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Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fothergill snags 29-6 bag to take commanding lead at Bassmaster Classic
FORT WORTH, Texas, March 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- All it took was 53 magical minutes on Lake Ray Roberts for Easton Fothergill to take complete control of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. The 22-year-old native of Grand Rapids, Minn., entered Day 2 of the Classic in third place, less than two pounds out of the lead. He had high hopes for Saturday morning, but it didn't start out exactly as he planned, with only one bass in his livewell at 10 a.m. Then, what he called "the 180" started — and what a turnaround it was. Between 10:28 a.m. and 11:31 a.m., Fothergill caught three hogs that added a whopping 19-10 to his total. He finished the day with a limit of five bass weighing 29-6, giving him a two-day total of 54-5, exactly 8 1/2 pounds more than his nearest competitor. No lead is too big, but the Classic compass clearly points to the young ace from the North Star State. And barring a complete collapse on Championship Sunday, coupled with one of his closest competitors yanking a huge sack of bass, Fothergill is a day away from winning the Ray Scott Bassmaster Classic Trophy and the $300,000 prize that goes with it. Fothergill used sonar electronics to pinpoint his best bass. His flurry began when a jerkbait yielded a 6-13 cruising near the water's surface. A 5-13 followed a half-hour later and 20 minutes after that, the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series rookie dropped the hammer on a 7-pound hog. There was no doubt Fothergill realized the significance of the moment as he hoisted that fat bass for nearby spectator boats to see. "We've got a shot to win tomorrow, boys," he told the camera operator aboard his boat, his rapid breathing and quivering voice audible through the words of confidence. Fothergill said a key adjustment was vital to his big swing on Saturday. "All week long it's been extremely windy and the fish I've been catching have been at the base of trees, at the bottom, on the rockpiles," he said. "Today, they were suspended. A lot of the fish I caught were about 2 feet to 6 inches under the water. They were on the surface … I caught that first one on a jerkbait, but ultimately, I've been throwing a 3/32-ounce Neko (rig) all week long and today I went to a 1/32-ounce Neko. I was basically throwing it on their heads, but the key was to throw it extremely soft. That's how high up they were. I had to make no splash, be super stealthy." Fothergill's propensity to boat big bass was on display Friday, as well, when he caught fish weighing 6-4 and 6-8. He finished Day 1 in third place with 24-15, putting him only 1-15 behind Day 1 leader Trey McKinney. Following with the heaviest bag of the tournament was huge, but Fothergill knows there's plenty of work to be done if he's to win the 55th edition of the world's most prestigious fishing tournament. "I've got to do my best to block (that lead) out," he said. "We're in Texas. All I can do is go catch the five biggest ones and see what happens." Canadian pro Cory Johnston entered the day in second place and remains there with 45-13. He said Ray Roberts' bass are preparing to spawn, which compels him to fish staging areas and target feisty bass looking to get to shallow beds. "I think I had six bites today," he said. "Nothing was easy, but I think I figured something out today. I'm looking forward to getting back out there." Johnston said warmer water temperatures (61.5 degrees where he was fishing mid-afternoon) could help produce big bags on Sunday. "100 percent, they want to spawn," he said. "They're ready and they're coming … I caught all my fish shallow today, 2 feet, 3 feet. I'm just reeling moving baits. If I could see them better, I'd love to fish the spawn. But the water is still a little dingy. I think prespawn is the way to win." Tennessee's Hunter Shryock is third with 44-13. He only had three fish for eight pounds until a switch in strategy drew him back into the championship fray. Shryock finished Day 2 with a 23-1 bag. "I had to slow down and start flipping, which really hadn't shown itself all week," he said. "(It could have been) the water clearing up. The water may have dropped a little bit. Whatever the reason … I was able to salvage the day … I caught a 7-10 and a 6 in the last hour and a half that obviously catapulted me. I feel like I could catch five of those the way things were going." Lee Livesay, a Longview, Texas, resident and one of the pre-tournament favorites, is in fourth place with 44-9 heading into Championship Sunday. He caught 21-9 on Friday to follow a 23-pound bag on Day 1. His main lures on Saturday included a pink ChatterBait (with a pink trailer), as well as a 6th Sense Texas-rigged Whale he reeled through milfoil on Ray Roberts. "I'll do about the same thing tomorrow, but I want to find a fresh group of fish," Livesay said. "You can't go doing anything crazy. I'll open up a couple new areas, try a couple new techniques. But I know the deal. I have to get lucky and have a couple of those 6-pounders eat. And a couple other guys have to stumble." Livesay likes his chances, despite trailing Fothergill by nearly 10 pounds. "It's Texas and it's my backyard," he said. "You never know what happens on the last day." Florida veteran John Cox is in fifth place with 44-8. McKinney, the 20-year-old phenom from Carbondale, Ill., who led Day 1 with 26-9, dropped to sixth overall after managing a 15-13 limit on Saturday. The cutline was 28-15. Tennessee pro John Garrett, who leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race, finished just outside the cut with 27-8 over two days. He did, however, maintain his lead on the $2,500 Mercury Big Bass prize with the 8-12 largemouth he caught Friday. Fellow Tennessean Brandon Lester won $1,000 for having the big bass (8-6) on Saturday. The final takeoff of the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. CT from Isle du Bois at Lake Ray Roberts State Park in Pilot Point, Texas. The final weigh-in will begin at 5 p.m. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. This event is being hosted by the Fort Worth Sports Commission. Contact:Chad Gaycgay@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE B.A.S.S. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
McKinney overcomes early nerves to take Day 1 Classic lead
FORT WORTH, Texas, March 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- When Trey McKinney hopped onto the stage at the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, the infectious beat of "Church Clap" by Christian hip-hop artist KB filled Dickies Arena. Though conventional wisdom says don't ever change what's working, McKinney's hype song might as well be "The Kids are Alright" by The Who, because things are, indeed, quite alright for the whiz kid from Carbondale, Ill. McKinney, who celebrated his 20th birthday only last month, holds the Day 1 lead in the world's most-celebrated fishing tournament. His limit of five bass totaled 26-9 and gave him a 1-pound cushion over Canada's Cory Johnston, who's in second with 25-9. Rounding out the Top 5 in the 56-angler field are, third, Minnesota's Easton Fothergill, 24-15; fourth, Wisconsin's Jay Przekurat, 23-7; and fifth, Texas pro Lee Livesay (who many pundits consider the favorite here,) with 23-0. The entire field will fish again Saturday, and the Top 25 anglers will make Sunday's cut, with the winner pocketing $300,000 cash. McKinney's performance in B.A.S.S. events has belied his youth from the start. At 18, he finished second in the Bassmaster Opens EQ standings and became the youngest angler ever to qualify for the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series. He took the Elites by storm, too, winning Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2024 and finishing second in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. McKinney started his first Classic with a bang, too, when he hooked a 7-pounder just after 9 a.m. He admitted his nerves were getting the best of him before he hooked that big fish. "I could hardly breathe for a while," McKinney said. "It was a disaster. I was throwing in trees, throwing in bushes, getting hung up. But you catch a 7-pounder and that makes everything alright. At that point, I knew I just needed to get four more bites. Whether we're leading it or we're close, it didn't matter. What mattered was I didn't lose it on the first day." McKinney's next two catches (a 5-pounder and a 4-8) gave him 16 1/2 pounds and the tournament lead just after 10 a.m. He rounded out his bag with a pair of 4-12 bass caught just after noon. McKinney's sonar electronics malfunctioned about 1 p.m. on Friday after running through some big waves on the lake, which roiled under steady 15-20 mph winds. But with 26 pounds already in the livewell, McKinney knew he'd put himself in position to make a run at the 55th annual Bassmaster Classic title. He said he'll continue looking for "fresh ones" — bass that haven't been fished over in days and perhaps are moving toward shore to spawn. "It's the end of March," he said. "They're coming at some point, whether it's to spawn or coming to the trees I'm fishing. Some fish are going to be moving around. I want the ones that haven't seen a bait every five minutes." Johnston, who finished third in the 2024 AOY standings courtesy of two Elite Series wins, was right behind McKinney with a robust 25-9 limit. He said he's found a pattern rotating into different water depths and searching for specific cover. He pounded more than 20 different spots Friday on Ray Roberts and expects to do more of the same on Day 2. "Whenever I can find the right cover, I feel like they'll bite," Johnston said. "They're all tight to cover, right on the bottom. I'm not gonna leave any fish out there tomorrow … I didn't back off today. I went looking for a lot of new water today. I pulled what I could." Fothergill is third with 24-15 and like McKinney, is accustomed to the spotlight of early success. He finished 16th at last year's Classic on Oklahoma's Grand Lake O' the Cherokees as a 21-year-old, and he notched a pair of Bassmaster Open victories later in 2024. It was a continuation of Fothergill's memorable 2023 season when he won the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket while a student at the University of Montevallo (Ala.). "It definitely helps, being here at the Classic last year," he said. "There's much less nerves this year … I have a lot better understanding of what to expect." Fothergill caught two of the heaviest bass weighed Friday, including a 6-4 in the morning and a 6-8 just past noon. He said he's spotting big fish with his electronics, though he's working hard to excite bites. "I have a pretty good pattern going, fishing four different areas in various places on the lake" he said. "I tried to practice pretty strategically, knowing the wind was going to blow all week long. I had two places out of the wind today and I only hit one of them. That was my goal, to save one of those spots for tomorrow." Tennessee pro John Garrett, who leads the 2025 Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race, caught the Mercury Big Bass on Friday — an 8-12 largemouth. He's in 21st place with 16-13. Takeoffs are scheduled for 7:30 a.m. CT from Isle du Bois at Lake Ray Roberts State Park in Pilot Point, Texas. Weigh-ins begin at 5 p.m. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Sports Commission is hosting the event. Contact:Chad Gaycgay@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE B.A.S.S. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bassmaster Classic returning to Knoxville in Spring 2026
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Super Bowl of bass fishing is returning to Knoxville in 2026. The Bassmaster Classic will be held in Knoxville for the third time on March 13-15, 2026. B.A.S.S. officials announced Wednesday that the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour will be held in Knoxville with competition on the Tennessee River lakes of Fort Loudoun and Tellico and daily weigh-ins at the University of Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in downtown Knoxville. In addition. the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center and World's Fair Exhibition Hall. Price increase for UT Basketball season tickets due to talent fee, arena upgrades 'We are thrilled to return to the site of two of our most successful Classics in history,' said B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson. 'East Tennessee fully embraces the Classic for what it truly is — a celebration of the sport of bass fishing. The fan experience in Knoxville is second to none, with all event venues within walking distance. With our ever-growing global fanbase, we expect the 2026 Classic to be even bigger and more exciting.' With daily takeoffs from Volunteer Landing, located downtown along the Tennessee River, the 2023 Classic drew a record crowd of 163,914 spectators. It generated an economic impact of $35.5 million for Knoxville and East Tennessee, bringing in $2.85 million in state and local tax revenue and supporting 12,698 jobs throughout the event. In 2019, the Classic generated an economic impact of $32.2 million for Knoxville and East Tennessee. Nine players in the Super Bowl have Tennessee ties 'Knoxville shines during major events like the Bassmaster Classic,' said Kim Bumpas, president of Visit Knoxville. 'Both the anglers and fans enjoy an unmatched experience, from the Tennessee River to the world-class venues hosting events throughout Classic weekend. We are excited to welcome everyone back in 2026.' 'B.A.S.S. is extremely excited to return to Knoxville for the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour,' said Chris Bowes, B.A.S.S. vice president of tournaments. 'This event should be just as competitive as past Classics on Fort Loudoun and Tellico lakes. We expect to see all three black bass species cross the weigh-in scales, and with such a versatile fishery, competitors will be able to play to their strengths. One thing that won't change is the breathtaking backdrop of Knoxville and the convenience of its world-class venues for both anglers and fans.' Meet eagle made famous by NFL pregame flights at Super Bowl party in Kodak The field will include 58 anglers who will qualify through Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Lowrance, Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew's and the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship. Prizes include $300,000 first-place prize and a total purse of over $850,000. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
