With less than thirty minutes of fishing time left on the final day of the 2025 Bass Pro Shops^Ò Bassmaster Classic^Ò presented by Under Armour^Ò, Easton Fothergill only had four keeper bass in his Skeeter livewells and could feel the weight of the bass fishing world building on his shoulders.

The 22-year-old Elite Series rookie started the day with a sizeable lead after weighing in the biggest bag of the tournament on day two, but keepers proved tough to come by on Championship Sunday. Fothergill stayed focused and performed under pressure, with poise well beyond his years, catching an 8-pound Lake Ray Roberts monster to fill out his limit.

That last fish put the final touches on a record-breaking Classic victory and made his childhood dreams come true.

“I’ve always been a believer that more tournaments are won in the last five minutes than the first five minutes, which is why having confidence in your motor is so important at this level,” Fothergill said. “Five minutes after catching my final keeper, I pulled the trolling motor and ran back to check in with only minutes to spare. I have the added confidence to push it to the last minute with a V6 V MAX SHO^Ò 250 behind me. That made all the difference this week.”

Fothergill’s Classic victory, and really every aspect of his professional career to this point, have felt meant to be. Whether it was overcoming emergency brain surgery just seven weeks before winning Bassmaster’s College Classic Bracket to qualify for the 2024 Classic, his incredible campaign in the Bassmaster Opens last year, or starting the 2025 season with two of the worst finishes of his young life before becoming a Bassmaster Classic^Ò champion; Hollywood screenwriters couldn’t script a better story.

What’s even better than his incredible bass fishing talent is the fact that Fothergill is a rock-solid human being off the water. He’s respectful, humble, grounded in gratitude, and surrounded by a supportive family. All this adds up to equal a young man that will without a doubt continue to notch wins both personally and professionally.

Along with the most coveted trophy in bass fishing, Fothergill also claimed the $20,000 bonus from Yamaha Power Pay for finishing higher than other anglers running a Yamaha motor in the Classic field.

“When you consider the Power Pay contingency on top of Yamaha’s reliability, it really is a win-win for tournament anglers,” Fothergill explained. “Power Pay rewards anglers of all levels, not just pros, so you are really missing out if you haven’t looked into it. I’m super happy to win the Power Pay bonus, and it’s been an honor working with whole team at Yamaha.”

To learn more about Yamaha’s popular contingency program, including a full list of supported events and payouts, visit https://yamahapowerpay.com/.