Easton Fothergill's bid for a second straight Bassmaster Classic title fell short, but he made a shrewd adjustment when conditions changed and he rode that to a fourth-place finish. (Photo: B.A.S.S.)
April 06, 2026
By David A. Brown
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It’s long been considered the marquee event on the annual bass fishing calendar, so the trophy lifter most certainly deserves the ensuing attention and accolades.
However, this year’s Bassmaster Classic at the Tennessee River delivered a couple examples of anglers excelling through insight and ingenuity.
Understandably, defending champion Easton Fothergill came into the event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes with a lot of attention on him. Winning the 2025 Classic at Lake Ray Roberts outside of Fort Worth, Texas, certainly thrust the young Minnesota pro into the limelight, but Fothergill has also quickly gained a reputation for his aggressive fishing style and his innovative mindset.
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The latter came into play when changing conditions rendered Fothergill’s primary technique ineffective during this year’s Classic. Like many, he had found success during practice by targeting fish with a jighead minnow, but a pre-tournament weather shift threw a wrench into that plan.
A cold front sent air temperatures tumbling from the high 70s during practice into the low 50s a day before competition began. That front also brought about 2 inches of rain and significantly increased current flow down the river.
After struggling to effectively manage his jighead minnow in the swifter water — and the first day’s peppy wind — Fothergill determined that he had the right bait, he just needed a different delivery mechanism.
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The answer: A Carolina rig. Replacing the jighead with a 4/0 worm hook and a 3/4-ounce weight, Fothergill was able to make long casts in blustery conditions and present his minnow to fish that were holding low and out of the current.
Go Ahead, Be a Jerk Actually, J.T. Thompkins wasn’t bending any rules of etiquette or protocol; rather, he took a common tool — a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait — and expanded its usual role. Specifically, the South Carolina pro fished his jerkbait more like a crankbait by grinding it over, into and off of rocks in shallow water.
Thompkins said he fished this bait so aggressively that he broke the bill on at least one bait each day. Or course, this begs the question: “Why not just use a crankbait?”
JT Thompkins had the most success at the 2026 Bassmaster Classic grinding a jerkbait into and around shallow rock at the Tennessee River. (Photo: B.A.S.S./Solomon Glenn) That certainly would make sense, but as Thompkins explained, that’s a one-dimensional bait. No slight to crankbaits; historically, they’re one of the most productive bait profiles, especially around shallow rock. But Thompkins needed a something with more options.
While indecisive fish might follow a crankbait back to the boat, when he’d lift the bait, that digging appeal would dissipate and the fish would lose interest. With his jerkbait, however, any time he had a looker that wouldn’t commit to the bottom bumping, he could finish the retrieve with more traditional jerkbait action — twitches and pauses that ended up closing the deal on key fish.
Other Examples These examples from the Bassmaster Classic illustrate a key principle consistent among the most successful anglers: Don’t accept “that’s the way it is.” Look at different angles and reimagine a bait’s potential.
For example, Brandon Cobb’s a notable proponent of the Zoom Trick Worm and, while he’s fared well with traditional presentations such as a shaky head, he’s also keen to use the subtle, unassuming bait to capitalize on schooling scenarios.
When fixated bass snub the usual topwater stuff, Cobb rigs an unweighted Trick Worm on a 4/0 round bend hook and fires it toward the frenzy. Often, he said, this will tempt a bite when the fish have seen too many repetitions of the usual mix.
In this case, he’s not necessarily reinventing the wheel; he’ll sling an unweighted Trick Worm in several shallow water scenarios. Instead, he’s reapplying a tried and true tactic for a different use. The key, Cobb said, is matching the hatch, so shad-mimicking colors like smoke or glimmer blue work best.
Blade Runners Recalling an unusual day of spring bed fishing, Florida’s John Cox described a stubborn fish that wasn’t committing to the usual bed baits. Intending to red line the fish’s aggression before sending in the small worm, Cox flipped a spinnerbait into the bed. The result was most unexpected.
John Cox has experienced scenarios where a spinnerbait was a more effective bed-fishing bait that any of the traditional baits he relies on. (Photo: B.A.S.S.) “I ended up catching every one of my fish that day on a spinnerbait — off the bed,” Cox said. “I’d reel the spinnerbait up to the bed, let it fall into it and just let it sit there. I’d shake it some and when I’d pull it away, the fish would come grab it.
“When it fell, the blades would spin and it would lay over on its side. It looked terrible, but as soon as I started to reel it out and those blades started spinning, they just inhaled it.”
Cox said his takeaway further reinforced the principle of fishing with an open mind. In this case, a highly pressured fishery had brought so much traffic that the fish were quickly growing wise to the Bass Fishing 101 stuff. His solution, just like Fothergill’s, Thompkins’ and Cobb’s demonstrated that an atypical presentation often is too intriguing for the fish to ignore.
