Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 8

Trey McKinney, 21, Wins 2026 Bassmaster Angler of the Year After 30-11 Record Bag

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Sep 8

Trey McKinney, 21, Wins 2026 Bassmaster Angler of the Year After 30-11 Record Bag

Q: What specific techniques unlocked the heaviest smallmouth bag ever recorded during the record-shattering St. Lawrence River finale?

Trey McKinney’s record 30-pound, 11-ounce smallmouth bag was unlocked by a mid-day adjustment: he shifted from a drop shot bite to a 5-inch minnow presentation after noticing the bigger fish were feeding higher and acting like “minnow fish.” At his key area — a roughly 500-yard deep sand flat with subtle rock veins on the St. Lawrence — McKinney had caught fish early on a drop shot with a small bug-style soft plastic. That rig produced on Day 1 and again early on Day 2, even in heavy wave action. But after pressure from boats and anglers made the fish wary, he returned to the area with less crowding and changed looks. The turning point came when he cast a drop shot to a fish and saw it only nip at the bait. Reading that reaction, he immediately followed with the minnow, and the fish “thumped it” for a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass. From there, forward-facing sonar helped him pick off more giants, including a 6-13 and another 6-pounder in a 16-minute flurry that pushed the bag into the record book. McKinney said the distinction was behavioral: some smallmouth were bottom-oriented “crawfish eaters,” while others were roaming “minnow eaters” moving up, down and sideways in the water column. His success came from matching that shift in forage mood. He threw the drop shot on 10-pound Seaguar Gold Label fluorocarbon leader and upsized to 12-pound test for the minnow presentation.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 8

McKinney clinched the 2026 Bassmaster Angler of the Year title at 21, becoming the youngest ever after finishing second in the final Elite Series event on the St. Lawrence River.
A 30-pound, 11-ounce five-fish limit on Day 2 — the heaviest in Bassmaster history — gave him the cushion he needed, even after nerves disrupted his fishing on the final day.
The title capped a rapid rise that already included Rookie of the Year and the youngest Elite Series victory, after he had finished second in the AOY standings in each of his first two seasons.
McKinney said the breakthrough also changed how veterans treated him, with the once-unwelcoming Elite field now showing the mutual respect he had spent three years trying to earn.
His win broke a record set in 1992, when Kevin VanDam claimed Bassmaster Angler of the Year at 24, underscoring McKinney's arrival among the sport's top anglers.