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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – Easton Fothergill made his name for the University of Montevallo as one of the top anglers in collegiate bass fishing, living out his passion with his best friends while representing the university on a national stage.

But that all came to a screeching halt ahead of his senior year as he lay in a UAB hospital bed unsure of what his future would look like.

A rare brain condition forced Fothergill to undergo emergency brain surgery in August 2023, just days after he moved in to Montevallo and shortly before the start of his final season with the Falcons.

While his future was thrown into flux by the unexpected health scare, he made a rapid return to his passion and is back to competing in some of the biggest tournaments in bass fishing, both during his senior year at Montevallo and now in the Bassmaster Opens.

“It’s been a dream come true, really,” Fothergill said. “Going through the all the health issues that I had there for a little while, I actually didn’t know if I’d be able to do what I love still. The future is really a big question mark for me, but now being able to do what I love again, it really just made me appreciate everything that much more.”

A scary situation

While Fothergill’s health scare ended up being serious, it started out innocently–by simply brushing his teeth.

Doctors believe that the brain problems started because of the bacteria that is usually in the mouth moving to the brain through the blood stream. All it needed was a way to get into his blood, which the way he brushed his teeth provided.

“I actually had a big sore in the back of my mouth from jamming my toothbrush, and that’s how the bacteria entered my bloodstream, and it eventually just set up shop in my brain,” Fothergill said.

Fothergill was out fishing at a tournament when the headaches and other symptoms began. The symptoms subsided enough to allow him to finish the tournament and move back in at Montevallo.

Just a few days after he moved in though, his condition went downhill quickly.

“I just got progressively worse and worse to the point where I couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink, wasn’t leaving bed,” Fothergill said. “Because I’m a really active person, my roommates knew something was up when I wasn’t leaving my bed, so they got me into the hospital and that’s where they found a mass in my brain.”

The doctors found the abscess on his MRI after he was rushed to UAB. It was an incredibly rare situation that required him to undergo emergency surgery.

While Fothergill’s condition rapidly deteriorated prior to his surgery, he bounced back almost as quickly.

He spent a week at UAB recovering before he went back home to Minnesota to continue recovering with his family. After spending two weeks at home, he felt good enough to move back down to Montevallo.

Fothergill didn’t take it slow once he returned to campus. Exactly three weeks after his surgery, he competed for the Falcons in the College Classic Bracket.

When he got to the tournament, he took the moment in, realizing how incredible his recovery journey had been and how unlikely it was for him to be out fishing.

“It just made me appreciate everything more,” Fothergill said. “I got out there super early and just saw the sunrise and I was just like, ‘Dang, I’m just lucky to be here.’”

Not only did he compete in the College Classic Bracket, but he won the championship just three weeks after he lay in a hospital bed.

What’s more, that victory kicked off another successful season for Fothergill.

He and his partner Nick Dumke were named the Bassmaster College Series Team of the Year, which earned him a berth at March’s Bassmaster Classic where he finished 16th out of a 56-angler field of mostly pros.

In the process, he helped Montevallo clinch a record fourth-straight Bass Pro Shops School of the Year title because of their season-long success.

Fothergill never expected to reach those heights after his brain condition, but he attributes his success to hard work and a little bit of fate.

“To have that much success after having all that, it’s not something you can expect,” Fothergill said. “All I knew was you’ve just got to go out there and work hard and just see what happens. But I truly think after all that, it was meant to be to win that tournament shortly after.”

Road to Montevallo

Fothergill has been passionate about fishing since he was just a young boy in Minnesota. He comes from a family that loves to be outside in nature, especially his father, who first sparked his love of fishing.

“My dad got me into fishing at a super young age,” Fothergill said. “He’s been super die hard about it, and really my whole family is. They just love the outdoors and just loved to be outside. So, I was really just kind of born into it and just been doing it since a young age with my dad.”

The two of them fished throughout his childhood, and Fothergill’s father saw that he had a true passion for the sport just before he started high school.

His father took the opportunity to ask him if he wanted to start a fishing team at Garnett High School. Fothergill said yes, and he began recruiting his group of close friends to join the team and fill out the ranks.

During his four-year high school fishing career, he partnered up with Dumke and found success with him as the two grew even closer as friends.

However, while their time in high school ended, their partnership in the boat carried on. That’s because University of Montevallo bass fishing director William Crawford recruited the pair to come down to Alabama and continue fishing together in college.

Fothergill has enjoyed his journey with Dumke and is grateful to have him by his side for much of his success.

“It’s been a cool ride because we’re best friends,” Fothergill said. “We do virtually everything together and just be able to go through all that together and kind of work up the ranks together has been a super awesome experience.”

While Fothergill and Dumke have grown closer throughout college, the two met even more friends once they got to Montevallo. As those friendships grew, so did the Falcons’ success throughout their now four-year run as School of the Year.

Fothergill is glad that he and his friends’ hard work paid off with years of success and that those honors can reflect back on the university as they represent Montevallo on a national stage.

“Some of my best friends are on the team now, and just for us to travel around the country together and just have a really good time and be able to represent the university at a high level, it’s been a super cool deal and something I take big pride in,” Fothergill said. “It’s just a group of guys that works really hard and just loves to fish, and the results just show that’s literally all we all do. It’s just fun to represent the university at a high level and just be able to travel all over the place and see new places. It’s been a super cool experience.”

Reeling in his goals

Fothergill finished out his college career with his last round of tournaments in the spring after the Bassmaster Classic. He then graduated from the university in May with a business marketing degree with his sights set on bigger things.

His ultimate goal is to fish professionally and take his longtime passion and turn it into a career. He still plans on being involved in the outdoors even if that doesn’t come to fruition by using his degree to get a job in the outdoor industry in sales or promotion.

Fothergill was emotional about seeing his college career come to an end and wanted to finish out his time with the Falcons in a big way.

“I don’t really want it to end, so it’s been kind of sad, but I’m just trying to take it all in as I kind of wrap everything up here at Montevallo and just try to do my best and end it with a bang,” Fothergill said.

And he did just that.

Fothergill and Dumke won at Lake Hartwell and finished second on Kentucky Lake ahead of their 19th place finish at the Collegiate Bass National Championship on Tennessee’s Pickwick Lake. The two then took fourth at the Bassmaster College Series’ Saginaw Bay tournament in Michigan on June 7.

He then kept his hot streak going individually as he hit the Bassmaster Open at Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma, surging from third on the first day to take the win and secure his spot in the Bassmaster Classic for the second-straight year.

He now leads the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers standings with 1,033 points ahead of the final three tournaments of the year, and he’s done it all while still wearing his University of Montevallo shirt.

With his dreams of reaching the Bassmaster Elite Series now within reach, Fothergill is close to representing his alma mater while competing against the world’s best anglers.

It may be hard to fathom that just a year ago, that goal was very much in doubt because of Fothergill’s brain condition.

But now, with that uncertain past behind him, he can now continue his bright future as one of the fastest rising stars in bass fishing.