Easton Fothergill Wins the 2025 Bass Pro Shop Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour!

Canadians Cory Johnston 5th & Chris Johnston 9th

Easton dominates Classic. (Photo: Grant Moxley/BASS)

By Andrew Canulette

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.”

2019 Bassmaster Classic Tennessee River Day 1: Ott DeFoe Sack 20lbs and Lead!

Local hero DeFoe a crowd favourite

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Ott DeFoe grabs lead with help from daily big bass, a 6lber.
(Photo: BASS)

Ott DeFoe came into Friday’s opening round of the GECIO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods with two patterns in mind that he thought would work on the Tennessee River.

Only one of them did — and even then, just barely.

But it worked well enough to give him the lead at the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing.

DeFoe caught only eight keeper bass on the day, but his best five weighed 20 pounds and gave him an early cushion over Arizona pros Roy Hawk, who was second with 17-11, and Clifford Pirch, who was third with 16-11.

“I got five good bites all day, and I landed them,” said DeFoe, a Knoxville resident who was considered by many to be the odds-on favorite coming into the event. “Honestly, it felt like a very tough day.”

DeFoe’s two-pattern strategy included one tactic he believed would produce heavier bass and another he thought would be a good “limit filler.” The limit-filling pattern didn’t work at all.

Fortunately for the Tennessee pro, the big-fish strategy produced a 6-pound largemouth that anchored his catch.

“A 6-pounder here is a really big one,” said DeFoe, who also took the Day 1 lead in the Berkley Big Bass competition. “So to get that one and four other pretty good ones, I felt really blessed.”

This marks the first time that Fort Loudon and Tellico Lakes have hosted a major Bassmaster event — and since DeFoe lives in the area, he probably knows as much about the fisheries as anyone. But even he couldn’t say exactly what changed the fishing so dramatically from what he had come to expect in practice.

“Coming in, I felt like both of my patterns would hold up all week,” DeFoe said. “I don’t know if the fishing pressure got to the one that didn’t work for me today or if it was the fact that the water level came up some.

“If I had to guess, I would say the water level coming up probably caused the fish to scatter out in some places.” As the first-round leader, DeFoe receives the GEICO Everyday Leader Award of $2,500.