That Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario, would win the ROY race was a foregone conclusion a couple of tournaments before Champlain when Chris had already made it a runaway. And if he had faltered, his older brother and fellow rookie, Cory, would have been there to take up the slack. Cory finished runner-up in the ROY standings with 884 points.
“ Being Rookie of the Year is like a family honor,” says Chris.“ Cory and I practiced together all season and helped each other figure things out. It’ s always been that way with us. We grew up in an area where there are about 20 lakes that are unbelievable fisheries, and we were well-schooled in tournament fishing because our dad [ Lynn ] fished tournaments all over Ontario.
“ Dad’ s a little old school, but Cory and I stayed up to speed about new techniques and baits via websites, magazines and just fishing as many tournaments as we could, wherever we could. Champlain, Okeechobee, Kentucky Lake – we have all those scenarios in Canada, so that’ s been one of the reasons my brother and I have been pretty consistent in tournaments.”
“ Consistently good” is a better description of the Johnstons’ tournament performances, especially in the Costa FLW Series Northern Division. In 2009 Chris fished his first season in that circuit and was both Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Cory was the top angler in the Northern Division in 2011 and 2015. Heading into this year and having honed their fishing skills to the appropriate sharpness, the Johnston brothers decided the time was right to take the next step up. Now they’ re part of the strong north wind from Canada that’ s sweeping through the FLW Tour ranks in the form of the Johnston brothers, Jeff Gustafson and Curtis Richardson.
Though the general perception of fishing in Canada conjures images of deep glacial lakes and feisty smallmouth bass, Chris is more confident when he is able to sight-fish and flip, pitch or punch soft plastics to largemouths. His performance at Okeechobee, where he finished third, is indicative of his shallow-water prowess. Likewise, a month later he managed a 12th-place showing at Lake Hartwell.
“ Hartwell and Beaver Lake were the two places that worried me some – not just because I had never fished them before, but I had heard that they might be more offshore deals,” recalls Chris, who, with his father and brother, runs the family’ s vehicle and marine battery business.“ Fortunately, there was a warm spell at Hartwell, and I spent all the time sight-fishing.”
It was the same at Beaver Lake, though Chris’ sight-fishing options were more or less restricted to a five-mile stretch of shoreline washed by clear water. Then came Pickwick – the only tournament of the year where he didn’ t finish in the money – and a 61st-place showing.
“ Pickwick was a bad one. I had an OK practice, but I only weighed a couple of fish that first day,” he notes.“ I left a place where I should have stayed and went on to a place that was trashed by the wind. I hurt myself on that one and made some bad decisions, but I guess that’ s what it’ s all about: learning to make the right decisions in different situations.”
Chris rebounded at Kentucky Lake with a 40th-place showing and ended his season much the same as he began it, with a fifth-place finish at Champlain.
Now it’ s on to Wheeler Lake and the Forrest Wood Cup. Chris fished the Costa FLW Series Championship on the lake a couple of years ago, finishing 68th, and he admits that the summer patterns likely to be in play there won’ t be favorable for him.
Don’ t sell him short, however. Back in February, the thought that a Canadian angler could challenge for the FLW Tour’ s Angler of the Year title plus Rookie of the Year designation didn’ t seem so likely either.
At least, it was doubtful to just about everyone except Chris Johnston.
Johnston came within a few points of becoming the first Canadian to win AOY. He settled for ROY and the Ranger Cup award.
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