bassmaster classic

Big bass of 2025 Lake Ray Roberts Classic

Fothergill sets all-time weight record, but expected double digits never showed up.

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
Lake Ray Roberts was stingy for most of the 56 anglers in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, but 22-year-old Easton Fothergill figured everything out in record fashion. Let’s look at the big fish from the 55th Classic.
High winds across north Texas cut practice time and made travel on the 29,000-acre, timber-filled lake difficult. Defending Classic champ Justin Hamner had a 7-pound, 11-ounce kicker gave him more than half his weight on a chilly Day 1, but bringing in only four fish saw him start 25th.
Kyoya Fujita was among the 11 anglers to top 20 pounds on Friday, when 27 anglers caught limits with the average fish weighing 3-10. The Japanese pro had a 6-0 and a 6-8 to start seventh with 21-14. After finishing 11th in last year’s Classic, Fujita made his second cut and finished 17th.
Taku Ito of Japan only caught three fish on Day 1, but he had one of the right ones, a 7-6 for the bulk of his 11-7. A zero on Day 2 then dropped him to 52nd, his worst of five consecutive championships that started on Ray Roberts in 2021.
John Garrett also had quantity issues, bringing in only three, although his 8-12 kicker took the $1,000 bonus as the day’s big bass. A second day with three bass left Garrett first man out of the Top 25 cut. While many predicted a double-digit bass would be caught, Garrett’s fish held on as Mercury Big Bass, earning $2,500.
Texan Lee Livesay, among the favorites on the lake where he’s had great success, caught a 6-12 in his limit of 23-0 that put him in fifth. Livesay has scored two of his four Bassmaster victories on nearby Lake Fork, where he guides.
Fothergill, an Elite Series rookie who started the season with two subpar performances, posted a 6-4 and a 6-8 on BassTrakk on Day 1 of his second Classic. The Grand Rapids, Minn., who won two Opens last year en route to the Elite Qualifier Angler of the Year title, started third with 24-15.
Canadian Cory Johnston, who won two Elite events last year, had a 7-10 in his 25-9 limit that put him second. The 39-year-old hoped to join Jeff Gustafson (2023) as champions from north of the border. After 20-4, Johnston began Day 3 8-8 behind the leader with possibility of winning a major as his brother, Chris, did with last year’s AOY. However, only four fish knocked him down to fifth.
Trey McKinney, who just turned 20, took the Day 1 lead with 26-9, bolstered by a 7-0. The pro from Carbondale, Ill., set the Elites on fire in 2024, almost eclipsing the all-time weight record in his victory on Lake Fork and winning the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year title.
Australia’s Carl Jocumsen, one of seven international anglers in this Classic, had a solid Day 1 with 18-14. This 6-0, one of his three fish, helped him make the cut at 22nd on a slower Semifinal Saturday, and he landed four for 20-0 to finish 11th, his best showing in three Classics.
The BassTrakk leaderboard had five anglers post 7-0 bass on Saturday, when 29 caught limits and the average fish dropped an ounce to 3-9. B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier Jeremy Knepp of Montgomery, Texas, was among them, but only three fish left him 1-10 from the cut in 27th.
Opens winner Bobby Bakewell of Orlando, Fla., had the quality, but only brought in five fish over two days. Among his three fish on Saturday was this 7-4, more than his Day 1 weight. He totaled 17-7 to finish 32nd.
Chris Johnston, who as AOY led the boats out on Day 1, found some big bites on Saturday. With 23-5, he jumped 20 spots to ninth, and adding 18-11 gave him an eighth-place finish that equaled his Lake Ray Roberts Classic finish of 2021. It was his third Top 10 in six consecutive Classics, with a best of fifth in 2022 at Lake Hartwell.
In his second Classic, Tyler Williams of Belgrade, Maine, was one of 10 anglers who caught limits each day, this after catching a 10-pounder among his five fish in practice. Williams, 23, never located another lunker but had 17-9, 18-13 and 13-11 to finish a respectable 14th.
Louisiana’s Tyler Rivet made a major move on Day 2 with 25-13, including a 7-4, to climb 27 spots to eighth. Filling limits hampered the 30-year-old, who posted his highest finish at 16th in his fourth consecutive championship.
Patrick Walters, who had won on Lake Fork’s standing timber, was expected to do well on Lake Ray Roberts. The 30-year-old jumped up 21 places with his Day 2 bag of 23-1, which included a 7-4. With 19-14, the six-time Bassmaster winner finished ninth, his best in six Classic appearances.
After a disappointing start in 43rd with two fish, Texas transplant Ben Milliken came in with what ended as the second biggest bag of the tournament. The 35-year-old thrilled the Day 2 weigh-in crowd with 26-11, catapulting 30 spots to 13th. With three fish on Day 3, he wound up 15th in his second Classic.
Brandon Lester posted one of the 7-0s on BassTrakk, but he was the biggest lowballer. His kicker weighed 8-6 for the big bass bonus on Day 2. It helped the 36-year-old from Fayetteville, Tenn., weigh 22-12 and sit in seventh, where he finished. In nine Classics, Lester has four Top 10s.
John Cox, fishing his seventh Classic, was anticipated to do well with the big bass in Ray Roberts’ shallows. Despite not catching a true kicker, Cox, 39, of DeBary, Fla., stood fifth after 22-0 and  22-8 stringers. Landing only 12-5 on Championship Sunday gave him a sixth-place finish, his second Top 10 in seven Classic appearances.
In his fifth Classic, Hunter Shyrock had his best showing. The 36-year-old originally from Ohio started eighth with 21-12 and moved to third with 23-1, including a 7-pound catch late on Day 2 that was a highlight of Bassmaster LIVE for his excited reaction. Shryock was one of only three anglers to eclipse 20 pounds each day. At one point on Sunday, he stood only a 1/2 pound out of the lead. He totaled 20-1 to take fourth.
Fothergill enjoyed the calmer conditions on Day 2 and made the right adjustments as he plucked big bass sitting high in the submerged timber. He took the lead on BassTrakk with a 6-0, lost it briefly before a 5-13 at 11 a.m. gave him a lead he would never relinquish.
Fothergill added a 7-0 soon after, and his limit weighed 29-6, tying for the second largest in a Classic. With 54-5, Fothergill led by 8-8 and was on pace for a record-setting three-day weight.
Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat started fourth with 23-7 but only four fish on Day 2 dropped him to 15th. The 25-year-old, who posted a fourth and seventh in the past two Classics, caught a 7-12 on Championship Sunday to take 13th. With three weighing a hefty 16-2, Przekurat would have posted another Top 10 with a limit.
Hamner wasn’t done. He started Day 3 in 24th, more than 24 pounds out of the lead, but his 23-3 bag gave the pro from Northport, Ala., his third Top 10 in as many Classics. Hamner, who won last year on Grand Lake, was fourth in 2022 on Lake Hartwell.
Livesay held out hope for some “Texas magic” as he started the final round 9-12 back of Fothergill. With 13-12 before 10 a.m., the 39-year-old from Longview was in a virtual tie with Fothergill on BassTrakk, each with 58-5. A monster like the 12-8 he caught in practice never came, and Livesay settled for third with 22-1 on the day to total 66-10, the fifth best total in Classic history. In five Classics, Livesay has three Top 10s and never finished below 15th.
McKinney compiled the biggest bag on Championship Sunday. Starting the day 11-15 back of Fothergill, McKinney found the winds to his liking as he yanked several monsters in. With this 7-11, McKinney pulled within a pound of Fothergill’s estimated weight. He added a 6-0 for 26-1, the sixth limit topping 25 pounds in this Classic. McKinney finished as runner-up, his 68-7 total standing as the third-best weight caught in the 55 championships.
Fothergill left the door open on Championship Sunday. Others gained ground as he didn’t land a fish until 9:33 a.m. Livesay tied him at one point, Shryock got within 8 ounces and McKinney pulled within a pound. With four fish late in the day, Fothergill made the winning move.
At 2:30, he set the hook. “Got her. Big’un! Giant! Giant! C’mon. Oh my, please. … Yes! Yes! Yes! Let’s go!” he said to his cheering flotilla.
“Did that really just happen? What? What? … We just got really hard to beat,” he said. Fothergill famously recovered from brain surgery to start his pro career and get to this Classic.
Seconds after his big catch, the realization hit him. He crumpled to his deck, later posting, “I wish I could live in the emotions I was having in (this photo) forever. I was able to replay my last two years of my life and how I felt like I had just put the cherry on top of everything with a last-minute 8-pounder in the Bassmaster Classic.”
The hero catch weighed 8-1, giving him 22-10 for the day. His total of 76-15 not only broke Kevin VanDam’s 69-11 five-fish record from the 2011 Louisiana Delta, but also topped Rick Clunn’s historic 75-9 total from Arkansas River in 1984, when the limit was seven bass. In becoming the 44th angler to win in the Classic’s 55 editions, Fothergill had quite the payday. He took $300,000 for the win, added a $1,000 big bass bonus and $7,000 for the CrushCity Monster Bag. He also added $20,000 from the Yamaha Power Pay program and $10,000 in Toyota Bonus Bucks.

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