Bill Lowen Wins 2025 FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River

Canadian Cory Johnston grabs 5th

Indiana's Bill Lowen wins the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River in Palatka, Fla., with a four-day weight of 73 pounds, 14 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/BASS) 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

PALATKA, Fla. —  Twice in three days vegetation threatened to thwart Bill Lowen’s efforts. Both times persistence prevailed, as the Brookville, Ind., pro tallied a four-day total of 73 pounds, 14 ounces to win the 2025 FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River.

Lowen, who won his first Elite title at Pickwick Lake in 2021, placed third on Day 1 with 21-5, then took over the lead with a second-round limit of 24-4. Sacking up 18-1 on Semifinal Saturday, Lowen held the top spot and entered Championship Sunday with a 5-4 lead over his nearest competitor.

Day 4 proved excruciatingly stingy, as Lowen struggled to coax fish that showed increasing sensitivity to the week’s severe cold front. He missed his limit by one keeper, but after anchoring an otherwise slim bag with a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass, Lowen turned in a final bag that went 10-4 and edged Jay Przekurat by 4 ounces.

“Today was weird; I lost my fifth fish three times, and one of them was a good one — maybe 4 or 5 pounds,” Lowen said. “I’ve always said, ‘When it’s your time, it’s your time and you can’t do anything wrong.’

2025 FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River Day 3: Lowen Remains in the Lead

 Canadians Cory Johnston 7th, Chris Johnston 15 & Kung 16th

Indiana's Bill Lowen leads the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River in Palatka, Fla., with 15 bass weighing 63 pounds, 10 ounces. (Photo: Seigo Saito/BASS)

PALATKA, Fla. —  Even the ideal habitat cannot fully hide from a major Florida cold front. Just ask Bill Lowen, who fought through a slower Day 3 to retain his lead at the 2025 FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River.

After placing third on Day 1 with 21-5, the Brookville, Ind., pro moved into the lead with a second-round limit of 24-4. Adding 18-1 on Semifinal Saturday, Lowen heads into Championship Sunday with 63-10 and a 5-4 lead over John Garrett.

“That water where I’m fishing is about 4 degrees colder than it was yesterday,” Lowen said in reference to the sharp cold front that arrived on Thursday. “I had one little zone that was a couple degrees warmer, and that’s where I caught all my fish.

“My primary area where I caught ‘em the last two days, I never caught a fish there today. When the tide got right (around 11 a.m.), I made sure I was there, and I caught my two biggest fish. The tide is so important here and if you miss that window, you’ll miss those big bites.”

Sticking to the game plan that delivered his prior success, Lowen spent most of his day in a creek north of takeoff. He targeted shallow, submerged wood but he noted that the creek’s 27-foot depths proved strategic in giving the bass greater stability than shallower areas throughout the St. Johns system.

Easton Fothergill Wins St. Croix Open at Leech Lake Presented by Seviin; Carl Jocumsen Advances to Classic!

By Andrew Canulette 

BASS Press Release

WALKER, Minn. — The major storyline heading into the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN was that the global bass-fishing community would get its first look at what’s heralded as one of the sport’s best, yet relatively unknown, fisheries.

Everyone watching, meanwhile, already knew that Easton Fothergill is one of the best young anglers on the water today.

The two forces collided during a spectacular two-day derby in northern Minnesota this week, and both shined under pressure — Leech as host of its first B.A.S.S. tournament and Fothergill as the young prodigy looking to make hay on home water.

The 22-year-old Fothergill, a Grand Rapids, Minn., native who grew up 30 minutes from Leech Lake, bagged a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 49 pounds, 13 ounces and clinched the tournament championship Saturday at Walker Public Dock. He collected $45,936 cash with the win, part of a $300,034 purse split among the Top 45 of 203 pros competing at Leech this week.

The victory at Leech continued a hot streak not often seen at any level of professional fishing. In the past 10 months and change, Fothergill won the 2023 Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’son Kansas’ Milford Lake last October, finished 16th of 56 anglers in the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in March, and followed with his first St. Croix Bassmaster Opens win of the year in June on Lake Eufaula, also in the Sooner State.

Cory Johnston Wins 2024 Humminbird Bassmaster Elite on the St. Lawrence River!

Canadians Chris Johnston 4th

By David A. Brown

BASS Press Release

WADDINGTON, N.Y. —  On a day dimmed by clouds and rain, lightning struck a

second time for Canadian superstar Cory Johnston.

After claiming his first blue trophy at the season’s fourth event at the St. Johns River, the pro from Otonabee, Canada, tallied 102 pounds and claimed the $100,000 top prize at the Humminbird Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.

“It was a lot of hard work; I put a lot of time into this,” Johnston said. “I’ve said it 100 times, this is my favorite place to come, this is my favorite crowd with all my family and friends, all the Canadian support — and it’s a short drive home.”

After placing fourth on Day 1 with 25 pounds, Day 2 saw Johnston add 27-7 and tie rookie Robert Gee for second. On Semifinal Saturday, Johnston weighed 24-14 and slipped back to second, 13 ounces behind Gee.

With Championship Sunday delivering 24-11, Johnston surged to the top and edged Gee by 1-9. Enhancing his victory, Johnston earned his second entry into the Bassmaster Century Club, which recognizes an angler for catching 100 pounds or more with four days of five-bass limits.

Notably, Johnston was the first angler to earn a Bassmaster Century Club Belt with all smallmouth by weighing a tournament total of 100-5 during the 2022 Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River. He finished second to Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat, but Johnston weighed in before Przekurat and wrote his name in the record book.