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.
