Easton Fothergill Wins 2025 Bassmaster Classic: $300,000 and a Record-Setting Weight

At just 22, Fothergill dominates Lake Ray Roberts, securing the biggest winning weight in Bassmaster Classic history.

Kurt Mazurek | Mar 24, 2025

Easton Fothergill made history at the 2025 Bassmaster Classic, landing 76 lbs, 15 oz—the heaviest winning total ever. / Kurt Mazurek

The Epic Journey of Easton Fothergill: Hospital Bed to Classic Champion

22-year-old Easton Fothergill from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, just won the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic with a record-setting 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.)

Nineteen months ago, 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 Armour.

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.”

How Fothergill Conquered Lake Ray Roberts

Adapting to Changing Conditions

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.

Easton Fothergill leaning over the edge of his boat grabbing another big Texas bass.

Easton Fothergill set a new Bassmaster Classic record for a 3-day Classic, with 15 fish weighing and amazing 76 pounds, 15 ounces. / B.A.S.S. | Chase Sansom

Finding the Big Bites with the Right Baits

“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.”

Championship Sunday: The 8-Pound Difference

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.”

Fothergill’s Winding Road to the Classic

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 Classic on Ray Roberts.

How the Bassmaster Classic Was Won

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.

These Anglers Kept Pressure on Fothergill

Local favorite Lee Livesay, 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 McKinney ratcheted up pressure on Fothergill.

McKinney, a 20-year-old from Carbondale, Illinois, 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.

Trey McKineey in his boat celebrating the catch of another big Texas bass.

Trey McKinney turned the pressure back on for Day 3. If not for Fothergill's late day, 8-pounder, the finish would have been very close. / B.A.S.S.

But then Fothergill answered with his 8-pounder, only his fifth keeper of the day, but it was more than enough to secure his victory.

How the Bassmaster Classic Has Changed Fothergill’s Future

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.