Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Friday, October 10, 2025
- Details
By Louie Stout
Got a tournament? Toot the horn of your successful anglers!
Michiana Outdoors News loves posting those results, details and photos and we do it free of charge.
However, we depend upon tournament directors to submit results to us following each event. It definitely draws more interest in those events.
Here’s what we need:
Results should include top three finishers correctly spelled names, winning weights and lures and/or patterns used. Submissions that only have names will be rejected.
And finally, submissions with digital photos often get better play on the site and attract the most attention.
Submissions MUST be emailed to stoutoutdoors@comcast.net. We cannot work from social media posts. Questions? Drop us an email at the same address.
- Details
Casting Couples Report
Michiana proved it has hard corps tournament anglers, as 13 teams faced bitter cold and windy Maxinkuckee Lake last weekend for a Casting Couples open event.
Despite the weather, six limits were weighed in.
Scott and LeeAnn Sizemore topped all teams with a limit that included a 5.94-pound largemouth. The Sizemores had five bass totaling 13.84 pounds to take home $450 and big bass honors which earned them $60. They used swimbaits on the main lake.
Eric Fier and Rob Zorich were second with 13.36 pounds of largemouth caught on Chatterbaits. They earned $250.
Hunter and Rich Paton had an 11.64-pound limit for third place. The Paton's used jigs in the channels to catch their bass.
Kyle Kaser fished alone and boated a limit of largemouth and smallmouth totaling 10.04 pounds. He fished jerkbaits in the main lake.
The next open tournament is on Koontz Lake April. 12. Entry fee is $80 and an optional $5 for big bass pot. Take-off is sunrise and the tournament runs six hours. Any question contact Rick 269-240-4917.
OPEN Singles tournament this Sunday Mar. 30th Pine & Stone LaPorte, IN. Take-off Sunrise six hour tournament $55-entry.
- Details
FORT WORTH, Texas — Nineteen months ago, Easton Fothergill was lying on a gurney in an Alabama hospital, awaiting surgery to remove an infected abscess from his brain.
Sunday afternoon, in front of thousands of fans at Dickies Arena, Fothergill stood tall as champion of the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
- Details
FORT WORTH, Texas — All it took was 53 magical minutes on Lake Ray Roberts for Easton Fothergill to take complete control of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
The 22-year-old native of Grand Rapids, Minn., entered Day 2 of the Classic in third place, less than two pounds out of the lead. He had high hopes for Saturday morning, but it didn’t start out exactly as he planned, with only one bass in his livewell at 10 a.m.
Then, what he called “the 180” started — and what a turnaround it was.
Between 10:28 a.m. and 11:31 a.m., Fothergill caught three hogs that added a whopping 19-10 to his total. He finished the day with a limit of five bass weighing 29-6, giving him a two-day total of 54-5, exactly 8 1/2 pounds more than his nearest competitor.
No lead is too big, but the Classic compass clearly points to the young ace from the North Star State. And barring a complete collapse on Championship Sunday, coupled with one of his closest competitors yanking a huge sack of bass, Fothergill is a day away from winning the Ray Scott Bassmaster Classic Trophy and the $300,000 prize that goes with it.
Fothergill used sonar electronics to pinpoint his best bass. His flurry began when a jerkbait yielded a 6-13 cruising near the water’s surface. A 5-13 followed a half-hour later and 20 minutes after that, the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Seriesrookie dropped the hammer on a 7-pound hog.
- Details
FORT WORTH, Texas — When Trey McKinney hopped onto the stage at the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, the infectious beat of “Church Clap” by Christian hip-hop artist KB filled Dickies Arena.
Though conventional wisdom says don’t ever change what’s working, McKinney’s hype song might as well be “The Kids are Alright” by The Who, because things are, indeed, quite alright for the whiz kid from Carbondale, Ill.
McKinney, who celebrated his 20th birthday only last month, holds the Day 1 lead in the world’s most-celebrated fishing tournament. His limit of five bass totaled 26-9 and gave him a 1-pound cushion over Canada’s Cory Johnston, who’s in second with 25-9.
Rounding out the Top 5 in the 56-angler field are, third, Minnesota’s Easton Fothergill, 24-15; fourth, Wisconsin’s Jay Przekurat, 23-7; and fifth, Texas pro Lee Livesay (who many pundits consider the favorite here,) with 23-0. The entire field will fish again Saturday, and the Top 25 anglers will make Sunday’s cut, with the winner pocketing $300,000 cash.