Category: Angler of the Year

In the Hunt: Lake George (S2 E6)

Check out season two, episode six, of In the Hunt! The final episode of 2023!

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Ryan Matylewicz Wins Angler of the Year After Epic 2023 Season

Consistency is one of the defining characteristics of any Angler of the Year. To earn the title, one must be consistent not for one event, not for two, but for an entire season.

This year, Ryan Matylewicz had one of those seasons.

The 2023 EKF season took us to some of the Northeast’s most premier fisheries, and Cayuga lake is arguably at the top of that list. Known for its world-class fishing and trophy bass, Cayuga Lake churned out fifteen limits over 90 inches, and many more close to it, at our first event of the year. Ryan’s limit of 96.75 inches, however impressive, was only good enough for third place—the first of four top-three finishes in 2023.

Following Cayuga Lake, EKF stopped at the famed Lake Champlain where challenging weather presented difficult fishing conditions. Ryan’s ability to adapt allowed him to net a limit of 97.75 and a second-place finish.

The third event of the season took EKF anglers to the St. Lawrence River, known to many as Smallmouth Disneyland. With many anglers fishing the river for the first time, the competition was wide open for those who located quality fish. Ryan’s 92.75 inches of fierce river smallmouth was enough to secure his first-ever EKF victory!

The final regular-season event of the year took anglers to scenic Messalonskee Lake and Great Pond. With both bodies of water known for their impressive smallmouth bass population, it presented anglers with a difficult decision on tournament day. Ryan decided that Great Pond would provide him the best opportunity for success, a decision that would pay off, landing him once again in third place with a limit of 94.5 inches.

With four strong finishes, Ryan was well-positioned in the Angler of the Year standings heading into the championship event on Lake George.

October brought shorter days and dropping temperatures after a period of record-breaking highs in the Adirondack region of upstate New York. Anglers had to come up with multiple strategies to provide them with the best chance to take home the championship trophy.

After day one, Ryan found himself sitting in sixth place and well-positioned in his pursuit of Angler of the Tear.

The second day of the championship saw anglers resorting to their backup plans and making on-the-fly adjustments. While Ryan remained consistent between both days, other anglers stumbled on day two. This opened the door for a fifth-place championship finish and the well-earned title of 2023 EKF Angler of the Year!

Congratulations on a steller season!


The Road to the 2023 Championship

Five events, 336 combined anglers, nearly 2,000 fish submitted, over $40,000 in payouts, one event remaining!

It all goes down on Lake George, October 14–15, where we will crown a new Champion and Angler of the Year!

Please join us in congratulating the following anglers for qualifying for our championship…

Ryan Matylewicz
Nick Audi
Jake Angulas
Rey Morales
John Ferreira
Ken Wood
Matthew Conant
Kevin Amaral
Donald Davis
Nelson da Costa

Those Top 10 anglers earned a free entry into our championship!

Adam Rourke
Ari Stonehill
Benjamin Bornhorst
Brandon Brylinsky
Brian Baulsir
Bruce Levy
Chris Pendergast
Christopher LaCourse
Daryl Martin
David Otero
Domenic Eno
Francis Matylewicz
Gary Ward
Gerard Elias
Ivan Diaz
Jeremiah Savely
Jonathan Richardson
Joseph D’Addeo
Joseph Horgos
Justin Rednour
Matthew Lee
Matthew Zapala
Mike Morcone
Nate Chagnon
Pat Veomett
Ray Figueroa
Russell Beeson
Sarah Pendergast
Scott Rhodes
Shawn Marston
Shelby Morgan
Simon Morgan
Stephen Hedges
Stephen Mazza
Stephen Smith
Tammy Sanchez
Todd Brothers
Todd Dyer
Torrence Davis
William Muir

Congratulations once again!

If you qualified, registration is open now on Fishing Chaos. We’ll see you next month!


In the Hunt: Messalonskee Lake/Great Pond (S2 E5)

Check out season two, episode five, of In the Hunt!

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In the Hunt: St. Lawrence River (S2 E4)

Check out season two, episode four, of In the Hunt!

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In the Hunt: Connecticut River/Moore Reservoir (S2 E3)

Check out season two, episode three, of In the Hunt!

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In the Hunt: Lake Champlain (S2 E2)

Check out season two, episode two, of In the Hunt!

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In the Hunt: Cayuga Lake (S2 E1)

Season two of In the Hunt is here!

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The Crowning of Champions

Elite Kayak Fishing’s inaugural season began on Cayuga Lake back on May 8, where seventy-four of the region’s best anglers laid the proverbial smackdown on hungry pre-spawn bass and the top ten collectively put up nearly a thousand inches!

From New York to Maine, to Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, it all culminated on September 18 at the first-ever Elite Kayak Fishing championship event—presented by Three Belles Outfitters and Bixpy—on legendary Lake Champlain, a worthy body of water to crown the 2021 Champion and Angler of the Year!


Trophies provided by Ketch.

Straddling the New York, Vermont, and Canadian borders, a small field of qualified anglers took to the northern waters of this world-class fishery and found quality bites while pre-fishing. But with a drop in temperature, increased winds, big waves, and a tougher-than-normal bite on tournament day, they had to make some serious adjustments.

With limited cell service for some, and limited fish for others, movement on the leaderboard was sporadic and slow. Familiar names—Jason Gardner and Jake Angulas—jostled for the top spot all day, but Steve O’Brien and others were right there with them.

When the standings went offline at 1 PM, Angulas had taken the top spot and was gunning for his third and biggest win of the season, while Gardner was nipping at his heels in second, and O’Brien had dropped to fifth.

As anglers got off the water and found cell service, the leaderboard lit up, with places shifting numerous times before the submission deadline.

At the end of it all, the Bigpy Big Bass went to Brian Baulsir, whose 20.75-inch largemouth was hard to beat, earning him $500 and a Bixpy J-2 Outboard Kit.

Sitting two spots out of the money when the leaderboard went dark, Steve O’Brien was able to put his legendary stick-catching skills to good use in the remaining two hours, wrangling in quality smallmouth and securing a few late-day upgrades to push him up into third place.

On tournament morning, while many anglers took one look at the waves and sought shelter from them, Jake Angulas did the opposite. He spent his day fishing offshore, riding massive Champlain waves, throwing a Ned rig and crushing big smallies in 50 to 70 feet of water. The pedigree of a true champion!

Although it appeared that Jake was primed for another Elite Kayak Fishing victory, Jason Gardner had something to say about it…

Jason found his limit early, but they weren’t the bass he needed to win. He made a move to a new area—which proved to be the right move—and began upgrading, ultimately culling all his fish and then some. Jason caught everything on a Z-Man Jackhammer, putting up 92 inches of smallmouth bass, and edging out Jake Angulas by a mere 1.5 inches to become the very first Elite Kayak Fishing Champion!

While Jake fell short this time, his achievements this season cannot be overlooked!

His fourteenth-place finish at Cayuga Lake may not seem all that impressive at first glance, but that was with a solid 89 inches of bass, just an inch from the top ten, two small upgrades from the win. He followed that up with back-to-back wins at Lake Messalonskee and Lake Wallenpaupack, and then took second place at Lake Winnipesaukee.

With his performance at Lake Champlain, Jake Angulas unequivocally earned the title of Elite Kayak Fishing Angler of the Year!


L to R: Lauren Furey from Three Belles Outfitters, Jason Gardner, Jake Angulas, and Dakota Lithium’s Craig Storms

Full results can be found here on Fishing Chaos.

Elite Kayak Fishing would like to thank Brian Baulsir and Adirondack Kayak Bass Fishing, for their help organizing this event.

Another huge thank-you to Dakota Lithium for providing food during our awards ceremony.

To all our sponsors—Three Belles Outfitters and Bixpy, Dakota Lithium, Savur Outdoors, and Jackson Kayak’s Orion Coolers—we could not have done this without you and your unending support this season. Thank you!

And a massive salute to all the competitors who supported this new trail and for buying in to our vision for establishing a regional series in the Northeast! It gets bigger and better from here…

See you in 2022!


History Helps Secure a Big Wallenpaupack Win

Presented by Three Belles Outfitters and Bixpy, the third Elite Kayak Fishing event of the season took place on Saturday, July 14, on the beautiful waters of Pennsylvania’s Lake Wallenpaupack.

Forty-five anglers from all over the Northeast battled heavy recreational boat traffic and tight-lipped bass in hopes of taking home the coveted Elite Kayak Fishing trophy and earning a spot in the championship event on Lake Champlain later this year.

Lake Wallenpaupack is very popular with locals and visitors alike—which everyone fishing the event learned as the flotillas of pontoon party boats and deck boats made their way across the lake and parked on top of prime fishing areas like coves, flats, humps, and points, while wake boats and jet skis zipped around and created endless waves that battered everything and everyone relentlessly.

All of this undoubtedly made the notoriously tough fishery even tougher.

Known for being a stingy fishery—and stingier in the summer—Lake Wallenpaupack stayed true to its reputation by only giving up 67 scorable bass, with only 30 anglers entering fish, and only two managing a five-fish limit.

Despite the limited number of fish caught, the top ten anglers found themselves in a tight race, their position at the top precarious at best. One 12-inch bass was worth five or six positions!

Jason Gardner separated himself from the pack early, putting up the day’s first limit by 9:30 AM and having the lead for much of the day. He would later have a fish denied, but before that could happen local angler Rich Toepfer swooped in and snatched the lead with a solid limit of his own.

Having grown up on the lake, Rich was poised for the victory…until late in the day a talented angler from New Hampshire happened upon some offshore structure, something that did not appear to be very abundant across the lake.

Historical knowledge of a fishery often helps anglers win events, but occasionally history itself offers up something from another time…

Jake Angulas had just one 16-inch bass before coming upon an old building foundation in deeper water around noontime. He worked that area with a ned rig for the remainder of the tournament and landed four bass—two of which topped 16 and 17 inches—propelling the young hammer to the top and nailing down his second Elite Kayak Fishing victory!


The winner, Jake Angulas

With back-to-back wins, Jake also sits atop the Angler of the Year leaderboard, and with our next event on Lake Winnipesaukee in his home state, all eyes are on Jake. No pressure!

Lake Wallenpaupack’s top five paying spots were rounded out by two other New Hampshire anglers, Adam Rourke and Stephen Smith, and the Bixpy Big Bass prize went to Danny Fontaine, who hauled in an 18.75-inch smallmouth late in the day.

Elite Kayak Fishing would like to thank Danny Fontaine, Brian Thomas, and the Central Jersey Kayak Bass Fishing Club for helping make this event possible.

Special thanks to our incredible sponsors—Three Belles Outfitters and Bixpy, Dakota Lithium, Jackson Kayak’s Orion Coolers, and Savur Outdoors—for the support and prizes!

And a huge thank-you to all of the anglers who made the trip for this event!

As mentioned, we’re heading to New Hampshire’s legendary Lake Winnipesaukee on August 14. Register here on Fishing Chaos!