After brain surgery, Minnesota angler set for Bassmaster Tourney

Birmingham, Ala. — Easton Fothergill, of Grand Rapids, Minn., an angler at Alabama’s University of Montevallo, has been medically cleared to participate in the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s at Milford Lake in Junction City, Kan., this weekend, after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a brain abscess in late August.

Fothergill said he’s relieved he’ll be able to compete after what he described as the scariest moments of his life.

“When this all happened, my first thought was, oh, my gosh, I put all this work in and finally made it to the bracket and I’m not going to be able to fish it,” Fothergill said. “I was really down in the hospital thinking about it. But luckily I came through and all the doctors came together and got me feeling up to it.”

Fothergill and teammate Nick Dumke, also of Grand Rapids, qualified for the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket by winning the Bassmaster College Team of the Year title. At stake in the bracket is a berth into the iconic Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, as well as a prize package that includes a Tundra and a Nitro boat.

During practice for the Strike King Bassmaster College National Championship, where the team finished fifth, Fothergill began suffering from severe headaches.

“I’m prone to getting headaches, so I didn’t think much of it at first,” he said. “I woke up to practice on Day 2, and I downed nine or 10 waters to try and get it to go away. At 9 or 10 a.m., the pain was so unbearable that it made me pass out a couple of times. I don’t really know how far I went.”

Since surgery, Fothergill has been mostly resting while staying on schedule with his medication. He also returned home to Minnesota to consult with his family doctor before returning to campus last weekend.

“As soon as I got out of brain surgery, I had no pain,” he said. “Right now, I’m feeling pretty good overall. I’m on all oral meds right now, but the main thing is getting plenty of rest. I will get an MRI every two weeks to make sure we continue to go in the right direction.”

From his research, Fothergill has noticed species other than bass get a lot of attention at Milford Lake, but the potential is there to catch a big largemouth.

“Lying in bed the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at Google Earth,” he said. “It seems like a weird lake. I don’t know how it’s going to fish. My research seems to indicate it’s mostly a catfish and striped bass lake. It seems like a really muddy water body with not a lot of structure. It’s going to be interesting.”

Regardless, Fothergill says he’s just thankful he will be able to compete.

“I’m just glad I’ll be able to fish it at this point,” he said. “I am extremely grateful for all the doctors who were helping me out and especially my family for being so supportive through all of this. I’m super thankful for everyone who is thinking of me and praying for me.”

For full coverage of the tournament, visit Bassmaster.com