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National kayak trails 2022 AOY standings update

Its July and the points races for coveted Angler of the Year titles are getting as hot as the southern temps! With limited time left with the three national kayak trails - Kayak Bass Fishing, Hobie Bass Open Series and the Bassmaster Kayak Series - it's go time for many trying to make their mark for 2022.

Every year a new start and ambitious goals are set for kayak bass fishing anglers across the country. Chasing the glory and admiration of like minded anglers meeting at lakes and rivers from the Northeast to the California coast trying to gather up valuable points to put themselves in position to take highly regarded Angler of the Year status from their favored national trail. For many the ambition has been deflated by the big ones that got away and poorly tied knots - for a select few the opposite has happened and the stars seemed to have aligned near perfectly for them when it counted. Here is a look at each trail's top 10 points leaders and who we think may be the ones to make it happen!

Realtree Fishing KBF Trail Series presented by Dee Zee

Kayak Bass Fishing Trail Series (KBF Trail Series) Angler of the Year points start at 600 and drop 6 points per place after. The best 3 event finishes are scored for final standings with numerous events to compete in throughout the country from the East to West coasts. It finalizes at the Trail Series Championship where anglers have an opportunity to make up distance with a 900 point start with 9 point deductions per place.

As of July 5th, Cody Henley has maxed out his KBF Trail Series points and followed closely by numerous anglers such as fellow Utah angler Caymen Rasmussen and Josh Stewart. Cody Milton in the fray as usual as Gene “Flukemaster” Jensen coming on strong after a strong performance at Percy Priest Lake last month overcoming his recent flub at Laurel River.

When Basstrail spoke with KBF's Chad Hoover about the series “The AOY race is the tightest from first through the top 50 that we have ever had at KBF, this year making it into The TEN will be tougher than ever before!” and we can't agree more. Its a tight battle and one to keep an eye on!

2022 KBF Trail Series Points Standings - Top 10
1	Cody Henley	1800 pts
2	Caymen Rasmussen	1794 pts
3	Josh stewart	1794 pts
4	Ryan Nye	1788 pts
5	Anthony Garcia	1770 pts
5	Bryce Gibbs	1770 pts
5	Cody Milton	1770 pts
8	Nick Audi	1764 pts
8	Dominic Doan	1764 pts
8	Gene Jensen	1764 pts
8	Ryan Matylewicz	1764 pts

Realtree Fishing KBF Pro Series presented by Dee Zee

Kayak Bass Fishing Pro Series (KBF Pro Series) Angler of the Year points start at 600 and drop 6 points per place after. The best 3 event finishes are scored for final standings with numerous events to compete in throughout the country from the East to West coasts. It finalizes at the $50,000 guaranteed Pro Series Championship where anglers have an opportunity to make up distance with a 900 point start with 9 point deductions per place.

Current leader for the KBF Pro Series is Ryan Matylewics of Lake Winola, Pennsylvania. Ryan’s best finishes are 2nd at Lake Champlain, 1st at Messylonskee, 2nd at the Potomac River and is sitting in first place with a small 6 point margin at 1788 points.

2022 KBF the Ten champion Cody Henley of Salt Lake City, Utah is again near the top which is no surprise with 1782 points nipping at the heels of Ryan. Cody has 3 runner up performances including Kissimmee Chain, Chatfield Reservoir and Pineview Reservoir.

Sitting closely in 3rd place is another Utah angler Caymen Rasmussen who is sitting on 2 wins and a 5th place finish he could replace with a better finish at upcoming events.

Other anglers in the top ten worth noting and to watch out for is Josh Stewart from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and West Virginia’s Jody Queen.

KBF Pro Series Points Standings - Top 10
1	Ryan Matylewicz	1788 pts
2	Cody Henley	1782 pts
3	Caymen Rasmussen	1776 pts
4	Anthony Garcia	1770 pts
5	Bryce Gibbs	1764 pts
6	Josh Stewart	1752 pts
7	Nick Audi	1746 pts
8	Jody Queen	1740 pts
9	Adam Petrone	1734 pts
10	Gilbert Garcia	1728 pts

Hobie Bass Open Series Angler of the Year

Hobie Bass Open Series (Hobie BOS) has a 100 points system with 1 point reduction per place. There is also a .3 bonus for biggest limit each day as well as a .1 bonus for biggest bass each day. Any ties at the end of the year will be broken with the Hobie Tournament of Champions (Hobie TOC)

Current leader Cody Milton or Arkansas is set with a decent lead at 292.1 points, 9.98 points ahead of Josh Stewart who has had a super start to 2022. Dave Sewell is sitting around 14 points behind the lead with 278 points

Ewing Minor and Kristine Fischer are in striking distance with low score events that could be replaced to jump them up the leaderboard.

Hobie BOS Points Standings - Top 10
1	Cody Milton	292.1
2	Josh Stewart	282.3
3	Dave Sewell	278
3	Ewing Minor	274
5	Kristine Fischer	270
5	Nolan Minor	270
7	Adam Riser	261
8	Garrett Wade	260
8	Rus Snyders	260
10	Eric Siddiqi	250

2022 Old Town Bassmaster Kayak Series Angler of the Year

The Bassmaster Kayak Series has added an Angler of the Year race for 2022 which starts at 250 for first and has one event drop. This is the toughest race to win using a max participation format and only 5 events available to try and beat the field. The top 25 anglers in the series will also advance to the Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship.

The current leader heading into the final event at Pickwick in October is Justin Largen who has been on fire on the trail this season with 972 points followed closely by Larry Edwards who is only behind by 5 points. Garret Morgan is in third with 950 points.

When speaking with Jon Stewart, director of B.A.S.S. Nation he said “the Old Town Bassmaster Kayak Series AOY race has added a new element of excitement to the series.” This being the inaugural year of a Kayak Series Angler of the Year title, the field is all clawing to get that notoriety that Bassmaster can bring. “Because of the one drop rule, there are several anglers that still [have a] shot at winning that title! And anyone that has fished one or two events with Bassmaster already, still has a very good chance to qualify for the Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship via AOY points and via double qualifications, if they fish Pickwick in October!” Stewart explained.

2022 Bassmaster Kayak Series Points Standings - Top 10
1	Justin Largen	972
2	Larry Edwards	967
3	Garrett Morgan	950
4	Joshua Diehl	936
5	Robert Barnett	899
6	Brian Delahunt	891
7	David Burt	882
8	Jim Davis	873
9	Brad Case	807
10	Joe Mcelroy	781

Basstrail’s watch list

The first angler that comes to mind in 2022 has been Josh Stewart as he is the only angler on 3 of the 4 series lists. Having a stellar start to 2022, if he can finish strong he could very well end up with 2 if not all 3 of those titles.

The 2021 KBF Angler of the Year Cody Milton is also on his usual streak of consistency being on the top of Hobie BOS and in the hunt for the KBF Pro Series titles. Always a threat and generally performs near the top in Championship events he could be the one to make a title or 2 happen.

Another Notable angler is Gene “Flukemaster” Jensen who has been determined in 2022 to make the KBF Ten house and putting in the work for it. If not for a mistake made would be closer to the top of the KBF Pro list already. Look for Gene to make a push for that Pro Series title!

Justin Largen is undoubtedly on track to take the Bassmaster title but can be unseated come the next event if he slips. With the race tight and kayak bass fishing hammers right below hime it will be an exciting battle at Pickwick in October!