Entering his first season as a St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN angler, Easton Fothergill kept asking himself one question: Do I belong?
The answer to that question was likely revealed after the first tournament, but by winning the Tackle Warehouse Elite Qualifier points race and earning his spot in the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series, he proved emphatically he did belong. In fact, Fothergill put together arguably the most impressive Opens season ever, winning two events and accumulating $167,766 in earnings plus an extra $45,000 for winning AOY.
The 22-year-old from Grand Rapids, Minn., had to climb a mountain to reach this point, but the mental strength required to navigate the last year and a half personifies what makes Fothergill a strong competitor.
A quick recap.
During practice for the 2023 College National Championship at Pickwick Lake, Fothergill began suffering from serious headaches, passing out at one point from the pain. The University of Montevallo grad fought through it, however, and helped partner Nick Dumke notch a Top 10 finish in the tournament.
“It is crazy to think about that tournament and pretty much having a mush brain bouncing around in the waves on Pickwick,” he said.
Little did he know those headaches were caused by an infected abscess on his brain, which would require emergency surgery several weeks later to remove. In what were the darkest moments of his life so far, Fothergill just hoped he could get back in a bass boat one day.
Luckily, the abscess was not cancerous, and Fothergill was cleared to fish the College Classic Bracket at Milford Lake, which he won.
“I know I can’t spin out. You have to stay even-keeled no matter what happens,” he said. “It’s not even about fishing techniques, it’s keeping a strong mind. That is the biggest strength I have going right now.”
Keeping a sound mind helped Fothergill make instinctual decisions that ultimately led to top Opens finishes. At Logan Martin Lake, he scrapped his entire Day 1 game plan and fished completely differently the second day to come away with a top 30 finish. At the Open in Oklahoma at Lake Eufaula, he saw a perfect wind-blown point he had never made a cast at before. Because it looked right, he stopped and caught several key bass there.
Often, anglers from the northern part of the country automatically are classified as smallmouth anglers, but throughout the course of the nine event Opens season, and during his college career, Fothergill demonstrated he could succeed anywhere in the country.
His style leans more towards finesse fishing. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the bass he caught this season were brought in using a spinning rod.
“Casting and winding with a spinning rod (is my deal),” he said. “Whether it is a hair jig for smallmouth or a small swim bait, it is my favorite thing to do, and that is just because I’m from Minnesota.”
That doesn’t mean he can’t power fish however. At Milford Lake, a jig and a spinnerbait were his best friends, and a ChatterBait was partially responsible for his first Opens victory.
Despite the questions rattling around in his head, Fothergill notched a seventh-place finish in his first Opens tournament at Lake Okeechobee using two of his favorite techniques: a Neko-rigged worm and a jighead minnow.
His seventh place standing after Okeechobee would be the lowest he would ever sit in the points standings.
The jighead minnow played a big role in his 11th-place finish during the second event of the season at a chilly Lake Ouachita. The third event at Santee Cooper Lakes proved to be his worst, finishing 83rd after his bedding bass dried up, but he rebounded nicely at Logan Martin with a 25th-place finish, lifting him to third in the EQ race.
As the season progressed, four anglers separated themselves as the overall Angler of the Year contenders. Those were Fothergill, Cody Meyer, Dakota Ebare and Evan Kung. Ultimately, Kung slipped back in the standings, making it a three-horse race until late in the season.
Fothergill broke into the win column at Lake Eufaula with a three-day total of 52 pounds, 8 ounces. His final day bag was anchored by a massive 8-12 largemouth he caught around a stretch of boulders with a Neko rig. Later in the day, Fothergill moved to that previously mentioned wind-blown point to secure a limit and eventually the win.
Along with the win, Fothergill snagged the points lead, which he never relinquished.
He followed the win with a respectable 45th-place finish at Lake St. Clair before notching his second win on his home waters of Leech Lake. He landed the biggest bag he’s ever caught in a tournament setting on Leech — 26-10 — before landing 23-3 on the final day to add to his trophy case.
It was also the tournament where Fothergill was able to create separation from Ebare, his closest competitor at the time, as the Texan stumbled for the first time all season with a 94th-place finish.
Fothergill wrapped up the season with two top 20s at the Upper Mississippi River and Lake Martin, keeping his idol Meyer at bay for the top spot in the standings.
Looking ahead to the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule, Fothergill will visit three fisheries he competed on during the Opens season — Okeechobee, St. Clair and the upper Mississippi River — as well as Lake Hartwell, a venue he visited multiple times in his college career. With that in mind, Fothergill will no doubt be the front runner for the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year honors.
He hopes he can continue to stay ahead of the curve as well.
“That is something I have tried to do with baits and equipment,” Fothergill said. “You can never be perfect in fishing. You can always do a little bit better. I always need to be better about making decisions on the fly.”
