Canadians Cory Johnston 5th & Chris Johnston 9th
By Andrew CanuletteEaston dominates Classic. (Photo: Grant Moxley/BASS)
BASS Press Release
FORT WORTH, Texas — Nineteen months ago,
Easton Fothergill was lying on a gurney in an Alabama hospital, awaiting
surgery to remove an infected abscess from his brain. Sunday afternoon, in
front of thousands of fans at Dickies Arena, Fothergill stood tall as champion
of the
2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under ArmourFothergill,
a 22-year-old native of Grand Rapids, Minn., finished the three-day event on
Lake Ray Roberts with a total of 15 bass for 76 pounds, 15 ounces. It was the
biggest winning weight in the 55-year history of the most prestigious fishing
tournament in the world and was exactly 8 1/2 pounds more than the nearest
competitor in the field of 56 anglers. Fothergill is also the second-youngest
champion in Bassmaster Classic history (only
Stanley Mitchell who won the 1981 Classic at 21 was younger.)
For most anglers, the Ray Scott Trophy and a $300,000 check
are the biggest prizes to accompany a Classic victory. But for Fothergill, just
being able to compete in the Classic was the ultimate prize. He said every
feeling was heightened given his very real brush with mortality less than two
years ago.
“It’s indescribable, the trajectory of my life since that first bad moment,” Fothergill said. “Everything has come true that I’ve ever wanted. It’s pretty crazy.”
Fothergill fished with confidence on Lake Ray Roberts,
having to switch spots and techniques every day of the tournament. The
versatility was necessary as Day 1 was extremely windy, Day 2 was calm, and
Championship Sunday was somewhere in between. Rising temperatures started the
spawn on Ray Roberts, too, and bass were scattered across the 23,950-acre
reservoir as they began moving to shallow water.
As Fothergill would find out, that made getting bites
difficult on Ray Roberts. The difference for him was he was able to get big
bites every day, something most of his peers couldn’t do.
“Eighty percent of my catches this week came on a 3/32-ounce
Neko rig (red bug),” he said. “I caught a couple on an off-white jerkbait, too,
but I had confidence in the Neko in the (slightly stained) water.”
Fothergill’s most important catch of the week came
mid-afternoon Championship Sunday and with only four bass in his livewell, at
that. He spotted a fat bass suspended near a tree in the back of a slough. He
went back to the Neko rig, casting delicately to not spook the bass. He said he
“lost four baits to that tree within 10 minutes. I just broke them off rather
than spook that fish … The funny thing was she swam out and wasn’t even
interested in the bait. But then she turned back and just ignited on it.
“I was scared (of losing) at 1 o’clock and with only four
fish,” he said. “But that was the fish that got it for me.”
It was another moment in a stretch of unexpected twists in
Fothergill’s young life.
Only weeks after his brain surgery in August 2023, he won
the
2023 Bassmaster College Bracket presented by Lew’s on Kansas’ Milford Lake.
That earned him a spot in last year’s
Classic on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, where he finished 16th.
His hot streak continued with wins in two Bassmaster Opens last year, and that
performance got him an invitation to fish the
2025 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series, as well as a berth in this year’s
Classic on Ray Roberts.
He stumbled out the gate of the 2025 Elites, finishing 93rd
and 101st in the pair of Florida derbies to start the season.
But those less-than-stellar finishes didn’t deter
Fothergill. He found his groove on the Coosa River in Alabama, where he
retreated and gathered himself between the Florida swing and the Classic. He’s
familiar with the Coosa from his time competing for the University of
Montevallo and catching fish there settled his nerves.
He started with a bang at the Classic, catching 24-15 on Day
1 (good for third place) and followed with a tournament-high 29-6 on Day 2.
That gave him a commanding lead of 8 1/2 pounds, which is exactly the cushion
he finished with on Championship Sunday. He caught 22-10 on Day 3, including
the 8-pounder, which was the Mercury Big Bass of the Day.
Local favorite
Lee Livesay, who hails from Longview, Texas, some 170 miles from Ray
Roberts, closed the gap early Sunday and tied Fothergill atop the leaderboard
with 58-5 each. The pair traded blows throughout the late morning until
Livesay’s bite went slack. That’s when Day 1 leader
Trey McKinneyratcheted up pressure on Fothergill.
McKinney, a 20-year-old from Carbondale, Ill., and the 2024
Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year, was in sixth place coming
into Championship Sunday. He shot into third place mid-morning courtesy of a
fat 7-11 largemouth that put him only 1 pound behind Fothergill and
Livesay. By 1 p.m., McKinney was alone in second place, though he still
trailed Fothergill by 6-5. He narrowed the gap in a hurry, however, with his
fifth keeper — a 6-pounder that put him 2-5 behind the leader.
But Fothergill slammed the door with his 8-pounder, only his
fifth keeper of the day.
It was a fitting way to win the sport’s biggest tournament,
as it changed the narrative for the young ace from the North Star State. He’s
said before he felt others saw him as a hyper-talented angler who had the
terrible misfortune of having to undergo brain surgery.
But now, “Classic champion” will precede any other
description of him.
“I appreciate everything in life much more now,” he said.
“I’m definitely a stronger person.”
McKinney wound up closest to Fothergill with 68-7 over three
days. Livesay placed third with 66-10. Rounding out the Super Six are, fourth,
Tennessee’s
Hunter Shryock 64-14; fifth, Canada’s
Cory Johnston, 58-7; and sixth, Florida’s
John Cox, 56-13.
John
Garrett was the first person outside the cut to 25 for the final day of
55th Bassmaster Classic, but the 8-12 he caught on Day 1 remained the Mercury
Big Bass until the end, earning the Tennessee pro $2,500. Fellow Tennessean
Brandon Lester hooked the heavy (8-6) on Day 2 and Fothergill’s 8-1 was
biggest Day 3, earning both anglers $1,000 prizes.
Fothergill also took home an additional $10,000 for being
the highest-placing entrant in the
Toyota Bonus Bucks program, while Cox earned $5,000 for being the
second-highest placing entrant.
As part of the
Yamaha Power Pay program, Fothergill earned an additional $20,000 while
Lester claimed an additional $3,000 for being the second-highest placing
entrant.
The
Fort Worth Sports Commission hosted the event.
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