Bassmaster Classic Champion Easton Fothergill - Easton To Beaston!! & Jake's Take on MERCER-205 - MERCER-The Awkwardly Honest Fishing Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Just back from the Bassmaster Classic and oh we got a bunch to
talk about this week. We are joined by two time
Bassmaster Open winner, two timeBassmaster Classic Qualifier,
the reigning EQ Angler of the Year and the reigning and
defending Bassmaster Classic Champion Easton Fothergill.
But that's not all. Then we're joined by Jake
Latonders for Jake's take. So this is going to be a good

(00:22):
one. Both of them join me this week.
I'm Bob Cobb for the Bassmaster.Welcome to Mercer.
Welcome on Welcome all, friends,family, freeloaders, fishing

(00:45):
freaks, and of course you, my humpers.
Happy hump day to all of you andwelcome into the Awkwardly
Honest Fishing podcast that goesby my last name, which is
Mercer. This is the 205th edition of the
Mercer podcast and I hope wherever you're watching or
listening from in the world, life is treating you well.
As you can hear from my voice, alittle raspy and I'm still in a

(01:07):
somewhat zombie mode from the Bassmaster Classic.
It is always a mind melter. It is.
It's just there's no way to prepare for it.
It is a long days but but awesome to be part of the Super
Bowl of bass fishing. It was a crazy classic and I

(01:30):
think the thing that everybody needs to focus on right now is
how incredible our Bassmaster Classic champion is.
Easton Fothergill went from 20 months ago laying in the bed and
thinking he he might die to the top of the sport and holding the
biggest trophy and along the waywon a EQ Angler of the Year

(01:52):
Title 2. Bassmaster opens a collegiate
title to fish his first classic.I mean this kid is absolutely a
phenom and he is everything goodand right about the world.
I mean he's he's the kid down the road that just loves to fish
and is ate up with it. That's who Easton father girl is

(02:13):
and I think we have an incredible Bassmaster Classic
champion and I loved watching itall go down.
The Fort Worth was jammed. It was crazy.
The restaurants, the stockyard, everything like you couldn't
move. The Expo was jammed.
Like for me, getting in and out of the Expo to do live was a

(02:36):
problem, which I mean in a good way.
And I'm so thankful to meet all of you.
It was awesome seeing everybody but it it was jammed.
It was, it's a celebration of sport.
It's the only thing like it and it is awesome every single year
to be part of. I want to thank all The Humpers.
I mean, the amount of humpers that came up, you guys are the

(02:58):
best. I mean, I love meeting all of
you. I got to see my buddy RJ, little
RJ, you know, you always see me.I got a picture of him, right,
Right. Well, you know, behind me.
That picture right there, that'sRJ.
Got to see him and his family. Always good to see him there.
Got some gifts. Looky there.

(03:20):
Got a Mercer belt buckle from Pinhook fishing.
Thank you. I believe that's his handle.
Bunch of different folks that would roll up and just say I'm a
proud humper and I'd be like, I love humpers and people around
would be like real awkward that aren't humpers.
But I love meeting all of you. Thank you all for your support.
You have no idea what it means to me.

(03:40):
I know people say thank you on platforms like this all the time
and you think they're just saying it, but I mean it
honestly. You guys are incredible.
Thank you for allowing this showto become a community.
Thank you for allowing it to be a thing.
I heard you loud and clear. We will come out with some
Humper merchandise. I've always been weird about

(04:01):
that to be honest. I've always kind of just been
like, well, I mean I'm just thankful people watch.
I don't want to sell them hats and T-shirts, but you guys want
them so we will we will work on that and we will get you some
hats and T-shirts soon. Thank you all for making this
show what it is and, and a positive great community and,

(04:23):
and forever. I've been pushing that.
You guys know that like life is a lot better when you're
positive. Life is a lot better when you're
happy and bad things are going to happen.
But, but being happy and being positive helps life be a lot
smoother. And I have pushed that a lot.
And I'm happy to say now you're hearing more podcasts push that.

(04:44):
And in this past week, I've heard more podcasts talk about
being positive and and building the sport up than I have in a
long time. And some of the podcast saying
that now are not the podcasts that have done that for a long
time. They kind of gone the other
direction. But even they're seeing that
like, hey, what we got is great.Let's start celebrating it
rather than tearing it down. And this isn't a fishing is not

(05:08):
about division. Fishing isn't about sides.
And this isn't a pro forward facing sonar, anti forward
facing sonar fish the way you want to fish.
That's what I saw at the Expo. I saw people from all around the
world, people from Italy, from China, from Japan, from nib way,

(05:28):
all sorts of people and just excited people that are just
excited families that are new into the sport.
You know, people that said, I'veonly been doing this a couple
years and I'm just eating up with it.
They that's the celebration thatthe bass master classic is.
And if you don't attend it, you don't ever feel that.
But that's also why you hear people say when they go to one

(05:49):
classic, they're like, I got to go every year.
Because when we all get togetherand we really just feel that
energy and that positivity, it'sjust, it's good.
It's just good. We got a great show here this
week. That being said, I try to be Mr.
Positive, but I do go off a little in this show.

(06:11):
Definitely throw at the second-half of this show.
I say some things about some of the stuff that's being said out
there and it's just ridiculous. We have a great bass master
classic champion and if you choose to focus on anything
other than that, you're out of your mind.
I'm sorry. It's just we've got so much

(06:32):
good. So sorry that I do go off.
Some of you may enjoy it. It wasn't planned.
It wasn't well scripted. It probably wasn't even well
said, but I just it it was well enough in me and I kind of go
off in this show. But that being said, the classic
was a great classic. Weigh in was a little weak first

(06:55):
couple days. I think there's reasons for
that. I think the price of parking was
not good, but that isn't fastestcontrol.
That's it. You're in Dallas, Fort Worth,
you're in a major area and the parking is expensive.
I don't like paying it either. The Ticketmaster thing, that was
a Texas rule where you had to actually have a ticket.

(07:16):
It was free, but you had to go to Ticketmaster app to get it.
I'm sure that didn't help things.
I'm sure the fact that we give everything away and have been
for years, meaning all the information, you don't have to
go to the weigh in, but trust me, bass will continue to work
on that and continue to make things better.

(07:37):
They want the classic to get bigger and better and be bigger
and better every single year. But for anybody to pile on and
be like, hey, This is why it's happening because of forward
facing sonar because of this, stop it, stop it.
Find happiness and just start treating, fishing for what it is
because we're a great happy community and it's just it's

(08:03):
gone too far. It's out of control.
That being said, as a community,let's all come together and help
somebody right now. Pam Martin Wells is not somebody
I know incredibly well. I've met her several times.
She's a Bass Master Classic qualifier.
I believe the top finishing female in Bass Master Classic
history finished 22nd in 2010. She's battling cancer and she's

(08:29):
in a battle for her life and I know they started a GoFundMe and
they're trying to raise $60,000 to get her some kind of
experimental treatment that could save her life.
And I didn't hear about this till the Monday after the
classic and I'm, or if I had of known about it, I would have

(08:49):
mentioned on the classic stage. But I'm going to donate.
I'll put the link down below. I would encourage all of you to
donate to support one of our very own that is battling.
Like I'm sure she would support all of you.
And like I said, I mean, Pam Martin Wells is not my best
friend, not somebody I know incredibly well, but she's one

(09:11):
of us and we should do what we can.
I know I'll do what I can and I hope you guys do as well.
So yeah, we get into some stuff in the show.
We got a great show, sit down with Easton Fothergill as he
goes through everything he's been through and where he is
now. So we have a great post classic
conversation there. You'll enjoy that.

(09:32):
Then I'm joined by Jake Latonders with the ultimate
Bassmaster behind the scenes show.
Jake's take and he was with Lee Livesey for three days, so he
gives us a bunch of stuff from on the water from around the
Classic. We get into some late night
shenanigans that happened at theBassmaster Classic.
I go off on some people that arejust, well, getting clicks for

(09:57):
dollars, but I think it's a pretty decent show and I hope
you enjoy it. And I'll stop talking because I
know you want to hear from the freaking Bassmaster Classic
Champion as I do. So without further ado, let's
hook up with him right now. The reigning and defending

(10:18):
Classic champion Easton. You're 2025 Bassmaster freaking
Classic champion Easton Fothergill.
How does that feel? I mean I've had two mornings now
to wake up and I was expecting one of the mornings it would

(10:40):
feel real but it's it still don't feel real.
I don't know when it will set in.
Is this, I mean, do you just feel like you're in a dream
right now? Like does it feel like this
isn't? I absolutely do.
I mean I'm I've been rewatching the fish catches and the the
videos on stage, like the winning moments and stuff.
I was just like, it don't feel real, not one bit.

(11:04):
Does it feel different than you imagined, or had you ever
stopped to imagine it? I, I never thought I'd be in
this position, to be honest. So I, I mean, yeah, I'm, it's
pretty crazy. I mean, I have all these people

(11:24):
reaching out wanting to talk to me.
And that's the craziest part. Like I've never been in this
situation before. So I mean life changing for me.
A dream come true. When did you start to think,
hey, this, this might actually freaking happen?
Like when was the first moment that that crept into your head?
Was it before the tournament? During the tournament.

(11:47):
You know, I, I had a, I was hesitantly optimistic.
We'll say going into the tournament after my practice, I
was catching big ones, but you know, I'd catch a big one, put a
waypoint down, pull the trailer and leave.
Like I really didn't know what Ihad found until the tournament.
But like I said, when I did get a bite, it was a big one.
So day one, it was slow and steady all day, but I would say

(12:09):
day and day 2 when I had a slow morning.
But I made an adjustment and gotright pretty quick.
You know, around lunchtime day 2is when I realized like, hey, we
might be able to make something happen this week.
That's that's when I really realized like we might be doing
something here. You seem, and I keep saying this
to you, but you seem so calm. I mean this, I mean this is

(12:30):
probably the least jazzed up classic post classic interview.
I mean, you've got a plain wall behind you.
You're very just kind of a mellow guy.
Did it feel like that? Like when I talked to you on the
on the beach on Sunday morning, your whole family around you,
you know, you were very stoic, very kind of not what you expect

(12:54):
from a 22 year old going throughit.
What did it feel like on the inside?
Like honestly, what did you really feel like?
I mean, my parents always ask meall the time, like, you know,
like what are you feeling right now?
Just 'cause I don't show it. But I promise you on the inside,
my mind's always racing, but I just don't express it, if that

(13:15):
makes sense. But it's funny, my camera guy,
Seth, after I caught that 8 pounder on the last day when I,
you know, I got, I got pretty fired up.
He, he knew what that meant to me, 'cause he knows my
personality. For me to act like that, you
know, that was special for me 'cause you know, I'm a very
quiet person. I keep to myself and for me to

(13:37):
be that loud and that emotional,that's, you know, that's big for
me. And you know, that shows how
much that fish meant to me. You're not going to be able to
keep to yourself very well anymore.
You're the best Master Classic champion.
That's going to be a problem. I know.
And you know, it's, it's all good.
It's all good, you know, but this is all a dream come true.

(13:59):
And I mean, yeah, it's, it's crazy.
Your whole angling career, dude,like really like, I mean,
obviously I got to know you through the collegiate thing
first. But if you look at what has it
been 20 months, you know, in thelast 20 months, what has

(14:20):
happened in your life, less thantwo years, it has been like a
storybook, Like if somebody had to write a, if they were writing
a movie, they'd be like, OK, so he's got to overcome something.
Well, you overcame what I had toimagine had to be incredibly
scary. You know what I mean?

(14:41):
With your emergency brain surgery and where you're at
right now. Like it take me back to the
lowest point during that when you thought what is in my head
and what is going to happen to me too.
If somebody had to said guess what, in 20 months you're not
going to believe it, but you're the freaking Bassmaster Classic
champion. You've won two Opens, you're a

(15:02):
collegiate champion and you're the reigning EQ Angler of the
Year. It's crazy to think, you know, I
moved from Minnesota to go to Alabama to learn how to fish
southern waters because I wantedto best set myself up to
hopefully do this one day. And, you know, I worked for it
those four years. I made the bracket.

(15:24):
And then that happened to me, you know, and I was I was more
down than I've ever been. And, you know, I was telling my
parents in that hospital bed, I don't care if you need to bring
that IV stand on the boat with me.
I'm fishing that tournament. I don't care if you have to
wheel this hospital bed onto thefront deck like I'm doing it.
And they were like, you're crazy.
I mean, you know, this is your life and that sort of thing.

(15:46):
But you know, that's I'd worked so hard to get there.
That's how bad I wanted it. Again, I knew the opportunity
that had to change my life because, you know, it's crazy
that, you know, none of this would have happened without that
tournament. You know, I wasn't financially
there. Like, I mean, who knows where I

(16:06):
would be at if it wasn't for that tournament.
I mean, it's, it's unreal how much that tournament just
completely changed the trajectory.
And I mean, it's insane. Every dream that I've had came
true because of that one tournament.
Like wow, it's unbelievable how all that worked out.

(16:28):
Do you think going through that change, I mean, everything you
go through changes you as a human, but to to face what you
faced medically, you know, like,never mind, I need to fish that
tournament. I know you wanted to, but things
go wrong if you get the wrong scan back, You know, there's no

(16:50):
pro fishing. There's no, you know, did that,
that had to change you inside, just how you look at things in
life. It it absolutely did.
I think honestly, that's one of the main reasons why I am able
to keep so calm with everything,you know, at the classic, you

(17:10):
know, in the position I was in, I was leading the tournament,
but I was just happy to be there.
I mean like, you know, I'm at the bass match classic.
What else can go wrong? You know what I mean?
Like, and, you know, every, every trip I make to the lake, I
look at the sunset and I just appreciate it because I know
Dang well how fast that can be taken away from me now that that

(17:31):
time in my life really taught methat.
And I think that's the sole reason why I'm able to keep so
calm through these tough, you know, tough times and, you know,
trying times. And every high point in my life
now, it feels so much better after that moment, just because
I'm able to really appreciate it.
Up to that point, I would assume, I mean like most 20 year

(17:53):
olds, I mean life. The sad truth about life is the
less you have, the more you appreciate it.
So as you get older, you appreciate it more.
But when you're 20 years old, you're like, hey man, I can live
to 50. That'd be just fine.
That's an old man, you know whatI mean?
Like you just Had you ever overcome anything like that?

(18:16):
No, no, I had no, honestly, up to that point, I was one of
those kids that just thought he was invincible, you know what I
mean? Like like most kids are, but
that, you know, there was times through that time period where I
didn't think I was going to makeit like honestly, really like I
honestly thought my fishing was over.
You know, I didn't know. I mean, at first the doctors
told me I had a tumor, like a big giant cancerous tumor is

(18:39):
what they thought it was at first before I went to that MRI
scan. And you know, as you can
imagine, the thoughts going through my head at that time
were, I mean, beyond scary. And then, you know, it was, I
remember because when all this was happening, I was in, I mean,
I can't even describe the pain Iwas in.
Like I have these doctors telling me, but the pain is so

(19:00):
strong. Like I can't even like
emotionally like think about it.Like, I mean, the pain that I
was in was, I mean, I can't evendescribe the pain I was in, but
these doctors are telling me this and I'm just like, Oh my
like, like this, this is the end, basically.
And then I remember the doctor coming in late at night saying
you have an Abscess. We're taking care of it right
now. You're going to surgery.

(19:20):
No time to think of it. We're we're going into brain
surgery. And you know, next thing I know,
I wake up from surgery, brain surgery.
And I mean, just the time periodof all that happening was
unbelievable. Had you had any kind of
surgeries before that? I tore up my elbow playing
baseball and I had surgery on that.
So I mean, I've been through surgery, but I mean that really.

(19:43):
Brain surgery and not emergency brain surgery where you don't.
So you actually had that moment where you were laying in a bed
thinking this, this is this was it.
This is what I got. Wow.
That yeah, that went through my head, absolutely.
And but like I said, I had so much pain that I don't know if I
was fully. Emotionally, like fully mentally

(20:05):
processing like this might be the end.
But you know, it's so hard to explain, but just I, I did go
through my head like this, this,this might be the end.
Wow, wow. I think it's a true inspiration,
dude. I think it's amazing.
I mean, I think that to go for where you've been, I mean it,

(20:29):
it's, I mean, it's my job to always find things for people to
hold onto and and cheer for, youknow, to get emotionally
invested in somebody. You didn't have to look very far
for everything that you've overcome, for everything that
that you've been through and to stand at top of the sport.

(20:50):
Like when you when you hoisted the trophy, did you do you even
think anything in that moment? Or like what is happening in
your head when you're holding that trophy and confetti is
shooting out everywhere and. I was just thinking like how
grateful is to even be there in the 1st place, let alone win it.

(21:12):
Like honestly, I was thinking about, you know, my, everything
that I've gone through, like howcrazy my life's been up since
the moment we just talked about.Just, I've always just honestly
sitting there holding it over myhead when my head dropped, I'm
just sitting there thinking likethe journey from that moment
till now, just I was replaying every moment I've, I've had all

(21:33):
the highs and all the lows sincethat moment.
I was just, my mind was just flowing of just all the highs
and lows since that time. I mean, it was definitely a
moment I'll never forget. Do you feel almost AI mean?
I know you've, you told me before.
I mean, hard work is in your family.

(21:54):
Your dad's always told you, you know, you got to outwork
everybody, no matter how talented you are at anything,
which is the freaking truth in everything.
But do you feel almost, do you think going through that and
getting this second shot almost,so to speak, at life, you know,

(22:16):
because at that time you thought, hey, this might not go
well. Does that drive you to be the
first on the water? To be the last off the water?
To just squeeze every ounce of juice out of life?
It absolutely does like it. I with that, you know, it made
me grateful, like I said, but itdid give me another drive,

(22:38):
another another level, I guess you could say, of motivation.
I mean it. Another thing that taught me is,
you know, you get one shot at this.
You better do it right, I guess,and you know the when you know,
with that, you know, I'm going to work my hard, I'm going to do
my very best at this one shot atlife that I have that that's
another, you know, main point that it taught me for sure.

(22:58):
There's people. Sadly, the truth about life is
when people are at their highest, just like when you were
at your lowest, there was peopleat their highest on that day,
but there's people right now at their lowest.
In that situation you were at, If you could give those people
advice, what would it be? I mean, both my high points of

(23:22):
my life right now have come after lows.
I mean, the low of my first two Elite Series event is a much
higher low than my Abscess moment.
But it was a big low for me being how competitive I am.
You know, that really hurt me todo to have two bad finishes in a
row being my first Elite Series events.
I mean, I was, I was pretty downabout that.
And you just have to know that there is light at the end of the

(23:45):
tunnel and you just have to workthrough it.
You know, when I struggle in life, you know, it just drives
me to work even harder. It doesn't matter if, you know,
it's 1:30. I have 4 fish and live on the
Bass Master Classic. You know, as the time keeps
ticking, I work harder and harder and harder to make it
happen. And I guess that's just when
when times are tough, you just got to dig deep and work hard

(24:06):
and know that there's light at the end of the tunnel.
You brought it up. I was going to mention it
obviously at some point during this conversation, but at 134
fish, what? Like did you know it was going
to happen or did doubt start to creep in?

(24:26):
I mean, I talked to some of my buddies and they didn't show it
on bass live, but right after I got my first four pounder, I
lost one right about 7 at the boat on a jerkbait.
And I thought that might be the classic I just lost.
And that thought was hard to keep out of my head.
But one thing I've really taughtmyself over the last couple
years is when you lose a big one, you got to flip that into a

(24:47):
confidence motivator really quickly because you know, you
obviously did something right toget that big one to bite.
And you know, you got to switch that into a confidence like, I'm
going to work hard, I'm going todo this.
You know, I, I did something right.
If I got one big one to bite, I can get another big one to bite.
And that's, that's something, you know, really big that I've
driven into my mind last couple years, you know, 'cause we all
lose big fish in tournaments. It happens to everyone.

(25:08):
But if you sit there and dwell on it, you know that that'll
hurt you. But if you flip it into a
confidence booster, like, you know, I'm doing something right,
that big one bit my line, you know, it, it'll really help you
in the end. And there was, you know, 10
minutes of, you know, struggle. I was, I sat there and dwelled
on it. But then I thought like, you
know, we're doing something right here.
Let's work hard and, you know, hopefully we get another

(25:29):
opportunity. And, you know, right there at
the end, we finally got another opportunity and we capitalized.
So I mean that I'm just so glad that there was 3 camera boats
right behind me that got that moment of, you know, that I
don't think I'll ever top that in my fishing career.
A fish catch like that at that time of that magnitude, I mean,

(25:52):
it's unbelievable. I mean, it's, it was a buzzer
beater, right? Like, I mean, it was more than a
buzzer beater. It was it, it was, I mean, you
didn't just it hit a shot. I mean, you hit the shot.
You did something so rare that at that point you don't get to

(26:13):
see what everyone has. But you knew I'm a bass master.
Unless something unearthly happened, I've won the Bass
Master Classic. Right.
Yeah. I mean, I knew, you know, the
the caliber of fish in that lakewere definitely there to beat
me, but it would take him the biggest bag of the tournament in
order to beat me. And I mean, that's all you can
ask for. I knew there was a very high

(26:35):
chance that I had just won the bass match Classic.
And, you know, Chase said. Some got a picture of me with my
hands on my head and, you know, sitting on my live walls after I
put that fish in. And that was the moment where I
was just like, you know, like I did it, man.
This is this is unbelievable. And you know that that picture
is very moving for me for sure. Take me in your mind in that
moment to to say you were just sitting there thinking I did it.

(26:58):
Like what? Do you remember what was
flashing through your mind at that moment?
Or were you just? I mean, it's I don't remember
the exact. I mean, I just the the
tournament wasn't over yet. So I was kind of still in game
mode like I was, I was kind of just like, you know, I might
just won the classic, but you know, it's not over yet.

(27:19):
Let's get back up. And we got to, you know, like
the buzzer, like the buzzer had not gone off yet.
There was still time in the day that, you know, there was still
work to be done. So but I there was definitely a
brief moment where I I put my hand to my head.
I was like, oh, my. And then I was like, Oh, there's
still time. And I got back on the front deck
and, you know, we finished it out.
But I mean, yeah, insane. It it, you hear people say

(27:44):
they're speechless, but I reallyfeel like this classic for you
is, I mean, every interview, everything you've done, it it
ends with you just aghast almost, if that's a word.
Yeah. No, I mean, yeah, I mean just
to, I mean, yeah. I mean, it truly does have me

(28:04):
speechless. I mean, there's nothing else I
can say. You said you had you.
You have to rally after losing afish.
You have to fight through and you have to turn that negative
into a positive. How do you do that?
Like is there a mental exercise you go through to turn that
around? Or is that just a way to keep
yourself calm and keep focusing on the next cast?

(28:29):
That's just a way to keep myselfcalm, I think.
Like I said, when you're, when Istruggle in a tournament day,
the as time goes on, I work harder and harder and harder
just cause for one, you know what?
I know that. So I guess it all goes back to
my fishing style. I mean, my goal every single day
is to put my lure in front of asmany fish as I possibly can.

(28:51):
That's, that's what I'm trying to do every day.
I go out on the water and I, I know in the back of my mind if I
put my lure in front of as many bass, you know, I'll have my
opportunities. And you know, that's my
philosophy and that's how I operate.
So when I'm struggling, I guess I just dig deeper and just know,
OK, I got, I almost speed up. Like I got to put my baby friend
more fish, more fish, more fish.And I just work harder and

(29:13):
harder and harder. And then, you know, hopefully,
you know, if I do that, my opportunities will come.
And I guess, yeah, with anythingin life, really, when I'm
struggling, it just it drives meto work even harder.
When we did our rookie interviewtogether, we talked about music
and you said you're a big Whiskey Myers fan.
And also that rolled into you being a big Lee Livacy fan.

(29:36):
Were you as big a fan on Sunday when you guys were jockeying in
the same area basically and at one point he was pretty close to
you and caught two big fish. I mean the little less of a Lee
Livacy fan at that moment or, orwhat was going through your
mind? No, I'll always be a Lee Livacy

(29:56):
fan. You know, he's, he's, he just
seemed like a really good dude and I've got to talk to him a
little bit more and, you know, I'm all for him.
But there was, I mean, I was struggling in the morning.
He was in the very back of that pocket.
He's catching some big ones and you know it.
I guess I was doing my best to block that out, but he's out
there hooping and hollering, youknow, screaming.
And it was, I mean, it was obviously it's, it's hard when I

(30:21):
have 0 fish in the box and he's back there hooping and
hollering. But you know, it's just, that's
just another motivator for me towork even harder.
And you know, I caught my 4 pounder.
I think we're almost hooked up at the almost the same time he
had caught three big ones and I caught my 4 pounder.
I was just getting going and he already had a good start to his
bag. And you know, from then on, you

(30:42):
know, I was, we were fishing completely different.
He was up in the shallow grass and I was kind of trying to, you
know, pick them off as they're going back to him.
And I was looking at great big ones all the time as he's back
there hooping, hollering, catching them.
But I couldn't catch them. So it was, it just drove me to,
you know, I got to figure out how to catch these Dang things
and ultimately ended up having to leave that area.

(31:03):
But you know it, I don't know, it was, it was a super cool deal
to be able to fish knowing its home lake.
It was kind of like, Dang, I gotto, I got to figure this out,
but also a confidence booster. Like I'm probably in a pretty
good area here kind of deal. So I mean, it was, it was pretty
cool to be able to fish, fish back there with him or near him.

(31:23):
I don't know if you're aware. Have you ever been to Whiskey
Myers Concert? No, I want to so bad I'm.
Pretty sure we can get you hooked up.
And I don't know if you're awareof this.
And it's so odd that before you have ever seen them perform.
Cody, the lead singer of WhiskeyMyers, was in the crowd when he
watching You Win. Like, really?
That is awesome. Yeah, it's so I'm sure, I'm sure

(31:47):
we can hook you. We they, they can hook you up
with something. I mean, there's all sorts of
benefits of being the BassmasterClassic champion.
You're just, you're just starting to realize those.
There's no telling how many times I listen to lonely East
Texas nights last week, really. I mean on repeat.
And I did it. I made a post after my I think
it was day one or day 2. I did that as my as my song on

(32:10):
the on the post. And like when I would drive to
weigh in after the after the daythat's that was song was on
repeat just blaring like I love that song.
What did that song? What why that like it's just you
like that song. Was there certain words in that
song? What stood out about that song
that made you play that and repeat on your way to winning

(32:30):
the classic? It just brought out AI mean it
made me calm for one. It made me think about how I'm
in Texas fish in the Dang classic.
Just it just brought back so many thoughts for me.
Just, I don't know, just how grateful I was to be there is
what it made me think of really on that drive each day.

(32:55):
Yeah, that's, I guess that's thefeeling that it was able to
bring out for me. Just a lot of thoughts of, you
know, what it took to get here, how grateful I am to be here.
You had a lot of family there. You had, you know, you got a
pretty unique friendship with Nick Dunphy, your high school
and college buddy. They were all around you.

(33:17):
What does this feel like? I mean, I know you're the
champion, but it has to have a bit of a team feel to it.
Absolutely no, He he actually started practice for a college
tournament on Monday while he was supposed to, but when when
he knew I was in contention and I told him like there's a
there's a good shot at this. He jumped in the car and drove
over late Saturday night, got there, you know, early Sunday

(33:39):
morning, but it was, you know, Idefinitely was super cool to
have him there. You know, he's, I guess even
before the bracket tournament, we won team of the year in the
college circuit. Obviously he was my team
partner. So, you know, he helped me get
there for sure. You know, we, we went through a
lot together and through the college years and it definitely
did feel like more of a team thing.

(34:01):
I think he felt that too. I hope it was a super cool
moment to have him there. You know, all my family was on
stage, but when I held that trophy up, he was the first
person I saw in the crowd. You know, he was, he was right
there in front of me on that walkway.
He was the first person I saw when I hosted that trophy and we
made eye contact and that was a really cool moment for me.

(34:21):
I think some of those moments happened that nobody but they're
the coolest. Like indeed, it's not like you
just know that you guys are lookat you know what I mean?
Like he's that specialty that that that's who you searched out
in the crowd and saw first. Yeah.
What was it like afterwards oncethe confetti had fallen?
And, you know, you go backstage,you go through a bunch of media,

(34:46):
they put you in a decompression room, which I don't know how
much decompressing happens 'cause there's media in there
and stuff. Now, what stands out from you
from that whole post winning experience?
I guess the biggest thing I remember from all that is my dad

(35:06):
hugging me from behind saying you did it.
That's a really big moment for me.
You know, he's the one who got me into this in the 1st place
from a super young age. We fished countless of
tournaments together and he's the one that I adapted this
mindset, my tournament mindset from of, you know, the whole
cover water put, you know, baitsin front of fish, keeping an

(35:27):
open mind. I learned all that from my dad,
you know, I, I completely mirrorhis tournament mindset.
And you know, obviously it's, it's worked a little bit.
So I mean, but he knows everything I've been through
first hand, what it took to get here.
And, you know, for him to, you know, just come up behind me and
hug me and say you did it. That's that was a one of my
biggest life moments for me for sure.

(35:49):
There's people who go their whole life and never hear that
kind of genuine attaboy from their dad.
I know it's, I mean, striking just sent me a promo of the of
the episode that's about to comeout and they got super good
audio of him saying that and thechills that it gave me of him
saying that it was, I mean, it, it brought me to tears.

(36:12):
I mean, that meant so much to me.
I left you at the victory party and a big long line of people
waiting to get pictures with youand congratulate you.
Who is the most shocking congratulations you've got so
far? And if maybe it's not one, maybe
it's several, but who stands outto you to be like, wow, they're

(36:33):
congratulating me? I guess a really cool 1 is my
camera guy said he was, he was my camera guy at the bracket
also. So my biggest two life changing
moments, he got to share the boat with me and he was, as we
were leaving the stadium, he wasthe first one.
He jumped in the boat with me. We took a picture.

(36:54):
I mean, it's it's been really cool for him to be with me both
those times, both my life changing moments for him to be
able to document those. It's been really cool to share
those two moments with him and for him to be there, you know,
like he was another one. Like you did it, man.
Like you'd really did it. And you.
Yeah. I mean, that's, that was

(37:15):
definitely another moment where I was like, wow, man.
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(37:37):
I think that's relationship is so undervalued by everybody in
the outside. They don't realize the
connection that you guys have with camera guys and Seth is is
one of the best and to have shared that with him, but it's
so much more because I mean, I spent some time with you on the
stage. Different people have interacted

(37:59):
with you, but Seth was with you the entire time like nobody got
and and I just, I don't think people realize how important
that that relationship is. Like it's not just a guy holding
the camera, it's the conversations that you guys
have. It's it's, it really is a huge
thing. It really is.

(38:20):
Yeah. He, I mean, all throughout the
day, I don't think hardly any ofit was on live.
But he's like, what are you thinking, man?
Like, what are you thinking? I'm just like, man, like this,
It's not going my way. Like we got to make something
happen. And then he's like, you know,
he's just always so supportive. Like, man, you got this, Just
keep working. It'll come, It'll come.
And I mean, yeah, for for me to finally make a right decision

(38:41):
and to make it happen. I mean, you can see it in the
pictures. He's like this like while he's
videotaping. And I mean, you can tell I meant
the world to him too. And actually this morning he
wears one of those watches whereyou can see the heart rate and
he slid me the heart rate from the day and you can see a giant
spike where I caught that 8 pounder.
I mean, that was cool for me to for him to send me that.
And that just goes to show like me just like them.

(39:03):
I mean, we both feel like it's ateam deal when we're together in
the boat. I mean, no, it's, it's super
cool to be able to share those moments together for sure.
Yeah, definitely the the camera folks definitely.
I mean they don't get any of thepaycheck, but they do, they do
feel like there's AI mean they want their guy to win.
They want and and I understand that because when I used to be

(39:24):
on the water doing coverage, youget to with who you're covering
this person and that you want your horse to win like the
person that you've covered sinceday one or the person that you
ended up spending most of the week with, like you.
You do get an emotional connection there.
You and you had told me Polnick has been your entire career.

(39:44):
That was your guy. That was the guy that you looked
up at and he had texted you throughout the classic.
What did he say to you? I saw I was across the room and
I saw him give you a big hug, Stood in the line to meet you
with everybody. What did he say to you?

(40:05):
He said just like my dad said that you, you did it, man.
That's that's what he said. And you know, he, he knows as
well as I do that, you know, a lot of times your best highs
come right after your your lows.And that's kind of what he was
reminding me after or the week leading up to the classic.
He would send me a little motivational clip along with,
you know, just he would say it'sjust something short, like one

(40:28):
bite at a time, you know, just go through the motions, that
sort of thing. Just something short, something
sweet that would live in my mindthroughout the event.
And you know, it was it definitely, that definitely
helped keep me calm for sure. You know, driving to the ramp in
the mornings, I would watch the little clip he sent me and that
would live with me throughout the day.
And to have that connection now with one of my idols that I've

(40:51):
had for so long, that was a, I mean, big moment for me.
Huge, huge nuts. That's super cool.
That's super cool. Let's shoot our shot right now.
All right? Let's just try to do something.
You will. You're the best Master Classic
champion. If you can accomplish anything,

(41:12):
now's the time to do it. So let's shoot our shot.
If you could get any company to sponsor you dream sponsor, who
would it be? Chick-fil-A.
It's. A strong one.
I was jealous of Rob G, I'm not going to lie, because the amount

(41:33):
I mean, look at this, the model Chick-fil-A.
I consume anyone who knows me. It's pretty ridiculous how much
Chick-fil-A I eat. And you know, they're from what
I could tell, they're a company that has, you know, they, they
they do it much more than you know, serve people good chicken.
I mean, from what I can tell. So it'd be super cool to work
with them one day for. Sure.

(41:53):
All right. All right, Chick-fil-A, let's do
this. So your best master classic was
fuelled by Chick-fil-A is what you're saying?
Oh, absolutely. Two nights, you know, the Local
1 was open till 10:00, so I'd get home and start rigging rods
at like 9:30 or so and my parents would hit Chick-fil-A on
the way home and bring me some. So definitely.
Fueled by Chick-fil-A. Let's do this.

(42:15):
Let's take care of this kid 22 years old.
You've won the biggest event there is to win in the sport.
You've accomplished an incredible amount already.
I mean, it's is there anything left like do you worry that or

(42:36):
does it just feel you to do more?
There's still a blue trophy there that needs to needs to be
accomplished. That's that's a big one for me.
And you know, just like anyone, like I remember Gussie saying,
after you win one class, like itmakes you want another one a
whole lot more. So I mean there there will never
be not be a motivator for me. I mean I'm competitive just like

(42:57):
everyone, every one of the otheranglers.
So once once you get one, it just drives even more to get
another. So that's that's kind.
Of why? Why does it drive you to get
another like? What about it do you like?
Just that feeling that I felt onthat stage when I won.
That feeling is, is something that you don't feel very many

(43:18):
times in your whole life. That that feeling that you get
when you do that and just what it takes to get to that feeling.
I mean, that's, that's what we all chase is that feeling.
So I mean, yeah, every, every event that we go to, it's, it's
all about chasing that feeling of victory.
And you know, it's, it's very hard to get there, but it's,
it's so, so sweet when you do. Have you ever?

(43:39):
Is that the greatest feeling you've ever felt in your entire
life? Absolutely Not even.
Close. Not even close.
Not even close. I mean, it was kind of, it was
kind of crazy when I, when I hoisted the trophy on the middle
of the stage there, there was all kinds of like static shocks
going through the trophy that was like that, that kind of
spooked me at first, like the, the, I was getting shocked

(44:01):
through the trophy. We need to figure this out
because last year during Hamner's post Classic thing, he
said he felt a shock shoot up his leg.
Now you're saying you felt. Shocked.
Mine was in my hands, in my arms.
It was coming through the trophylike I was getting shocked like
crazy as I'm hoisting. It like uncomfortably shocked.
I mean, I would, I mean, it justscared me at first before I knew

(44:23):
what was, what was going on. But, you know, I, I mean, it
definitely, definitely caught meoff guard, that's for sure.
We need to, we just technically,we need to look into this.
This is a problem because as theguy who holds the microphone,
it'll be real uncomfortable if Ihave to explain that our classic
champion just got electrocuted. So like, what level of shock?

(44:45):
Like are we talking? Like when you put your tongue on
a battery kind of shock. I would say so, yeah.
I mean, it was a, it was a, you know, when you touch metal with
your hand or something, you're pinky like you get shocked.
It was definitely more intense than that for sure.
I mean, it was a it was, it was a good little shock.
And I was like. What is happening?
I don't, I don't, I don't know how that happens.

(45:07):
Like I don't know why it becausethere's nothing touching the
trophy. I thought it would come through
my feet if I was going to get shocked like it was kind of.
Yeah. But it was they caught me off
guard. That's maybe it's been happening
for years and the classic champions are always just so
happy. They just never.
I mean, it's just like you, the way you said it, I was kind of
getting shocked during the trophy.

(45:27):
I mean, now I'm asking what you're thinking.
Really. What you're thinking is holy.
Yeah, yeah, We'll have to ask Gussy.
If he got to, I mean, that's, that's a crazy pattern.
That's two in a row that have that have claims of the
electricity of winning the Bass Master Classic is a real thing.

(45:48):
What'd you do Sunday night afterthe toast?
Dude, I went to bed. I'm not, I'm not wanting to get
real active on a, on a, you know, I'm not a big partier.
I guess that's what we could say.
But to be honest, I was, I couldn't sleep throughout the
whole event. I was so stressed out that, you

(46:08):
know, I just crashed. I was.
I couldn't do it anymore. What was the what was the moment
like when you woke up Monday? Like, did you?
You had to have that moment where you were like.
Yeah, when I, when we walked into the house, I think we got
home at like 1:00 in the morningSunday night.
I, I put the trophy on the little coffee table that we had
in the living room with Airbnb and it was pretty cool to wake

(46:32):
up the next morning, get up and walk into the living room there.
And there she was sitting there.That was, that's, that's kind
of, it still hasn't set in, but that was a, that was a cool
moment. Like, wow, there she is.
She's still there. Have you have you spent much
time looking at it or have you not had like you just been
posing for pictures with it? Yeah, I haven't.

(46:55):
I guess I haven't really sat down with it yet.
And really, really, I guess thought about it too much yet I
haven't really had the chance to.
How many texts, emails, notifications did you get
immediately following the Bassmaster Classic?
I think I had 450 text notifications on my phone last

(47:17):
night, like actually because my girlfriend Liz, she asked me how
many I had and that made me look.
But you know, my, yeah, I mean, emails has been hard to keep up
with. I've been notoriously bad with
emails. So I've happened to, you know,
get better with that very quickly after after all this.

(47:37):
And then like Instagram, for example, I've over doubled
followers since I won. Like that's been a super cool
deal too. And yeah, just how well my win
was documented and being able tolook back at all my fish catches
and all that has been super coolalso.
When we talked that during your rookie interview, funny enough,
we talked about sponsors and yousaid, you know, hey, a lot of

(47:59):
them are kind of taking a wait and see approach and you said
I'm hoping to deliver them in 2025 and things will be great.
I would I would assume you delivered.
I think so. I think so.
I think, you know, we didn't start out too hot.
I was, I probably had them a little bit worried there at
first. No, we we came around so, but

(48:24):
no, I definitely, yeah, I think that'll help a lot in that
scenario too. I mean it, yeah.
I mean super cool. If you could write the narrative
for your classic, what would youlike people to take away from
this classic win? When they look back at your
classic moments, what do you want them to say?

(48:47):
Just just, I guess, like I said about my 2 low moments, just
know that there's light at the end of the tunnel.
I think, you know, even all three tournament days, I had low
moments where, you know, I'm, I'm kind of struggling a little
bit. Like, you know, you just got to
just know that if you keep working, keep at it, you know,

(49:08):
it, it'll, it'll start to go your way.
And yeah, I mean, that's that's the biggest thing for me is just
just know that when it's bad or when it's good, I mean when it's
bad, it can't stay bad forever. That's the biggest thing.
Do you think, do you have any goals of this classic rain or is

(49:28):
it too soon to? You know what I mean?
Like, I remember I can Ellie when I can.
Ellie won. I can, Ellie said, Hey man, I
want to, I want to take fishing mainstream.
I want people that have never fished to be exposed to this
sport through me. Have you had a chance to even
think outside, outside of the box?
Or is this just too fresh? I think my biggest thing is,
like I said on stage, I just want kids to realize that it is

(49:51):
possible. You know, there's so many times
where I didn't think it was possible.
I mean, just all the way up until just recently, it seems so
far out of reach. Like, I mean, just didn't seem
possible watching all these guyson TV just, you know, I'm just
like, how do I get there? Like, but I'm, I just want to
tell kids and just let them know, like you just take the the

(50:12):
row bass master provides you andit is possible.
I mean, I worked my way up the ranks.
I didn't, you know, I, I did, I just did it through hard work
and dedication. I mean, that's, that's what it
takes to get here. And you know, it is possible.
So I guess that's the biggest message I want to have to, to
show kids that, you know, just chase your dreams if anything's
possible. If there's anything negative

(50:33):
that comes from this classic, there is a lot of older
generation that doesn't like forward facing sonar.
I don't know if you've even heard any of that noise or want
to hear any of that noise in your generation.
What is the, I mean, is bass fishing alive and well?

(50:55):
Is it in trouble? Like what are the thoughts?
I mean, not you specifically, but you know a lot of collegiate
competitors, you know a lot of people.
What is the feeling about the sport today to them?
In my generation, it's alive andwell, 100%.
I mean, the, it's very interesting the the sort of

(51:17):
divide that we have right now. It's it's kind of crazy,
honestly. But in my generation, I don't
think there's the the youth movement in the sport is
definitely alive and well. And you know, with my win, I
think it definitely did show a lot of college anglers,
especially that, you know, like,wow, like he, he really did it
straight out of college. Like, I mean, I think it's, it's

(51:40):
been super cool to hear some of the kids like, you know, you're
you're my motivator, you're my inspiration, Like I want to be
you. I've had, that's been probably
1. Some of the coolest moments I've
had in my whole life is I've, I don't even know how many of
those messages I've gotten on Instagram saying, Easton, I want
to be you one day. And that's, that's super cool

(52:01):
for me. Yeah, what did Jordan Lee mean
to your career? Jordan Lee was when I had
started fishing in college was right when he was winning his
classics. And you know, he was he was the
first one that to show me that, you know, it is possible to take
that route. And you know, he definitely,

(52:23):
definitely one of my mentors andone of my one of my motivators
for sure. And you know, I'm waiting to go
weigh in and him and Carl Jacobson came up to me and said,
you know, your life spot change right here.
And that was another cool momentfor me.
You know, having both of them guys, two guys I look up to for
sure saying like, you know, Congrats, man, you did it.
And then that was just so many moments like that where I was

(52:45):
like, wow, this is insane. And you never even had to go
through like you knew, I mean, rolling in, you knew that I've
I'm about to win the classic, right?
I mean, the whole drive back, I don't think there's much doubt
in your. I mean, yeah, you had told us
not to look at bass track, so I didn't do that.
But as soon as I got to weigh inor the the check in, there's

(53:06):
people like Congrats and you didit like I mean, I knew so but
is. Yeah, the problem with those
people is this. They did they do that sometimes
and they aren't right like. There's.
Been situations where people and, and hey, in your situation,

(53:28):
I mean there's classics that arelike that.
I mean the record that you just beat, which we'll talk about in
a second. But Van Dam's, I mean he, he
knew he won going into the arena.
Everybody knew he won, but that is the evil thing.
Like the people, I mean, Davy Height went through it where
literally he didn't think he wonwhen he got off the water.
He's like, I I didn't have enough.
And everybody he ran into started congratulating them.

(53:51):
People started, you know, askingquestions for interviews like he
had won and stuff. And then he went all of a sudden
he goes up on the stage and Pom Pom takes two shots from I
forget who beat him. I think George Cochran beat him
in that one, but ends up losing and he's off the stage.
And none of those people that told you you one are around you

(54:12):
now they're around that other like it is.
That's the evil. Like you imagine that emotional
roller coaster that that's the weird, weird part about it.
But no, you won and it it it wasit was truly incredible, dude.
I mean, it's amazing to me to have stood there and look and
I'm like, we have one of our eventual champions, you and Trey

(54:34):
McKinney, standing side by side.I'm like, they have a combined
age of 42 and they're standing on top of the sport.
Like it's wild. It's wild.
It is wild. I mean, yeah.
To win a Classics, amazing. To win with the most weight

(54:57):
ever. To take a record away from Kevin
Van Damme, which he has many What?
What does that feel like? I mean, that was honestly, he
didn't even know it was his record until the Champions
toast. You know, I'm taking a picture
with with I don't remember who it was I was saying a picture

(55:18):
with. But also, and he shows up
between me and the person I'm taking the picture with.
His head just appears right nextto mine and he's just sitting
there looking at me. That was.
And then I turned back to him. He's like, hey man.
And I was. That was the first time I ever
met Kevin. Was at the.
Moment and yeah, yeah, so I'm sitting there holding the trophy
in this hand, shaking Kevin's hand in the others and that was

(55:40):
a moment. It was super cool and he's like
hey man, you just broke my record and and you know from
then on he's just congratulatingme how proud he is of me and
that sort of thing. But that was very cool for me.
I mean, I didn't know it was hisrecord that I broke.
And I mean, for me to break thatrecord and, you know, that was
what was that since 2011, that record stood.

(56:00):
Yeah. That's that's pretty crazy.
I mean. How old were you in 2011?
Like Young? Like 10-9 or 10.
No, I think less, but but that'swild.

(56:24):
Wild. Do you remember his classic?
Like are you AI mean? You said when I asked you when
you started dreaming this, you said since I could not
comprehend what's going on. Do you remember what the first
classic moment that stands out to you was?
I mean, I I don't think I watched this classic when it

(56:48):
happened like live, but the O 4 classic talk that classics
always meant something to me. Watching the video of him going
to weigh in. I I honestly, I thought about
that video when I rode away and after I caught my 8 pounder.
That's kind of how I was feelingriding away in and I had two
buddies from back home text me that video and say it was this

(57:08):
you and that was that was. I mean, that's that's a classic
that I've definitely looked backon a lot.
But yeah, I mean, yeah. Being kind of a quiet guy, you
know what I mean? Like you said, you don't, you
stay out of the hoopla. And the was, was it ever kind of

(57:29):
awkward this whole experience for you?
Like were there times we were like I better I better not screw
this up? When I held the trophy up was
kind of one of those moments. I'm not, I'm usually not one to
like being in the spotlight, butobviously I I soaked up that
moment for sure. But like the Super 6 deal, I

(57:49):
kind of was a little nervous about that screwing that.
But yeah, I guess those those were the two moments.
But yeah, I mean, like the Champions Toast, for example,
all those people coming up to me, that was super cool.
But also a lot for me at the same time being my personality

(58:10):
of staying in the shadows. And I'm just sitting here like
everyone in the whole room is looking at me and I know it.
And I'm just like, I mean, it's it was a lot for me, I'm not
going to lie. But I was I was also extremely
happy to be there. You come from an incredible
fishing state, Minnesota. I mean, incredible fishing
history, but I believe you're the first Bassmaster Classic

(58:33):
champion. Has that sunk in yet?
No, it hasn't. But to, to think of all the, you
know, high caliber pros that we have and even like the, the
outlanders and the wender familyand just, I mean, everyone that
we have from, from our state is,you know, for me to be the first
to, to accomplish that is super cool and something that, you

(58:56):
know, I, I don't take for granted at all.
I mean, I think I had just aboutevery pro that fish from
Minnesota reach out to me after I did that and just congratulate
me. And that was, I mean, super
cool. I mean, everything that's come
about from this whole deal has been just, I've had countless,
countless moments of just sitting back just thinking like,
how cool is this? You know, I mean insane.

(59:19):
You're 22 years old, you just won the biggest event in fishing
comes along with $300,000 plus in your situation and I can't
wait to watch it roll out. I think your best case scenario
as far as like how you're going to maximize this with sponsors,
because I mean if you're a 20 year established pro, it's hard

(59:39):
to maximize it as much because you already have bigger deals
with people. Your deals are about to get a
lot bigger with everybody. What is the first big purchase
you're going to make with that check?
I mean, very shortly I'm going to buy my first house.
So that's going to be a big chunk of that for sure.

(01:00:00):
I mean, that's. I'm, I'm still, I'm still in
Alabama renting with two buddiesjust to just, so it's cheap
until I figure out where I want to kind of set up home base.
So I'm kind of just hanging around saving up, saving up my
dollars to buy a house. So that's going to be my first
big purchase for sure. So you're so you're back in
Alabama now, in the in the apartment with your two buddies.

(01:00:22):
Where's the trophy? That's sitting on the coffee
table in the living room. I'm not, I'm not going to show
up because the coffee table's messy, but we we included a
little space for her for. Sure, what did Do I know your
buddies? Are they anglers or who?
Who are you rooming with? Yeah, one of them's one of
them's Nick, who as you know, and then the other one's name's

(01:00:42):
Calco Pepper, also a happy fisherman.
So what did they, what did they say when you came home?
One of them's actually. He's traveling for work and
Nick, actually, he stayed, he came back here, fish for a
couple, or I mean, slept for a couple hours and he went to a
college Sherman on Kentucky Lake.
So I didn't even get to see him.So they might have, they might

(01:01:03):
have came in and just got a glance at it while they walked
and walked out, but that's aboutit.
Well, it's not going anywhere. It's yours and it's yours
forever. And, and the best thing is now
you're already qualified for next year's Classic, so you're
part of it in Knoxville. I can't wait.
You know, it's, it's going to besuper cool.
You know, watching Gussie win, there was a super moving low win

(01:01:26):
for me. You know, I was front row in the
stands. You know, Gussie's someone that
I've competed against around thehouse a lot because, you know,
we don't live too far from each other.
So there's going to be a lot of lot of cool moments going
through my head and competing there.
And you know, to think that I already will have the
opportunity to is pretty crazy. You and I mean, it definitely

(01:01:47):
worked out. I mean, the beginning of the
week, I kind of joke with you calling this event the Eraser.
You can erase those first 2 events with a good finish here
and you freaking erased it. You blew those up.
But do you feel more pressure now to perform on the elites or
has this relieved pressure? It's relieved pressure.

(01:02:09):
I think it's just, it's crazy tothink my mental state in those
first 2 events I fished, you know, I watched G Man win AOI at
Mille Lacs. I think it's 2016.
And he, he like he always does, he did kind of a speech on stage
and kind of what he's thinking. And he, he said because day one,

(01:02:32):
he had a brutal day one. I mean, he felt way, I think he
fell out of the AOI lead even. And he was just explaining to
the crowd that he fished scared and he knew what he was doing
was completely wrong, but he failed to make the adjustment to
do so. And that's exactly how I felt in
Florida. Both events.
I knew what I was doing was wrong, but it's like I was
scared to make the adjustments, which is completely unlike my

(01:02:54):
fishing style. Like that's what I that's what I
completely, you know, that's what I pound in my head every
day is to keep an open mind. And I think it was just the
nerves being starstruck that I was there, you know, just, I
don't know, man. But that's definitely the
biggest reason why I had those finishes was I just fished

(01:03:16):
scared and I was, yeah. I mean, I think the nerves just
got to me a lot. Did those nerves from the OR
those tough finishes on the 1st 2 elites, did that help you come
into the Classic a little bit more dialed in?
I was, I was focused. I can say that I was pissed off
a little bit. I mean, I was bound and

(01:03:39):
determined to, to switch this trajectory around for sure.
I mean, I am so competitive, like I hate losing.
I mean, it's, I was, it was burning a hole in me to, to know
I had those first two finishes. So I mean, I was, I mean, I was
doing all I could to switch my season around for sure.
Like I was, I was bound and determined to do so.
So I think it, I think it definitely helped a little bit.

(01:04:03):
So when you don't catch them, doyou like let you legit get
pissed at the fish? At yourself?
Who you pissed at? Myself more than anything, yeah.
I mean, it's I feel bad, like myfamily came to Saint John's.
And as we all know, I did reallybad there.
And I'm trying to like, appreciate that that came to
support me and everything. Like I'm trying to, you know, do

(01:04:25):
that. And then I have that finish and
it's just so hard for me to be in a good mood when I get home
that night. Like, I really struggle with
that a little bit. So I mean, yeah, I just, it all
comes down. I I hate losing and I'm ultra
competitive. So I think that's how that's
kind of how you have to be to succeed in the sport.
You have to be that way. I think so.

(01:04:45):
But yeah, I just hate losing. That's that's that's it.
Well, now your family's experienced both sides because
they weren't the classic and youdid not lose.
You did the exact opposite of lose it.
It was a, it was a pretty incredible event and to watch

(01:05:06):
literally dreams come true. I mean, I, I said it a bunch of
times. It said done stage, but I mean,
in three days, I mean, everybodyknew who you were, but in three
days you went from Easton to Beeston and, and that, and
weirdly enough, I think that explains who you are though,
too. Like, you know what I mean?
Like you're, you're not boisterous, you're not on the

(01:05:27):
water, you're an animal, you're a beast.
And I think we're going to see alot more from you in the future.
I appreciate that and I hope so.We'll see.
I mean, I know in the sport you can never get too high or too
low. You just got to kind of ride the
waves and keep an even keel. So I mean, it's Yeah, I'm just

(01:05:50):
so grateful for everything that happened.
The last week definitely did change my life for sure.
But yeah, I just really can't wait for what lies ahead.
I mean, I think that's really kick started my career.
You know, my biggest goal when Iqualified the elites was to
just, you know, I want to stick around.
I want to make a good career outof this and I want to do it for
a really long time. And I think this last week

(01:06:10):
really set me up for that. That is your Is that still your
ultimate goal? Just to be a pro angler?
Your life this. Is what I want to do in my whole
life. Yeah, that's that's my that's my
top, tippy top goal is to you know, I have AI want to have a
career where I don't have to stress about like money and just
I want to have like a happy, good career and, you know,

(01:06:31):
enjoying it. And hopefully, you know, I want
to continue to, you know, try tochange kids life and to to, you
know, instill into them that it is possible.
That's kind of my biggest thing that I want to accomplish in my
career. Some good goals, some good
goals. I'm going to do something here
that I do every single year, butin my hand is a jar full of

(01:06:57):
confetti. And they're all separated by
discs. They're all different discs with
different winners. I mean, these are not used often
nowadays, but but back when I started this jar, these were a
thing. Kevin Van Damme's record is the
first one in here, and I'm goingto add your confetti to that

(01:07:19):
that I picked up off the stage after weighing and you're now
part of the confetti collection.That really means a lot to me.
I don't know if it means much tothe rest of the world, but it
means a lot to me and we're enshrining you right now.
That's so cool. Did you get any confetti?

(01:07:42):
Oh. I did.
I saved some. There was a lot.
Yeah, there was a lot. That's right.
Time will tell. I mean, you may be in that box
again in the future. Yeah, 'cause that's what you're
going to have to fight. That's the next thing.
People will be like, oh, he's 22, He's won one.

(01:08:05):
Look out, Kevin Van Damme. Here comes your records.
I mean, I think that's one of the weird things in the world
where people don't allow you to absorb a moment without saying,
OK, well, what? What?
What's your next moment? Right, Yeah, No, I, you know,
we'll we'll strive for another one now.
I mean you got. Some Chick-fil-A sponsorship?

(01:08:28):
Take us to a Whiskey Myers concert.
Anything else we want to throw out in the universe?
We'll start with those two if ifwe if we can accomplish those
two, I'll be a happy camper. I don't know if I can get you
sponsorship, but at some point Ican guarantee you'll go to see
Whiskey Myers and I'll ask them if they can pick you up at
Chick-fil-A. Oh, that's.

(01:08:52):
Awesome. No, congratulations, dude.
Enjoy every bit of it. The amazing thing about you is
you're who you are. I think this last little hour
we've spent together also provesthat you, you don't change.
You're exactly you know what? I think if we had done this
interview and you didn't do wellin the classic, I mean, sure,

(01:09:14):
you might have been a little bitmore down, but you're still the
person that you are. And and I think that says a lot
to the world. The world needs to see that that
that, you know, although you arebeasts and you're just a normal
dude who just loves to fish. And one of the most telling
things you said in one of your posts interviews was, Hey, if
the trophies and the tournamentsgo away, I'm still going

(01:09:37):
fishing. No.
Exactly. No, I just.
That's what I do, man. That's what I mean, I literally
wake up each morning just thinking about where I'm going
to go catch the next one. I mean, it's what I live for.
That's that's all I do. So just a love for the game.
Wow, it's been awesome to watch and I can't wait to watch the
rest of your career unfold. I appreciate you making time to

(01:10:00):
do this. And can I go to see Whiskey
Myers with you? Yes, deal.
That'd be a deal. Deal.
But you got to party a little more.
OK, well I need to see the. You want to miss you, Whiskey
Meyers? We can make that happen.
It's in there, right? It's in there.
I mean, there's a darkness in you, A.

(01:10:21):
Couple times a year, maybe we can.
We'll make it happen. He is the reigning and defending
Bassmaster Classic champion. The amazing Easton Fothergill
from Easton to Beeston in just three days.

(01:10:43):
Thank you. Another classic under the books.
How you feeling Jake? Not too bad, not too bad at all
actually, considering this year I stay.
I think last year I left on lateSunday night and flew back to
Colorado. This year I stayed through the
Classic and ironically, as soon as they as soon as you awarded

(01:11:06):
Easton the trophy, we went over and gave him a big hug as he
pulled into the into the, you know, under the arena where he
gets mobbed by the by the media and we just gave him a big hug
and we left. Yeah, he, I mean, he's on this
show obviously, and he talks about it, but it's kind of cool
too. You know, you've you've got your

(01:11:28):
relationships with different anglers and him and Seth have a
pretty like, I mean, Seth was with him when he won his
collegiate championship and now to be with him, like how awesome
is that to win the bracket with the guy and then to be with him
during the Classic. I mean, that's, I mean, it's
freaking awesome what Easton's done, but it's also pretty cool
for Seth as well. It's a story, yeah.

(01:11:50):
You know, when we were all at dinner?
Went on on. At the end of day one, we were
all at dinner and Lee had obviously made the top 10 again.
So I was going to stay in his boat.
And Seth did speak up at dinner.Seth Doman, who we're talking
about, he's, he's been with Bassfor four or five years now as a

(01:12:11):
camera guy. And I was actually at that same
college bracket when Easton, when I was in Tucker Smith's
boat and Seth was in Easton's boat at on the final day.
And that was literally 2 weeks after post surgery and all that
drama, medical drama that that Easton had gone through.

(01:12:34):
And so Seth spoke up and said, man, I would love to get in
Easton's boat. And everyone agreed that that
was the appropriate thing to do.And lo and behold, Seth gets his
back-to-back as a camera guy. He gets his back-to-back classic
wins because he was in Justin Hammer's boat last year.
Oh, that's right. I forgot about that.

(01:12:55):
You're losing your you're losingyour juice, Jake.
I know I got to get a new face mask.
Well, Congrats to Seth back-to-back Bassmaster Classic
champion, I'll call him the back-to-back champ all year.
But Seth and. He did a, he did a great.
Job awesome dude, great camera guy, great part of the team and

(01:13:18):
me and Easton talked about it. But I think that's such an
under. I mean, I guess if you're not
there, you just don't see the value that you guys have.
Like, I mean, when people think of all the connection with the
camera person, they're like, Oh yeah, well, it's somebody that
doesn't bother you, but it's also, you know, the highs and
lows you go through together. You really feel like you're part

(01:13:39):
of a team. I've always likened it to, you
know, professional golfers and their caddy where there's lots
of there's lots of talk. I mean, when we get into, you
know, my classic experience withLee, you know, what would a lot
of a lot of what I have to say today was just the relationship

(01:14:01):
based camaraderie that we have in the boat.
When I know how to work with him, when he comes to the back
of the boat, I go to the front. You know, there's, there's so
many dynamics that there's so many things that can go wrong
when you have someone that you're familiar with and you're
comfortable with, there tend to be less things that go wrong

(01:14:25):
than there normally would under under duress.
So, yeah, it's a, you know, we all have relationships.
You know, when I first started working at Bass covering events,
especially, let's just go straight to when we started
doing live because that's when we went to four camera guys and

(01:14:46):
2:00 to 10:00 to cover live. Once we first figured out how to
cover live, you know, it got crowded and, and I'll be the
first one to admit it was kind of awkward at first because we
build these relationships with these anglers.
And it's something that I can't describe it, but you're really
proud of it because you're friends with what other people

(01:15:08):
in general think are superstars.And here we are, you know,
hunting with them or fishing with them during the offseason
or going and having beers or dinner or whatever.
Meet their families, their wives, their kids, and we become
part of the family. And it's something that we're
really proud of because aside from getting paid for what we

(01:15:29):
do, that's really one of the fringe benefits of our job is
that we're part of this this big, you know, traveling circus
that we call Bassmaster. And we're friends with everyone
and we're part of it. So that means a lot to us.
And, you know, initially when wemoved 10 or 8 new guys into the

(01:15:50):
trailer, there were some jealousy and some jockeying
going on and, you know, attitudes would, would flare
and, and it was really kind of awkward because you know, you're
established and you got new people coming in.
They want to be what they want, what you have, the relationships
with the guys. And then all of a sudden, you

(01:16:10):
know, they're gaining these relationships and they've been
around for long enough. Now this, the crew that we have
right now, I can honestly say isthe best, most sustained group
and and consistent group of camera guys that we've ever, in
the 14 years that I've been at BASS.
And I think most of the production crew would agree that

(01:16:32):
this is the best team we've everhad because everyone has risen
to the same level and now we're consistent.
And and that's a, you know, it'sa, it's a really great part of
Bassmaster to be a part of. Yeah, yeah.
AFCO not only makes incredible outdoor clothing, but they care
about anglers. With their 10% pledge, AFCO and

(01:16:55):
the Shed family donate at least 10% of the company's profits to
conservation and making fishing better.
Now back to the show. So you had a boring classic in
the way that you stayed in one boat the whole time.
You were paired with Lee Levacy,who was a odds on favorite going
into the classic, and he fished well enough that he kept in his

(01:17:15):
boat the entire time. And that's really the goal when
I walk every, at every tournament, especially the
classic, when I step onto a boat, the goal is to be in that
boat three straight days for theclassic, because that means
whoever I'm with is making moneyand they're doing well.
They're staying in the top 10. And so I and I'm always happy to

(01:17:38):
be in the, in the boat, the from, from end to end, from from
start to finish with Lee. It's, I mean, we all, some of
the stories that we have from the boat, just being in the boat
during this tournament could, wecould probably talk for hours
about some of the stories. There's always something that

(01:17:59):
happens that no one hears about when I'm with Lee.
So it's always exciting. Well, that's why people tune
into Jake's take. I guess that's true.
I mean, without those they'd be like, it's.
Not my congeniality, you mean? Well, maybe.
I mean, you're nice speaker, so take me through the week.

(01:18:25):
Well, we ironically where Lee was, he knew that that was going
to be a very strong in significant location based on
the time of year we were at Ray Roberts.

(01:18:45):
You know, the spawn hadn't really started yet, but it was
very close. And he and he knew all that
stuff. I mean, he's fished Ray Roberts
many, many times and made a lot of money on that lake.
And so, and ironically enough, where he was fishing there was
like, I mean, lots of the the top ten were there.
Ben Milliken was there, Corey Johnston was there, Easton

(01:19:09):
Fothergill was there, Lee was there.
Who else? Tyler Revette was there, Brian
Schmidt was there. There were lots of people
fishing in a really small area. So and especially with the wind
that we had on day one and day three, that lake fished really
small. I mean, I don't, I think Lee and
I only really went to in in all three days.

(01:19:34):
We only went to three different,maybe, maybe four different
spots. We did go back to where John Cox
was fishing and dude, the spot he was fishing, like he was
literally fishing in a small farm pond by himself.
He had a few visitors, Carl Jacobson and Greg Hackney came
back there a couple times, but he literally had a farm pond to

(01:19:58):
himself and the amount of and quality of fish that he caught
was unbelievable. Because I don't.
Think people realize how small his area was?
I mean, you could barely move a boat around back there.
Wow, that's typical him though. I mean, that's what he finds.
It is it's very typical of him, but umm, you know, Lee Lee, he

(01:20:19):
power fished and he he fished his way.
I don't think he ever turned hisfront facing sonar on and he on
day one he was throwing that that so he had this.
Didn't he use it some? Not much, I mean maybe, maybe a
little to scan around between spots and to check some deeper

(01:20:41):
spots in the trees. But for the most part, he was
casting into the milfoil and he was, he was on day one.
He had, he was, he was just fan casting back and forth on this
big milfoil patch. And he found one open sand spot
in the middle of it. And that's where he caught every
single fish he weighed. I believe that's right.

(01:21:03):
Every fish that he weighed on day one came off of that one
spot and he was throwing a pink chatter bait.
The DVP DDP dog Dink Pink and itwas.
And it hey, and it wasn't fuchsia, it was Flamingo pink
baby. And I'm it's.
Probably a better way to describe it than what I do, but.

(01:21:26):
Hey, man, they were eating it. They were choking it too.
I mean, every fish he caught, itwas it was down the gullet.
Why? Why do you think he went DDP dog
dink pink? Because he said he's had
success. I asked him that because there's
a lake that I fish out here called Lake McConaughey.
And and historically it's alwaysbeen pink, has always been a

(01:21:49):
really good color on that lake for whatever reason.
The forge base are crawfish, gizzard, Chad and alewives and
pink. And it's really it's like gin
Clearwater and pink just for some reason it works really well
on on the wiper hybrids, the giant walleyes, the giant
largemouth and the big small mouth in that lake.

(01:22:11):
So I was curious to know why, you know, he chose pink, why of
all the colors he could have chosen, why he chose pink.
And I suspected that it had beenhistorically successful on Ray
Roberts, and that's exactly whathe said.
He goes, yeah, it's always been a good color on this lake.
So he had six cents custom make those baits for him.

(01:22:34):
I think he told me he had to keep, he had to make them
promise that he wouldn't share that with any of the other Six
cents anglers until after the event or until they found out
what he was using. So he was the only one that had
access to that color at that time.
I'm pretty sure. You know, people were probably
calling them off the hook tryingto figure out how to order that

(01:22:55):
bait and they're going to make them now.
But but he yeah, he had exclusive rights to it for for
three days. That worked out pretty good for
him. It did.
It did on day one anyway. It changed.
He caught him on three. He caught him on three totally
different baits. Each day was a completely
different bite. And you know, like on day two,

(01:23:18):
he was throwing the the, the white or the Pearl whaler swim
bait, the four and a half inch swim bait that sixth sense
makes. And he couldn't, he could.
I think he caught his first fishon that pink chatter bait and
then he couldn't buy a bite withit.
So then he started throwing thatwhaler in the same areas and he
was catching. That's where he caught all his

(01:23:39):
fish. And then on day three, he caught
them all on a swimming worm. Swimming worm, Yeah.
Yeah, on a Texas rig. So and, and I think he at one
point, you know, that it was allin the same area.
But I think one of the, one of the issues that they may have
all had over three days too was there were so many gallery, you

(01:24:02):
know, fan boats in the area and they wanted to get close.
It was kind of isolated in this pocket.
There was, there was 3 pockets in this, on this on the
shoreline that they were fishing.
Corey and Milliken were sharing one and then Schmidt and Easton,

(01:24:23):
Fothergill and Lee were sharing the, the other, the primary, the
first primary pocket. And then there was another pond
on the other side of the point that they all kind of just went
to randomly. But there was probably, you
know, one time, there's probably30 fan boats out there.
And I don't think anyone, you know, no one said anything to to

(01:24:47):
them. But that's a lot of boats on a
small area. And especially with Easton out
there with his live scope tryingto get through the other boats
and scan the trees and isolated trees out in the open, I think
it kind of became a problem. And for some reason, those fish
vanished on him on day three when he came in there on the

(01:25:09):
morning of day three, Lee caught, he went back in the
pocket, was figured out. The swimming worm was was going
to get bit because he wasn't getting bit on anything else.
His first cast with the swimmingworm, he threw it into these
trees where he knew that this funnel, this channel came
through the trees into the back pocket where they traditionally

(01:25:32):
spawn. And dude, he caught like 3, you
know, a 525 pounders and a 3 1/2or something like that, like in
literally in, in, in 30 minutes.And he, he thought he was onto
something. He's like, OK, they're about to
move back in here and spawn. The water was 60°.
This is getting ready to go down.

(01:25:52):
Easton's out there searching back and forth.
He had, he caught 1/4 pounder there that morning and literally
could not find another fish to even cast at.
So he left and took most of thatgallery with him.
So it was kind of like, OK, now you've got this all to yourself.
And he went back in the back of the pocket, pulled down, facing

(01:26:16):
out towards the lake and just never could get bit again.
So, you know, I don't know if itwas timing for that time of year
or what, but good Lord, those fish, all the fish that they
brought in were like this long and this fat.
Oh yeah. Oh my goodness, they were fat.
They were bulbous. They were most of the fish that

(01:26:38):
I thought were 5 lbs were like 61/4.
Yeah, yeah. But I had fun.
I always have fun with Lee Man. We I mean, I fell down.
No one knows about this shit except the the the production
crew. But at one point I was when it's
really windy, I like to put my knees up against the backrest on

(01:27:02):
the passenger seat so I balance in the back of the boat and I
can stabilize my camera. So I'm and it's blowing.
You guys know how hard it was blowing on day on day one and
man the the back of the seat, I guess I put too much pressure on
it and the back of the seat broke and you think is funny

(01:27:24):
huh? Dude I went I'm telling you, I
went face first like a freaking tree and just went now boom.
I landed on my camera on the step going up to the front deck
and literally crushed the live view live view unit on my camera

(01:27:48):
and totally went black like I I was broke.
Luckily I had another unit because I was supposed to plug
it into his his his graph so that we we could do picture in
picture. So I pulled the live unit off of
that, put it on my camera and wehad to reprogram it.
Howard had to reprogram it and the truck and all that.

(01:28:09):
We got back up on on live. But man, I've never taken a fall
like that. And I'm telling you, if the
camera hadn't been between me and that that aluminum step up,
I would have definitely gotten hurt.
I was sore as it was, but I tooka big digger, so that was that
was drama on day one. What did Lee say when that

(01:28:30):
happened? I can't say what he said, lots
of, lots of expletives, but he did.
He did his his ultimate message was, are you OK?
Did he laugh? At all he did after I started
laughing. But he was, he was, he was

(01:28:52):
genuinely concerned initially because it, I mean, it hit, I
hit hard. It was, and he was, he was
casting off the front. He had no idea and it just went
boom and my camera exploded. So I see that was my event and I
think there was one time where where Lee on day three, did you

(01:29:12):
see where there was a pond in the back of one of those pockets
and had a dam. And he literally levied up
levied up on that on the levee and was bomb casting as far back
in that pond as he could. And he actually caught the very
last fish, his his fifth fish ofthe day.
He caught A4 pounder it like it was like Easton caught his 8

(01:29:38):
pounder at 2:36 because when I heard it on calm I looked at my
watch it was 236 when he caught that 8 pounder And then like 3
minutes later Lee catches the four pounder and he still
obviously doesn't know what's going on.
And I'm just, I'm kind of deflated because I want my guy
to win even though I was happy for Easton.

(01:30:01):
But he bomb casted a the fluke as far as he could and he was
jerking it back and the fish bitand he and he actually stuck the
fish for a second. He came flying off the deck and
ran into me on the back deck. And then he fell down on he he
bounced back. Yeah, he came back.

(01:30:22):
He hit me, fell into his consoleand then fell on his back on the
front deck and he was laying there really kind of just like,
dude, I'm, I'm, he worked so hard, Dave, you know, I mean, he
really, really, really wanted toand obviously that's his home
state. You know, he was he had and he

(01:30:45):
he fought hard. I mean, he fought his butt off
and Easton actually opened up that window of opportunity.
You know, on on day three, therewas an opportunity where Hunter,
Trey and Lee all caught Easton and wait.
And I literally thought, Oh my goodness, he's going to choke.

(01:31:07):
Like this is actually there's anopportunity for someone else to
win this tournament. And, and of course, he didn't
know that, but he, you know, I felt, I felt for him, A, because
he's my friend, but B, because he wanted that win so badly.
And he worked. I'm telling you, I've never seen
Lee Livesey work that hard for three straight days.

(01:31:29):
He always works hard. But he was definitely putting
out the extra gas to make it happen because he had such large
expectations for himself. He didn't want to let the fans
down. I mean, did you hear the roar
every day that you introduced him, you know, to the crowd?
I mean, he, he was no doubt the people's champ at that.

(01:31:51):
Yeah, yeah, no, he definitely had a lot of people cheering for
him. And I mean, he put himself in.
He did what so few people do. I mean, normally if you're a pre
tournament favorite going in theClassic, it's hard to be the
local favorite and do well. He did well and not only that,
he found the freaking fish to win, clearly.

(01:32:12):
I mean, he was in the right area.
He just didn't get him. I mean, when Easton weighs 29
lbs, that's one thing. And then, you know, it did seem
like there was going to be a shot for it to be a lot tighter
than Easton caught AN-81, you know, late in the day and.

(01:32:33):
Sealed the deal, I think. I think the thing that Lee did
everything right. He never did anything wrong.
He made good decisions. He, he, he changed baits when he
needed to. And I think bad luck maybe just
kind of snake bit him because hecaught 5 fish every day and he

(01:32:53):
had 20, He had 2322 and 22 right.
So he had good weights and his goal when we, before we took off
on day one, his goal, he told me, he said I want to, I want to
catch 23 to 28 lbs. If I can do that, I'll win this
tournament each day. And he was a # short on day 2

(01:33:16):
and day three where he caught 22lbs.
But even besides that, what the the the, the fact that he didn't
catch one big kicker fish was what really got him because had
he caught A7 or an 8 on each day, then that tournament was a
completely different had a different out.

(01:33:38):
Yeah, well, he had a good classic.
I mean, it was, it was, it was, it was a fun classic.
It was a strange classic. There was a lot of strange
things happened. I mean, there was some real
strange stuff. I mean, did did you hear about
the scrap at night? No, I didn't hear about that.

(01:34:02):
Let's hear it. Now you got to tell.
Well, he was there and it was like it was like a scene from a
movie. He just kept sipping his drink.
But a famous Internet dude, I mean, he's talked about it, so
I'll talk about it. But Slick.
Slick got in a scrap at the bar.I wasn't there.
I've seen videos of it but he's got a black.

(01:34:24):
Guy with a rabbit with a. Fag ass.
Yeah, I don't know exactly what happened.
I don't need to put myself in a position where I know, but
somebody was not happy with someof the stuff, Slick said.
And somebody went to using theirhands to describe how unhappy
they were. And yeah, yeah.
I mean, there's videos out there.

(01:34:46):
I'm sure most people have seen him by this point of him getting
choked out and he's got a black eye and wow.
He actually got choked. Out well, like they were
dragging him out, but it's like he didn't he didn't tap, he
didn't fall asleep. I don't want to get in the
middle of Slick's Wars, but like, let's all get along.

(01:35:07):
It's bass fishing. Why are we fighting in freaking
bars at night? That's how stupid has this all
become. Like, really?
The Internet has gotten so out of control it's just ridiculous.
Nobody needs to be laying their hands on each other.
But whatever happened, happened.I was going to.
Say, but Lee looks like freaking.

(01:35:28):
It's like a scene from a movie. Like if you see the video, he's
just sitting there drinking his drink and like while people are
fighting over him basically. Hey, he's he's that's actually
Lee to AT really and and and youknow, since he's been up in the

(01:35:48):
elites, it's kind of been like that.
He knows how to stay out of trouble.
He's always on the fringe of theaction, but he knows how to stay
out of trouble and to his benefit and to his, to his
credit, that's how you handle those situations.
You just gotta stay out of it, man.
It's like my son's boxing coach tells you, know, our boxers in

(01:36:12):
the gym, we're teaching you how to fight.
We're teaching you how to fight properly.
And you never need to use this. The first thing you need to do
when someone insults you somewhere and you think you need
to fight back, you need to turn around and walk away because
that's the best way to handle it.
And like you said, the Internet is so out of hand now.

(01:36:33):
It's like, dude, we're we're, we're bass fishing and the hate,
I mean, even the hate that Easton.
Was. Overall this was like dude.
It's so gross. People make me want to vomit,
like literally, I'm sorry if if it changes your attitude about
me, but that young man, what he has done in his story, the the

(01:36:57):
which you guys are going to hear, I'm sure as part of this
show. You guys talked about it in the
interview, I'm sure. I mean, his story is incredible
and he knows how to fish. He just knows how to find him
bigger on front facing sonar. And he is he's 22 years old.
He's been through a tremendous amount of adversary with his his

(01:37:21):
medical conditions. He's an amazingly humble, quiet
kid that you can't help but loveand be happy for.
And those people that are out there bashing him, you don't
know him and you're, you're completely wrong about all of
that. He is, he is a tremendous kid.
And you better get used to it because that guy is going to be

(01:37:43):
around for a long time and he's going to be one of the he's he
is. He already is now, but he's here
to stay and he's going to be oneof the major superstars in bass
fishing for a long time. That dude can freaking.
Catch him. Yeah, I know that all of that
stuff is gross to me and I and Idon't have a problem with people
not liking forward facing sonar.There's a lot of things I don't

(01:38:05):
like in Sonar. I am not its biggest proponent,
you know, there's been and I don't know what's the future of
forward facing Sonar is. Is it going to be here forever?
Maybe. Is it not going to be?
Maybe I don't know. But bottom line, his job is to
catch the five biggest or 15 biggest over three days bass

(01:38:26):
using whatever techniques or whatever techniques are
illegally allowed, whatever technologies, and that's what
he's done. Tools, techniques, rules, all
that. He was completely within those
boundaries, the entire. And to to do anything but
congratulate a kid that literally within a 20 month span

(01:38:49):
went from laying in a bed and thinking, I'm going to die.
Like I there's a chance this is how it like he literally says
that he said, I thought, you know, this was and then he's
standing on top of the sport holding the trophy and some dude
wants to use that as his pulpit.Like, I mean, I don't know, I'll
get hate for this, but I got to say it.

(01:39:12):
Randy Blockett, I'm never going to totally agree with you, but I
have never lost more respect foryou than I have in the last few
weeks. And and you can say and you can
look at me and and I know there's and I'm so thankful for
everyone that watches this podcast.
And I know we have viewers that have watched this podcast
because of they met this podcastthrough Randy Block it and you

(01:39:33):
can love Randy block at all you want, but to to take every
opportunity and try to tear downthe thing that is that you
profess to love that you professto is just gross to me.
It and I would feel that way. It doesn't matter what it is.
You know what I mean? I, I just feel like if you

(01:39:56):
really love something like show me the benefits, like the, the,
the worst thing, like if you getinto sales of any kind, the
first thing to tell you is you don't sell your product by, by
insulting another product. And that's all it's become.
It's if it's not the way I like to do it, then it's wrong.
And that is, is wrong. I mean, this is a sport that was

(01:40:18):
built on people doing things that nobody ever did.
Freaking Randy Block it sunk is.Freaking boat to get under A and
we celebrate that to this moment.
Could you imagine if the Internet was around then and
there was a dude who was like, oh, you're sinking your boat
You're you're you're it's a travesty.
You could be doing something that would make people unsafe on

(01:40:42):
the water and you are like the the the grotesqueness that has
become the click chasing and that's all it is now, dude.
It can't be anything else. It cannot be anything else.
Because if it was. Monetizing clicks is all it is.
If it was something else, there'd be more to it, but it's
the same rhetoric every single time.
And again, I have a lot of respect for what Randy Block

(01:41:04):
it's done in this sport. I have a lot of respect for him.
I I've enjoyed our conversations.
I've enjoyed it. It's that's how you learn
speaking to somebody with different opinions.
But that ain't I would just wishRandy Block had had respect for
this generation of anglers like I have respect for him like many

(01:41:28):
of these young. Even if you.
Would have had respect for him. And even if you don't, man, you
know, set all that aside for Easton, you know, this one, I
mean, and maybe it happens againnext year in Knoxville, I don't
know. But you know, this one
particular day, it's a guy's greatest accomplishment in a

(01:41:50):
really young and fabulous career.
I mean, the kid dude, like, I was so happy for him.
I obviously wanted Lee to win this tournament and, and not
just because I was in his boat, because he's a friend and he he
lives there and he's got so muchhistory on Ray Roberts and all

(01:42:10):
that stuff. But when it was over, when he
caught that 8 pounder, I felt a little bit deflated for a few
minutes. And all I could think about was,
and I'll say this candidly, all I could think about Dave was
holy shit, this kid has just like he's about he's, he's about
to win. I'm I've got goosebumps right

(01:42:32):
now. He's about to win the bass
master classic, the the ultimategoal of every childhood's dream.
And I know that gets beat to death, but that's what it is.
It's like winning. It's like being a little
football player and winning the Super Bowl.
It's like being a little Little League player when in the in the

(01:42:54):
the World Series and in the Major League Baseball, there's
nothing that tops that. And for him to have done that at
22 his entire life and his entire career is ahead of him.
And I'm so proud for him. I'm so happy for his family.
The story that was meant to be, that was fate at its finest.

(01:43:15):
And the way that it went down, the opportunity that Hunter
Shryock, Lee Livesey and Trey McKinney had to catch him and
all the drama that built throughout the entire day up
until 2:36 PM was unfreaking believable.
And I'm a camera guy standing onthe back of my guy's boat

(01:43:37):
listening to it all on calm. And I was just like, this has
got to be unbelievable on television right now.
This, this is, this is, this is awesome.
And when he caught that 8 pounder, I mean, I it deep down
inside of me, I went yes, because that kid, I mean he
worked his butt off for three days.

(01:43:57):
He's extremely acute, even his even his verbiage and his
literacy is a higher level than hell, most adult or he's an
adult, but you know, older anglers his his his vocabulary
and his intelligence level is ata very high level.

(01:44:18):
And it's like this kid. Someone mentioned to me he that
he reminds them of Aaron Martins.
And while I don't see that the, the, the, the intelligence, the
acuteness of his intelligence, Isee that part of Aaron Martins.
And maybe he's, you know, he's his own person now.

(01:44:38):
He's he's Easton Fothergill and he's a hero to so many young
anglers out there in college andhigh school and the junior
nation that look up to him for what he did and for anyone to
try to bring him down. Shame on you.
That is a fine, fine young man who was raised properly And

(01:44:59):
congratulations to Easton Fothergill.
And in in a world where you lookat other sports and you see all
sorts of things that you can point out wrong with those young
athletes and things that you're like, we don't got that in bass
fishing. And somehow, somehow a lot of
these young anglers have been vilified.

(01:45:20):
And trust me, Easton going to becatching bass.
Whether if Bass makes an announcement in a week and says
that forward facing Sonar is gone, guess what?
Easton's still going to be a player in next year's classic.
Easton's still going to be a player.
Easton fell in love with this sport long before a box that you
have vilified and there's all these people you have.

(01:45:43):
You have literally he's put together a horde of people that
have never used it that act likethis is some magic box.
And I will invite you to come onon my boat and I'll show you how
on magic it can be at times. It is.
Is it? Is it what everybody else did?

(01:46:04):
No. But neither.
Mark Davis used to complain about GPS all the time because
before GPS he was a master of triangulation and all, doing all
these different things. And then it got easier.
Guess what? He evolved with it, people.

(01:46:24):
I mean, how many more tournaments does Kevin Van Damme
win? A spot lock is just invented 10.
Years. I was just going to say it just
right. Exactly the the mapping.
Exactly. This sport has been fuelled by
technology and again, I don't care that you dislike it, that's
your opinion. We all that's the best thing

(01:46:45):
about fishing. You could do it anyway.
You can fish with a bobber and aminnow.
You can fish with a dip worm that you dig up, you know, at
the side of the road. You can fish with as much
technology as possible, but you can do it the way you choose.
But to point fingers and to judge and to break down, that's

(01:47:05):
what I hate. And it's anything like, hey,
there's empty seats in the arena.
There's a lot of reasons why there was empty seats in the
arena. I'm not even going to get into
that. But the classic was booming.
The classic was booming. And to sit at home and not even
attend it and just to throw darts at it.
Look through a tunnel to completely look through a tunnel

(01:47:26):
and make judgment calls and to bash it.
I don't understand it man. Like we, we need to change.
We as humanity. This whole social media
platforming has has gotten so out of hand and ironically
enough I've said that word like 8 times already, but one of the

(01:47:47):
best in my opinion, this is justmy opinion.
One of the best people at deflecting and reversing
criticism on social media was onthe show.
Was it was it was on the show onSunday.
Deion Sanders he gets, but man, he gets so much criticism for

(01:48:12):
everything that he does and he is one of the best at just
saying thank you for paying attention.
Thank you for being here. I love you too.
You know, I mean, it's just water off his back.
And he that's why I respect him so much because he lot he he
understands how to handle it because he's been getting he's

(01:48:32):
been getting it getting hit hardhis entire career as a player
and as a coach. And he brought a lot of that on
himself as, you know, the flashyguy that he was.
But he understands how to deflect all that now.
And I hope, you know, someone like Easton doesn't let that
affect him at his young age. Because when I was 22, little

(01:48:53):
things like that, what people said about me hurt my feelings.
It hurt, hurt me as a person andand probably made me make bad
decisions like, you know, getting in fights and bars.
You never did that, did you? I did a couple times, but yeah,
you know, I, I hope, I hope everybody just praises him, give

(01:49:16):
the guy what he deserves. I mean, Jesus Christ, he just,
I, I can't, I like for for a dayand a half, Dave, I was just
like, I can't believe he just won the classic.
Like he just won the classic. Second youngest.
Ever to do it. With the largest total weight.

(01:49:37):
The largest total weight in the history and the second youngest
ever to do it. And it's not him. 55.
It's not him. It's a machine.
It's a machine. Well, how come?
What? What did the machine randomly
decide that Easton? So like, it's just I.
And hey, again, I've gone down apath that I didn't plan to go

(01:50:00):
and, and dude, if I just wanted clicks, I would just bitch about
stuff because that's what gets clicks.
But I'm just being honest. No different than if I heard a
young angler dirty one of those older anglers, you know what I
mean? Like disrespecting what they
did. I would stop at my tracks and I
would say show respect to the sport you profess to love.

(01:50:23):
Don't disrespect the sport we all love but if you want to be
respected you got to respect andthe amount of disrespect that
has happened. And again, hate forward facing
sonar all you want that. Is not my point my?
Point is, be a decent person andjust don't pile on.

(01:50:45):
And this, the world's just full of it.
And I shouldn't even have brought it up because.
Well, there's a. There's a past, there's a
present and there's a future andall these things and all the
sports writer every we could, wecould we could include that in
everything that we talked about,but let's let's just integrate

(01:51:06):
that into this topic. Bass fishing in the classic or
whatever, the history of it all.Even you know, those of you that
that have never seen the cast that we produced at Bassmaster
JM for Fox, you should go watch that show.
If you've you would understand the history, the advancements of
technology, the baits, the ruleschanges, the evolution of the

(01:51:30):
sport is all featured on our show called the cast.
And when you look back at all that stuff, it's easy to accept
it. Is it?
At least it is for me. I mean, I've never been a pro
bass fisherman. I did grow up on Kentucky Lake,
one of the historical bass fishing lakes and tournament
lakes probably in the country. And and it was a big thing when

(01:51:54):
I was a kid and all my friends bass fish.
I've loved it my whole life, ButI don't get stuck in this, this
sphere of, of, of, of negativitybecause things change and
there's a past, there's a present future, like I talked
about, the past is the history and the evolution.

(01:52:16):
The present is who we look up tonow and regardless of how they
fish or what boat they drive or who their sponsors are or
whether they smoke cigarettes oncamera or they drink beer after
after they come off the lake or they go home and pray to the

(01:52:36):
Bible, whatever it is, those arethe people that we look up to.
And we have all have our reasonsas to why we look up to certain
people like the Brandon politicsand and rest and God rest his
soul. Aaron Martins and the KV DS, the
Greg Hackney's of the world and all that.
And then there's the future and these kids, the the Hayden

(01:52:58):
Marbut's and the Tucker Smith's and the Aaron Mckinney's and now
the Eastern Fothergill is the isthe top of the the future of our
sport. And these kids deserve respect
because 15 years from now, our opinions and the hate that goes
out there towards the techniquesthat they're using and, and, and

(01:53:19):
all that stuff. 15 years from now, I personally don't think
it's even going to exist becauseit's going to age itself.
Everything's going to age itselfout and we move.
The future is called the future for a reason.
And these, these we're, we're watching it, we're watching the
future come up. They've still got egg shells on
their heads and they're winning tournaments.

(01:53:41):
And they may not be winning themthe way that you, you, you know,
you want them to. But I mean, look at the 1st 2
tournaments. I mean, the first two
tournaments of the year in Florida were won traditionally.
And you know, they're not alwaysgoing to win every event, right?
And so I just say, you know, look towards the future, you

(01:54:02):
know, give these kids some respect because they, they work
as hard as anyone else, regardless of their techniques
or tools or technology or whatever.
They work their asses off every single freaking day and they go
through the same intense, stressful situations that anyone
always, everyone always has. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's

(01:54:25):
ridiculous. But it's.
You know, I salute all these young guys, man.
It makes me it makes me root forthem, not harder, but it just
makes me keeps my compass pointed north and it and it
allows me to respect these kids and I watch them closer on how
they do everything and it's insane.

(01:54:46):
I mean, watching, watching Easton out there in front of
Lee, he was 75 yards on day three going back and forth
trying to figure out where his fish went and what happened.
And you could see the intensity in the stress building and Lee
wanted to move up closer to him and he didn't.
He didn't move any closer to him.

(01:55:07):
He pulled down right where he was.
And he told me at least three times, I really want to move up
there. But I'm not going to do that to
Easton because that was he respects sport.
Exactly. And this no one's bigger than
the. Sport.
No. And I'm sorry.
And you can't choose that. You did it one way and it you,

(01:55:29):
you know what I mean? And and it's not that that's
life. It evolves, it changes it it.
And again, I can't say this enough.
I'm not saying that forward facing sonar has to be here
forever. I'm not saying that this is not
a pro forward facing sonar thing.
This is just a pro humanity thing.

(01:55:50):
I've heard people say horrible, disrespectful things like, well,
you know, Easton doesn't really have the record.
It's still Kevin's because Easton cheated to get it.
He didn't cheat. Like he was on steroids.
He didn't. Cheat he did.
He used the rules that were in front of him and guess what?
You know who I have respect for?I have respect for Kevin Van

(01:56:10):
Damme, who is there to congratulate him, who put his
arm around him, never met him before a day in his life and
went to the Champions toast to congratulate him on taking his
record. But that that doesn't sell a
YouTube video that doesn't get the clicks.
It's way easier to be like, here's the 10 things I saw
wrong. Or here's the it's just, it's

(01:56:35):
sad. I mean, it's just sad, dude.
And at the end of the day, hey, your son's boxing.
And that's awesome. And I hope he is very successful
at it. And everybody has kids in their
life, whether they're they're sons, whether they're nieces,
nephews, whatever they are, whether they're just friends and
just put yourself like, just to me, it's gross.

(01:56:58):
Like somebody works so hard to accomplish something and people
are benefiting from piling on and, and just, it's just gross.
The fact that we wasted 15 minutes just bitching about it
bothers me, but it just. And effort and energy and and

(01:57:19):
and emotions. Yeah, I mean it.
We've tried our best to stay away from that and just kind of
finally came out. Yeah, but we're going to hear it
now. Watch out.
That's OK, I will. Never.
That being said, an insane amount of humpers.
I mean the amount of people in the Expo that would like I'd be

(01:57:41):
doing live and you just hear proud humper and I'd always
respond I love humpers and watchall the other people around that
didn't know what a humper was respond and I had fun with it.
I'd be like, well none of us would be here without humpers.
No, it is awesome the amount of people that choose to listen to
us talk. You don't have to agree with

(01:58:02):
everything we say, but all I'm saying in this situation is just
think. Like, I get it.
It's not. It's part of aging, man.
Music's not the same as it, you know?
I mean, my taste in music, I'd say it's reached a point where
it hasn't really changed that much, you know what I mean?

(01:58:24):
I like what I like, and most of the new stuff I like sounds like
old stuff, but that's OK. But I'm not like, I'll tell you
what the problem with the world is.
Is this musician and their EDM? No.
If that's what you're into, that's what you're into.
Let's leave this. Let's all get along, is what I'm

(01:58:44):
saying. Let's do.
No need for people to be punching each other in bars.
We love you guys and, and I willsay this too, thank you to all
the people that I mean, I'm justa little dot on this screen.
I want, I want everyone to know that came up to me at takeoff
along that fence on the beach that made a point to say hello

(01:59:09):
and that they love the show and all that stuff.
Thank you so much and it was so nice to meet all of you and we
all. We really appreciate it a lot.
And that that's honestly the lesson that I learned in
situations like this too. That's the take away.
Like when you go to the Expo andyou can't move and you're and
you keep, you know, you're trying to get across the street
and you just keep running into people that watch the podcast

(01:59:32):
that that enjoy what we're doingand the whole town is overtaking
with all these people. That's the true, you know what I
mean? It's really easy just to.
That's the essence of it all. Really sit on a computer and
complain? Well, come on.
Be be be. Build it up and and and if you

(01:59:55):
want changes. I mean enough enough.
Hey, man, at the let me say justone last the end of the day.
That's why I can, I'll speak formyself.
That's why I continue to do this.
I mean, it's not because it's not the money and it's not
because I like to go out there and get beat up on rough water

(02:00:15):
in boats all day long. It's actually, I've thought
about, you know, I've been doingthis for 14 years.
I'm getting to, you know, an aged, I've got my kids are at a
certain age, traveling becomes ahindrance for me and, and, and,
and how I support my children and all those things.
And so I have these thoughts of how long can I do this?
You know what, what, what's moreimportant, all those questions

(02:00:39):
that come up and at the end of the day, the answer is the
reason I do this and keep wanting to come back are two
things. The experiences and the people.
And it's the anglers, the work crew like you and everyone on
our entire crew at Bass and JM, the fans that that we meet all

(02:01:00):
over the place. And and that's what this is all
about. It's all one big giant
relationship. And it makes me feel good about
myself and that's why I keep coming back.
So thanks everybody. That's all I'm going to.
Say yeah, yeah. And hey, here's the thing.
People love something enough that they get passionate about
it that that's the positive. Like I will say that the

(02:01:21):
positive is that we all love this sport so much that that we
get passionate about it. Good, better and different.
So let's all get along. Easton father go incredible
champion, incredible story, unbelievable, an incredible
classic. It was a weird one.

(02:01:43):
There was some weirdness that happened at different.
You know what I mean? Like, but I ultimately it's our
job to put on a show. I think they put on a show.
I think our anglers, I mean noneof the anglers fish in the class
anyways. It's all good.
Life is good. I've run a Yamaha outboard for

(02:02:05):
over 30 years. It has got me home safe each and
every time. If you enjoy this podcast,
remember Yamaha supports it and they care enough about you to
make this ad read very short. Now back to the show.
I I like doing lakes like this. I wish it was closer to the
arena because like if if, if theTennessee River were were like

(02:02:29):
that in Knoxville, we have it there in Knoxville.
Oh my God I love the fact that every cast could be an 8 LB.
It was awesome. Or who's going to?
I mean, Lee caught a 12/2 duringpractice.
It's like, who's going to catch a 12 pounder?
I'm amazed we didn't see a double digit during the
tournament. Me too as many fish as many 8

(02:02:51):
pounders that were that that lake is has has got to be just
completely full of five and six and 7 LB bass.
That is that's insane. I mean really, really if you
caught five, well, I shouldn't say that five pounders were like
3 pounders in most places, 4/4 and 1/2 to 5 1/2 pounders were

(02:03:14):
were really common there. So that was you.
Look in the top ten or the top six and I forget.
I just remember during the pressconference that James Hall
hosted and he's going through itand you know, Easton, obviously
the most weight ever weighed in.Second was Trey and it was like
third most weight weighed in. Lee was 5th.
Like in all time time. So weight wise this was a huge

(02:03:37):
win. There's so many.
All three three, the top three guys top five, the all time all
time total weight for classic wins.
Lee, I think Lee was fifth all time, Trey was third all time
and of course Easton was first. I, I watched both of those press
conferences because I wanted to hear what they had to say.

(02:03:58):
Those were pretty entertaining actually.
If you haven't got, if you haven't watched it, to all you
viewers, they're only like 12 or13 minutes long.
There's one interview with another.
Feed. If you haven't watched, they're
short, but they're really interesting because they talk
about the Bates, you know, CoreyHunter, Trey Lee and who else

(02:04:26):
was up there. Why are you doing this to me?
I mean, I introduced them all. I mean, I got it at the moment.
Anyways, was those interviews were cool?
Was Easton Corey, Trey Lee Hunter and John Cox?

(02:04:49):
What the what is John Cox? That's right.
I love, I love. That two winners of the classic
outside and not winning, John Cox and Lee Livesey, I think
they had big weeks. Fans loved what they were up to
and there was lots of winners and some lures on this classic.
I mean, parking was way too much.

(02:05:11):
Bass had nothing to do with that.
But big cities like that Reema, I mean, I live near Toronto.
I understand what it costs traffic.
Traffic was a problem we were too far from, but I mean, trust
me, Bass will assess all of thatstuff and always try to make
things better. I mean, we're going back to

(02:05:34):
Knox. That's going to be fun.
Everybody I love, I love going back to.
Knox Yeah, Yeah. I need to get in good enough
shape so Mayor Kane can choke slam me.
I mean, that's my I've got my goal.
I mean, I want to get choke slammed by him.
He agreed to do it, but my back wasn't in good enough shape last

(02:05:54):
time. I got another shot at it.
That's it. Operation dropping, Dave.
I'm going to drop a lot of L BS just so I can get choke slammed.
Well, let's next year at Knoxville or maybe even the next
event, let's make sure we get together and to go have dinner
or something. I've I've hardly spent any time
with you at any of the events yet this year.

(02:06:15):
We've been so busy. It has been.
I think I saw you twice. I saw you twice at the classic
in front of the boat. Yeah, I mean, the classic's
stupid. I mean, and one of the times I
saw you at the Classic, we were live.
I mean, I'm always streaming. I mean, whether it's Mercer in
the morning, whether it's whatever show Bass has me doing,

(02:06:36):
it's, it seems like we're just streaming at all times.
But constantly remember, there was a time when people couldn't
get any reports of the sport. Now it's just like there's too
much stuff. Too much overload.
And in some situations I agree, but I also choose to choose

(02:06:58):
like, I mean, I asked Easton during the interview and
everybody saw this. I said in your world, like if
you go on the Internet, there's a bunch of people who are
saying, oh, it's not what it was, It's not in your world.
What is the feeling about bass fishing?
He's like, it is alive and well.It's better than it's ever been.
And it really, that's the truth.Like that's, that's the

(02:07:20):
perspective. It's it's new country versus old
school country. You know, there was a time where
people were like, who is this Garth Brooks flying around the
stage? That is not Waylon Jennings.
That is not. And that's fine because guess
what? He doesn't have to be, you know

(02:07:41):
what I mean? And now you look at, I mean,
everything progresses, everything changes.
Someone asked me at the at the event, had I ever been to a
NASCAR race. And I've been to three in my
life. And one was way like back in the
1977 at Talladega when the cars were actual stock cars and the

(02:08:07):
vendors were selling T-shirts and stickers on card tables
under tents. And now, you know, I don't even
know. I don't even know what you call
them. They're not stock cars.
They're race cars and they're souped up race cars.
And so, you know, man, again, I'm not going to open that can.

(02:08:28):
Yeah, you are. You're trying to.
You're flirting. With evolution is evolution and,
And here we are, and I'm proud to be a part of it and.
Yeah, and and, you know, I'm proud to be part of a sport and
an industry that filled an entire city.
Like the amount of people that were there for the Expo, for the

(02:08:49):
take offs for, even though it was logistically a bit of a
nightmare to get around, even though parking was expensive,
you couldn't move in a hotel, you couldn't move in a
restaurant because people are that excited about bass fishing.
It's pretty freaky. I heard the Expo.
On it's pretty freaking. Good.
I heard the Expo on Saturday wasshoulder to shoulder.
It was really crowded. It was jammed.

(02:09:10):
Yeah, it was jammed. That's that's all.
That's badass. It was a great setup for the
Expo, too. Like to have it all in kind of
building side by side. I just wish that the weigh in
was right there. I mean, and our weigh insurance
are too long. Trust me as I'm the when I get.
People, you're the longest. When I get people sending me
messages say the way it's too long, I'm like, yeah, yeah, it

(02:09:34):
is. It's way too freaking long.
That's part of the problem with 56 boats going from an hour and
something away. I mean it, it's just, but again,
all these people are here to celebrate a sport we all love.
Like, let's be thankful because there's a lot of sports out
there that wish they were, you know what I mean?

(02:09:55):
I mean, just talk to a walleye pro.
Just any John Hoyer, Awesome. Dude.
When I we had something going onwhere I was like, yeah, the guys
at the Classic are upset about something.
This was a couple of years ago. And he looked to me like what
the like the walleye world wouldbe like where where do we sign
up for this? But all we.
Can they've been trying? And.

(02:10:18):
They've they never could get there.
That was a sport that I actuallyused to tour as an amateur on
the PWT. Tour.
I did that for five years and and I always thought I was like,
they wanted so bad to be at the level of bass and Ray Scott and

(02:10:38):
the Linder in fishermen. The Linder brothers tried so
hard at Jeff Simpson. Everybody that was a part of
that worked really, really hard.The Gary Parsons and the Keith
Kevaizes of the world. They were superstars like they
were the Kevin Van Dams and the Greg Hackney's of the walleye
fishing world and they just could never get there.

(02:11:00):
So like you said, do this. Look at it.
I mean, look at, look at it. And and part of that is
unbelievable. Bass has the advantage of its
bass are everywhere, every state.
You know what I mean? A lot of cans they were.
Bigger in Colorado, yeah, but wedo have bass.
Yeah, and they're everywhere where walleye just aren't

(02:11:22):
everywhere. And they taste so damn good.
People love to eat them, but youknow, let's be thankful for the
blessings that we have because there are many, there are many.
And, and one of the best blessings we have is a freaking
incredible Bassmaster Classic champion, a young person that is
going to teach the world about resilience.

(02:11:44):
And, and we have an event where a dude can literally in three
days go from being Easton to Beeston.
And that's exactly what he freaking is.
Get used to IT, people. He's going to be around, he's
going to, he's going to win a lot of money and a lot of
tournaments. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(02:12:05):
And and guess what, down the road, people will respect him
for it. And hopefully when he's an older
guy and on YouTube or whatever it is at that time.
They'll be complaining about. Yeah, he was.
I mean dude. UFOs.
We touched on that with John Garry.
There's some UFOs, that's the thing.

(02:12:27):
All right, This has been it for Jake's take, right?
Is that all? What?
What are you going? Are you going to scale a
mountain now or what are you? What is?
What's next? Three.
No, I'm going to go coach boxingin about 30.
Minutes. Well, you could have done that
at the Omni Bar and it. Sounds like somebody needs some
choke or some coaching if they got choked.

(02:12:48):
Well, no, I mean I hey, I know, I know, I know, I know.
I think it escalated quickly. I think there was a little bit
of A2 on one situation at one point.
I don't know what happened. I mean, I'm going to fight.
I don't. Well, I actually do know what
happened, but we're going to do another podcast one day.

(02:13:09):
I'll call you later. Some things are just not worth
opening up. Let's all get along.
Listen, nobody deserves to be getting punched in the mouth
over bass fishing. And nobody deserves, I mean, I
think we've tried to fix the world here today as think we've
done. We've reported on the
tournament, we've tried to make the world a better place.

(02:13:31):
And we've probably really pissedsome people off, but.
That's the way it goes sometimes.
We love you. Guys, yeah, we were.
That's for sure. That is for.
And we respect you and I respecteven the people that I spoke of
in this podcast. I have a lot of respect for them
100%. I just wish they had the exact
same amount of respect for everybody else in the industry

(02:13:54):
because they're no different than you were when you were 22
years old. They went to bed dreaming of
accomplishing something, and they did everything they could
to do it. And one person just.
Yeah, yeah. Unbelievable.
Thanks, Dave. Thank you.
See you in North Carolina. Yeah, in What's it called?

(02:14:17):
What's it called? I've been practicing it.
Dude, I can't. No, no, I can say it.
It's. Worse than La Tadres?
It is. It is right there.
No, I can say it. I've been practicing.
I've got to read it. Pasqua tank.
River Pasqua Tank. What he said Pasqua.
Tank. What he said.

(02:14:38):
So just real quick, so that's, so it's a tidal, it's a tidal
river, right? At the beginning of this we said
we were going to be 30 minutes. I know.
OK, let's go. We could talk about it later.
We could talk, we could do a, wecould do a pre possible tank
river show. There you go, let's do it.
All right, bye. Bye.

(02:14:58):
He never stops, he just keeps, he just keeps talking.
Just I love you Jake. No, always good stuff from Jake
Latondres. Actually, one of the things
stood out for me in this last little bit.
Go back and listen to the Beast in an interview.

(02:15:19):
It's crazy how often you hear his phone go vibrating just on
the desk. If you listen ever so closely.
Like if you want some kind of anidea of what it's like to become
the Bass Master Classic champion, listen to that.
I mean, it's like a freaking it's like a high school drug
dealers freaking pager. Hey, we got into some stuff this

(02:15:45):
show, but I just want to remind you all that I respect the
people I talked about. I just don't respect some of
their takes on things. And I think somebody had to
stick up and it's really cool tosee that there's a lot of people
starting to stick up and say, hey, it's have your thoughts.
That's cool. But here's an idea.

(02:16:08):
Just share your thoughts from facts, don't just attach your
narrative to people that are doing good things and that make
this industry better. So what I'm saying is freaking

(02:16:31):
build it up right? Wow that was a real one-on-one
monologue moment. I went somewhere, but I'm back
now, but I'm leaving. This has been I need to sleep is
what I need to do. I mean, it's that time of the
week that, you know, I hardly have any voice and I should just

(02:16:52):
sleep. So I'm going to do that.
Have a great week. Enjoy being and as always, Bob
Cobb, I respect you. Respect is a circle.
You get what you give and Bob Cobb, I respect you.

(02:17:12):
Take it away. Thanks for watching.
Please like, comment and subscribe because Bob Cobb of
the Bass Masters told. You to you here.

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Bassmaster Classic Champion Easton Fothergill - Easton To Beaston!! & Jake's Take on MERCER-205

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Bassmaster Classic Champion Easton Fothergill - Easton To Beaston!! & Jake's Take on MERCER-205