Wyatt Hammond wins third straight KBF national title
Pro kayak angler Wyatt Hammond captured the 2026 KBF National Championship on Lakes Guntersville and Wheeler in Alabama, becoming the first angler to win three straight KBF national titles and setting a new event record.
Pro kayak angler Wyatt Hammond won the 2026 KBF National Championship on Lakes Guntersville and Wheeler in Alabama, earning his third consecutive national title. He is the first angler in KBF history to win three straight national championships, a feat that also came with a new record for the event.
The tournament is scored by the total length of each angler's five longest bass rather than by weight. Fish are measured, photographed and released, so there is no traditional weigh-in. On the championship's Friday, Hammond recorded 101.75 inches, enough to hold off runner-up Rus Snyders at 100.50 inches and third-place finisher Abby Abbondanza at 99.25 inches. His margin of victory that day was just 1.25 inches, a reminder of how tightly contested the field was.
Across the three days of competition, Hammond's combined total reached 310 inches, a new KBF record. Over the course of the event, roughly 15 scoring bass averaging more than 20 inches were landed. That level of consistency across the full tournament, rather than a single standout day, is what set the benchmark for the rest of the field.
Hammond also claimed the 2026 KBF Challenge Series Championship and the Angler of the Year title. In that series he posted 106 inches on day one and 102.25 inches on day two, for a total of 208.25 inches. That gave him a 15.75-inch win over Jody Queen. The national title adds to a run that began with his victory at the 2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series National Championship, bringing his overall national championship total to four.
The run has not been without setbacks. At a Bassmaster event on Lake Murray in South Carolina in October 2026, Hammond finished two inches short of defending his title. He lost to champion Ewing Minor after a slow first day, a result that showed how narrow the margins at the top of the sport can be. Hammond has spoken openly about the pressure that comes with being the reigning champion, saying it nearly drove him away from fishing altogether.
That admission gives weight to what he has accomplished since. Winning back-to-back-to-back national titles requires sustained performance across different waters and formats, not only a strong run in one event. Hammond's results over the past year have shown he can produce at the highest level of kayak bass fishing while managing the mental strain that comes with being the one everyone is chasing.
Looking ahead, Hammond has set his sights on the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title in 2027. Upcoming events on Lake Champlain and Sam Rayburn Reservoir will be the next tests of that goal, as he works toward a season-long championship that would add another milestone to a career already defined by repeated wins.
Source: foxnews.com
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