B.A.S.S. Report

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 Armour.  Fothergill, a 22-year-old native of Grand Rapids, Minn., finished the three-day event on Lake Ray Roberts in Texas 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.

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.