were 6th, two firsts and then the Championship.”
To calculate Angler of the Year, a competitor’s top three finishes over the six-event season are considered along with their National Championship finish. After opening the season with a 6th place finish at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Minor won a weather-shortened Santee Cooper event and then claimed another first-place trophy at the Susquehanna River. He also finished a measly 13th at Caddo/Bistineau but was able to drop that tournament.
He capped off the season in style, earning a come-from-behind at Lake Murray and hoisting both the AOY trophy and National Championship trophy on the same day.
“They are both heavy trophies,” Minor said.
Along with his AOY title, Minor also won four events on his way to winning the Tennessee B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Angler of the Year. In 2026 alone, Minor scored nine victories in the Kayak Series, TN B.A.S.S. Nation and Tennessee Valley Kayak Anglers trails. In total, Minor has won five Kayak Series events since 2024 as well as five Hobie BOS events between 2021 and 2024.
At the beginning of the season, Minor set out with the goal to win the season-long title. Part of that process was fishing out of the kayak as much as possible and forgoing some of the bass boat events he might have participated in otherwise. While both vessels allow anglers to catch bass, positioning and approach are much different.
“I have fished a bunch of boat tournaments, but kayak fishing is where I started, and I’m comfortable in it,” Minor said. “One thing for this year that helped me was I haven’t been fishing out of a bass boat. The transition from fishing in a bass boat to a kayak can mess you up, and I’ve had it mess me up before. I’ve spent so many days this year fishing out of my kayak.”
Any chance he can, Minor is out on the water trying to learn something new. As a student-angler for Carson-Newman, and now as the head coach of the Kayak Fishing squad, he has been able to pick things up from his teammates and apply them to his own strategy. Moving to the shore of Douglas Lake has also allowed him to work on pretty much any technique he wants to.
“You hear people talk about young anglers being really good, and that is what Bassmaster has provided for college anglers. In my four years at Carson-Newman, I was learning. No matter where we went, there was someone on the team who was an expert at that type of fishing. We bounced ideas off each other, and it helped me become a more well-rounded angler.
Florida fisheries have always treated Minor well, but after a less than stellar practice for the Kissimmee Chain event, he wasn’t sure how things would unfold in the tournament.
“I wasn’t on a whole lot in practice and it just kind of developed throughout the tournament,” he said. “I was sitting in the mid-20s after the first day and jumped all the way to sixth with a big bag. Making those big jumps is more surprising to me than when I lead a tournament.”
He then won at Santee Cooper, an event shortened after strong winds and severe weather threatened the safety of anglers on Day 2.
“That one was weird,” Minor said. “I left there feeling like the job wasn’t done, even though it was.”
The turning point of the season, though, was the Susquehanna River, a historic fishery that Minor had conquered before in 2024. He knew a Top 10 was certainly in the cards, given how much he enjoys the river, but he didn’t think he could pull out another win.
“It is an always changing fishery, and it can be won anywhere,” Minor said. “It is always a tight race. You don’t blow that one out of the water. I’ve come close there a lot too. It’s such a special place.”
Entering the Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series National Championship at Lake Murray presented by Native Watercraft, Minor had a hunch the blueback herring largemouth would be doing exactly what he wanted them to be doing. In the first 30 minutes of practice, he was proven correct and he proceeded to land over 90 inches each day of the tournament to claim his first National Championship title.
North Carolina’s Wyatt Hammond finished second with 982 points, followed by Tennessee’s Rus Snyders in third with 976 points, Ryan Matylewicz in fourth with 971 points and Jake Angulas in fifth with 967 points. Greg Polec (950), Drew Gregory (941), Jody Queen (937), Guillermo Gonzales (928) and Brian Lucas (917) rounded out the Top 10.
For more information on the Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, visit Bassmaster.com.
