UM Anglers Compete on the Highest Stage of Professional Fishing Circuits

April 3, 2024

University of Montevallo anglers Easton Fothergill and Dalton Head made bass fishing history in the month of March by competing against the top professional anglers in the world, while teammates Tyler Cory and Scott Sledge claimed the title at the Strike King Bassmaster College Classic presented by Bass Pro Shops in an eventful month for the Outdoor Scholars Program.

Fothergill competed in the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors, while Head competed in the Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2024 powered by OPTIMA Lithium.

“It’s such a huge accomplishment to have not one but two college anglers make it to the big stage,” said William Crawford, UM fishing team head coach and director of the Outdoor Scholars Program. “This is the first time in history that two college anglers from the same university qualified for the REDCREST Championship and Bassmaster Classic. We aren’t just winning championships anymore, we are making history.”

Fothergill, a native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, finished 16th overall out of 56 anglers while competing against professionals March 22-24 in the Bassmaster Classic in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He earned his spot in the Bassmaster Classic after being part of the Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops Team of the Year with partner Nick Dumke and winning the College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s in September 2023 shortly after recovering from brain surgery.

Head became the first ever amateur angler to compete in the REDCREST championship event on the Major League Fishing circuit. A native of Moody, Alabama, he was in second place among a field of 50 anglers following the first day of competition before finishing in 12th place in the final standings at the three-day event March 14-17 at nearby Lay Lake.

Cory, a native of Amherst, Wisconsin, and Sledge, a Greenwood, Indiana native, emerged victoriously with the five-bass, 22-pound limit they sacked March 24 in the competition against collegiate anglers in the BassmasterCollege Classic on Keystone Lake. The last of nine teams in the tournament to weigh in, they knocked Montevallo teammates Dumke and James Willoughby from atop the standings in a dramatic ending that took place at the BOK Center in Tulsa prior to the final day of the professional tournament.

The Falcons are competing for a fourth consecutive Bass Pro Shops School of the Year title, which will be awarded following the Boat U.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship tournament May 23-24 at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama.

Learn more about the Outdoor Scholars program at https://outdoorscholars.montevallo.edu/index.aspx.