Pennsylvania’s Ryan Matylewicz has won the 2026 Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft with a two-day total of 194.25 inches.
Photo by Mark Cisneros/B.A.S.S.
Feb. 9, 2026
Keystone State’s Ryan Matylewicz locks up key Kayak Series win at Kissimmee Chain
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Ryan Matylewicz didn’t come close to catching the best bag of bass in the Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series at Kissimmee Chain presented by Native Watercraft. That honor went to fellow Pennsylvanian Dylan Crystaloski whose Day 2 total of 114.75 inches broke the record for the largest one-day limit in Bassmaster Kayak Series history.
Despite those fireworks, Matylewicz proved consistency wins the race.
The 38-year-old Tunkhanook, Pa., resident caught a 98.75-inch limit on Saturday and closed with a limit of 95.5 inches Sunday to give him 10 bass measuring 194.25 inches overall, which was more than enough length to top the field of 242 anglers competing this weekend in central Florida.
Matylewicz earned $11,500 for the victory, part of a $48,400 cash purse awarded to top performers on the Kissimmee Chain. The tournament was the first of six regular season stops for the series in 2026.
“Being consistent was the name of the game,” Matylewicz said. “I found some fish in practice on the north end of Lake Tohopekaliga, and I stayed up there both days of the tournament. I threw an Alabama rig the whole time and I feel like I threw it about 6 million times. I was hurting overnight and maxed out on ibuprofen. It’s not easy throwing that thing as many times as I did, but that’s what they were hitting.”
Chucking the A-rig was a necessity, Matylewicz said, following a bitter cold front that blanketed the East Coast last week. Water temperatures plummeted and still were at 52 degrees on Sunday morning for Day 2 of the derby. Florida provided plenty of its signature sunshine, though, and the water warmed rapidly as the final day progressed.
“It got to 59, 60 degrees eventually,” Matylewicz said. “The fish were lethargic and really slow to bite. But with that big rig whizzing over their heads, I was getting some reaction bites. I was close enough, so they thought they’d take a chance on some free food.”
A variety of lures worked with the Alabama rig, but Matylewicz said basic shad-colored plastics worked best. He fished over hard spots and small rockpiles in anywhere from 4 to 8 feet of water.
“I stayed near some pre-spawn locations that were close to winter spots,” he said. “The fish wanted to spawn, but the water temperature dropped so much with that cold front, the fish were disoriented. Where I was worked, but it got less productive as thy day went on. I wouldn’t have a lot of confidence going to that spot again if we had to fish tomorrow.”
Rounding out the Top 5 at the Kissimmee Chain are, second, North Carolina’s Wyatt Hammond, 190.75 inches, $5,250; third, Pennsylvania’s Greg Polec, 190.50, $3,250; fourth, Crystaloski, 182.75, $2,855; and fifth, Connecticut’s Ryan Nye, 180, $2,655.
Of that quintet, only Crystaloski was outside the Top 5 after Day 1, when he caught four fish measuring 68 inches. He crashed the party on Championship Sunday, though, with eight total catches, including a pair of 24-inch toads. He also had bass of 22.5, 22.25 and 22 inches to round out his record-setting haul. Bassmaster Kayak Series Director Steve Owens said five bass totaling 114.75 inches is equivalent to about 35 pounds.
“It was the best day of my life on the water,” said Crystaloski, a 25-year-old native of Greensburg, Pa.
“I caught a 9 1/2-pound, 26-inch largemouth in practice right outside a spawning flat using a DT6 Rapala crankbait. “When the tournament started, I sat on that same point all day and knew it was either sink or swim … I knew I had to go there and swing on them again today. They just kept reloading. I couldn’t ask for a better start to the season.”
The previous one-day record in a Bassmaster Kayak Series event was 112.25 inches caught by Mark Pendegraf in the 2021 Championship on Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas.
The Top 5 anglers in each of this year’s kayak tournaments advance to the 2026 Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship presented by Native Watercraft, which will be held later this year at a location not yet announced. The Bassmaster College Kayak Series will be held in conjunction with that championship.
Garin Butler, of Duluth, Ga., caught a 24.75-inch bass on Saturday and won the $500 Big Bass Award. Also, for the first time in the Bassmaster Kayak Series, a $100 Hourly Big Bass prize was awarded to the competitor who caught the longest bass in each hour of the tournament.
Scoring for the week will be available via TourneyX.
The Kissimmee Sports Commission hosted this event.