kayak

Kayak: Top Baits at Kissimmee Chain

The Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft headed to the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Central Florida for its first of five open events in 2026. These lakes which include Lake Kissimmee, Lake Toho, and Lake Cypress are loaded with trophy largemouth bass. There is lots of vegetation like hydrilla and Kissimmee grass where anglers can usually find bass lurking for prey. Weather would play a key role for these 242 anglers as a massive cold front had dominated the region before the competition. Water temperature was in the low 50’s with air temps in the 59-60 degree range. And to add to the difficulty in this challenge were the previous three weeks of championship tournaments taking place here as well. There were a few anglers who mastered the conditions and put up some really good numbers of big bass including Ryan Matylewicz of Pennsylvania. His 194.25 inch two day total won him the grand cash prize of $11,500 and a nice big blue trophy! Another notable performance was by Dylan Crystaloski also of Pennsylvania who set a Bassmaster kayak series single-day record with 114.75 inches on Day 2 which is equivalent to a 35-lb bag! The big bass of the event went to Garin Butler of Georgia with a 24.75 inch monster! The top 5 anglers qualified for the 2026 Kayak Series Championship to be held this next fall.

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Marty Hughes
Tournament champion Ryan Matylewicz of Pennsylvania secured his win with a total of 194.25” over the two-day event. He attributed his success to maintaining constant focus, noting that his lure was in the water almost continuously throughout the tournament.
While practice proved to be a struggle for him and many other anglers, Matylewicz found success on Day 1, catching over 40 bass. Although many were small, he managed to catch around 15 fish on Day 2, including several in the eight-to-eleven-inch range and even two at a time. During this period, water temperatures rose from 52 to 58 degrees.

By the second day, the fishing pressure increased significantly. After sharing his Day 1 success, Matylewicz was joined by approximately ten other anglers at his spot, all using A-rigs. He noted that the combination of fishing pressure and warming water—which pushed the fish up after a recent cold spell—caused the bite to slow down. He expressed relief that there was no Day 3, as the area had become overfished. Photo: Mark Cisneros 
Wyatt Hammond of North Carolina is no stranger to top finishes in National kayak fishing events. He caught 190.75” of bass over the two days to finish in the runner-up spot. He fished mid-lake on Toho both days. Practice had been very tough for Hammond, just as everyone else had experienced.  
To try and overcome the challenging conditions, Hammond marked all the areas where he was catching bucks in hopes that bigger fish would show up by tournament time. Luckily, on Day 1, he checked an area right in front of where he was catching the bucks and found a school of fish on his Humminbird sidescan. He ended up catching most of his fish on a Rapala Snare 50 and a ½ oz. Jackhammer with a custom skirt and a 6-inch Shindo trailer. He went with the Snare because it had a slightly smaller profile than most other rattle-style traps and also had rattles due to the pressure the lake was getting from the knocker-style traps. He also made a subtle but larger chatterbait with the 6-inch trailer to try and get closer to the large long profile of the shiners that the fish were used to eating. He watched the boaters around him catching fish on shiners all day long, which made this lure a logical choice for catching bass. 
Hammond’s fish were staging very close to the Kissimmee grass lines, waiting for a warm front to push in. He caught his limits within 30 minutes each day. On Day 2, Hammond caught 94 inches in 22 minutes off the school of bass he found, which he found insane. The bass then broke up after the morning flurry, and he ended up pulling out the punch rod and a 1.5 oz. weight as the wind slacked off and the sun rose higher. This allowed him to cull twice, later in the day with an 18” and 20” bass to get him to 96.75 inches on his best five. This bumped him up into second place.  
Hammond mentioned that the spot lock on the Old Town Autopilot helped him stay in place on that school of fish he found and allowed him to chew through the grass looking for punch fish. This made a huge difference in being able to get around. 
Greg Polec of Pennsylvania finished third with 190.5”, catching a majority of his fish on a ½ oz. Chatterbait. He paired it with a Rapala Crush City Freeloader on a Bandersnatch rod matched up with a Shimano Curado 151 HG spooled with 15 lb Seaguar Invizix Fluorocarbon. Polec fished offshore grass in five to six feet of water, slowly rolling the chatterbait through and above the grass line. Polec’s second choice when the bite slowed down was a Zoom paddle tail worm in Junebug on a 3/16 oz weight fished on a Megabass Orochi XXX Perfect Pitch rod and a Lews Hyper Mag reel spooled with 17 lb Seaguar Invizix Fluorocarbon line.
A closer look at Polec’s chatterbait. 
Polec threw the ½ oz. Chatterbait paired it with a Rapala Crush City Freeloader on a Bandersnatch rod matched up with a Shimano Curado 151 HG spooled with 15 lb Seaguar Invizix Fluorocarbon.
Polec’s second choice was a Zoom Paddle Tail worm. 
Polec’s Zoom paddle tail worm in Junebug on a 3/16 oz weight fished on a Megabass Orochi XXX Perfect Pitch rod and a Lews Hyper Mag reel spooled with 17 lb Seaguar Invizix Fluorocarbon line. 
Dylan Crystaloski of Pennsylvania finished fourth with 182.75 inches with his Rapala DT 6’s in Penguin and Blue back shad. He used a Dobyns Champion XP 7’3” Med/Hvy extra fast action rod to land his fish. 
Crystaloski used a DT-6 to catch his bass and finish fourth in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Bassmaster Kayak Series event. 
Ryan Nye of Connecticut finished in 5th place with 180.0 inches during the two-day Kissimmee event. He used a Spro Wameku Shad 70 in the chrome shad color, fishing grass flats in three to four feet of water. Once the fish moved shallower, he fished a 7/16 oz Martin’s Custom Baits Recon swim jig in the black ice color with an X Zone Lures 4-inch Swammer in the black color as a trailer. He fished this presentation through the thicker, shallower grass in 2-3 feet of water, which produced key bites during this tournament. 
A closer look at Nye’s Spro Wameku Shad 70.
Nye also used a Custom Baits Recon swim jig in the black ice color with an X Zone Lures 4-inch Swammer in the black color as a trailer. 
Ewing Minor from Virginia finished in sixth place with 175.25” using a Jackall Rerange 110 SH Threadfin with #6 medium wire hooks on 15 lb fluorocarbon to keep the jerkbait above the grass. He used a slightly stiffer 6’9” medium fast LMO Nereus rod, rather than his traditional jerkbait rod, to account for the higher gauge hooks. This setup accounted for most of his fish throughout the tournament. 
Minor also used a Stealth Lures Stealth Rig with 3” Crush City Mayor’s on a 7’8” Little Miami Outfitters custom swimbait rod on 20 lb fluorocarbon line. This setup accounted for three critical fish on Day 2 while targeting scattered grass that was just starting to grow. 
His third presentation was on a 7’0” Little Miami Outfitters Utan spinning rod with 10 lb braid and a 12 lb fluorocarbon leader paired with a 6.5” Junebug finesse worm Neko rigged with a 1/32 oz nail weight. Minor caught a crucial late-day cull on Day 2, pitching at fish cruising up shallow in the warming water. 
Jacob Berryhill of Tennessee finished with 174.25” for 7th place overall. He caught his fish on a ZMan Stealth Blade and on Day 2 with an A Rig using Southeast Tackle Snack Shads.
Berryhill used an A Rig with Southeast Tackle Snack Shads.
Berryhill’s ZMan Stealth Blade. 
 Devin Holbrook of Florida finished with 172.0” for 8th place with most of his damage done with a Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crank bait ripping it through hydrilla that came up about eight inches to a foot off the bottom.  He used a 7’2” medium heavy Halo Black Widow rod paired with a Shimano Scorpion and a 6.2:1 gear ratio.  The slower gear ratio kept his lure close to the hydrilla on the bottom of the lake. If the fish missed the lipless crankbait, he would follow it up with a 13 Fishing Loco Special 110 jerkbait, slowing things down to get the fish to commit. The jerkbait was thrown on a 7’ medium custom rod that he personally built,t and paired it with a Lew’s BB1 Pro with a 6.5:1 gear ratio. All of his fish were caught in about 3.5 to 4 feet of water. 
Holbrook with his Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crank bait and his 13 Fishing Loco Special 110 jerkbait.
Christopher Blanco of Florida put up 169 inches for his two-day total, catching them on a Booyah One Knocker lipless crankbait. He was targeting grass flats where the vegetation was sitting about one to two feet off the bottom. This lipless bait helped him cover water and trigger reaction bites, which helped him put a good limit together. 
On Day 2, Blanco went back to the same area, and that is where he caught most of his fish. This time, though, instead of the lipless, he slowed things down. He picked up a Wacky rigged 5-inch Gary Yamamoto Senko in plum and continued his success. Once he secured his limit, he started hunting for bigger bass. He moved out to 6-7 feet of water on the grass flats and once again focused on the vegetation within a foot of the bottom. He dialed in on dead-sticking the Senko, giving it a subtle twitch every 3-4 seconds. That adjustment helped him find the better quality fish and a nice 9th place finish in the event. 
Matthew Osmancikli loves to get away from the cold of winter in New York, and it has become a yearly thing for him as he looks forward to meeting with good friends at these events. 
Rounding out the top ten was Osmancikli with 168.5 inches. He used a Keitech ½ oz spinnerbait and a Booyah ½ oz lipless hard knocker in a golden shiner color. 
Osmancikli’s Keitech ½ oz spinnerbait.
Osmancikli’s Booyah ½ oz lipless hard knocker in a golden shiner.

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