Easton Fothergill’s an easygoing guy with no apparent mean streak, but he started Day 3 of the 2024 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake Eufaula presented by SEVIIN with a chip on his shoulder. Suffice to say; his winning total of 52 pounds, eight ounces more than settled the score.
Keeping himself near the top, the pro from Grand Rapids, Minn., weighed a thirdplace limit of 17-12 on Day 1 and held his position with a second-round limit of 16-11. Championship Saturday saw Fothergill charge ahead with his biggest bag, a limit of 18-1 that pushed him across the finish line.
Edging Andrew Loberg by 2-12, Fothergill collected the $44,155 top prize and received an invitation to fish the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Basmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors March 21-23 on Lake Ray Roberts.
“In practice, I was thinking the fish were residential, but I learned that they’re not,” said Fothergill, who earned his first Classic berth by winning the 2023 Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s. “The key was just to cover water and make sure you’re putting your bait in front of as many fish as possible.
“If you found a spot and caught one fish off it, you could go back a half hour later and another one would be pulled on it.”
Fothergill’s final-round consternation stemmed from a heartbreaking Day 2 loss. After randomly finding a school of big fish under a dock on Day 1, he started the second day on that spot, but lost a 5-pounder and scattered the school.
Day 3 erased that pain with another random encounter — this time, with a triumphant conclusion. Naturally, Fothergill gave that special dock an early look, but the fish had inexplicably vanished.
Continuing on, Fothergill ran a few more of his key areas, but none produced. Around 10:30 a.m. he happened upon a particularly interesting point with a mix of mostly scattered rock.
“I wasn’t seeing anything, and I wasn’t catching anything, so I thought I should check something new,” Fothergill said. “That point caught my eye as I was running by it, so I pulled in there and the first fish I caught was that giant one. That was the sweet spot, Fothergill said.”
At 12:45 p.m., he made his final move and filled his limit by throwing a Chatterbait over a shallow, wind-blown gravel point.
“When I caught my fifth keeper, I was thinking, ‘Okay, I got some EQ points,’” Fothergill said. “I had no idea how far an 8 3/4-pound bass would go.”
Andrew Loberg finished second with 4912. Focusing on the mid lake region, he turned in daily limits of 18-01, 15-4 and 16-7.Connor Jacob of Auburn, Ala. finished third with 48-9. His daily weights were 14-3, 17-9 and 16-13.
Fothergill leads the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers standings with 878 points. Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas is in second place with 869, followed by Evan Kung of Pickering, Can. with 853, Cody Meyer of Eagle, Idaho with 853, and Matt Adams of Oxford, Ala. with 850.
