Trey McKinney becomes youngest Bassmaster Angler of the Year at 21, breaking Kevin VanDam's record

CLAYTON, NEW YORK — Evan Kung's name is on the tournament trophy from the St.

Lawrence River.

But the biggest story out of Clayton this week might actually be the young guns .

The Bassmaster Elite at St.

Lawrence Rive r closed out the 2026 Elite Series regular season, and with it came the season-long Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year titles.

These are awards decided by cumulative points across all nine regular-season events — not by who wins this one tournament.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORS Still, a lot was riding on how this Championship Sunday shook out.

Trey McKinney came into the season finale having watched Chris Johnston walk away with the Angler of the Year title for two straight years — runner-up finishes that, as the emcee pointed out, meant McKinney had "never been out of the top two" in the AOY race in his young career.

This time, the roles reversed: Johnston himself handed McKinney the trophy.

A passing of the torch, you could call it.

At 21, McKinney is now the youngest Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year in history — breaking a record held by Kevin VanDam since 1992.

It's a fitting cap to a week where McKinney also boated the heaviest five-fish smallmouth limit ever weighed in Bassmaster history (30 pounds, 11 ounces, back on Day 2) and picked up his own Century Belt for good measure.

None of it came easily.

McKinney finished the tournament in second place, 2 pounds behind Kung.