Led by tournament winner Paul Marks and runner-up Tucker Smith, the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series rookie class made its biggest impact so far this season at Lake Hartwell. Four rookies qualified to fish on the final day at Hartwell, as Easton Fothergill finished seventh and Emil Wagner was ninth.
The top performance by the 2025 rookie class helped establish a new mark on a four-tournament Elite Series trend this season:
- In the season opener at Florida’s St. Johns River, the average age of the Day 4 Top 10 anglers was 37.
- At Lake Okeechobee, Elite No. 2, the average age of the Top 10 was 34.
- At the Pasquotank River, Elite No. 3, the average age of the Top 10 was 32.
- At Lake Hartwell, Elite No. 4, the average of the Top 10 was 30 years of age.
Obviously, this trend can’t continue, otherwise the average age of the Top 10 would be a statistically impossible 20 in the season-ender on the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wis. But it does point to the effect these last two rookie classes have had on the Elite Series.
The halfway mark of the nine-tournament season will be crossed this week in the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork, and the race for Dakota Lithium Batteries Rookie of the Year appears to be fiercely competitive.
Smith, 23, of Birmingham, Ala., leads after four tournaments with 294 points, followed by Marks, 23, of Cumming, Ga., (284); Emil Wagner, 27, of Marietta, Ga., (249); Evan Kung, 25, of Pickering, Ontario, Canada (226); and Easton Fothergill, 22, of Grand Rapids, Minn., (215).
Fothergill is one to watch. Based on his stellar 2024 season which qualified him for the Elite Series, his horrendous start this year (101st at the St. Johns River and 93rd at Lake Okeechobee) was in some ways more surprising than Fothergill’s win in the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Ray Roberts. He clearly has righted the ship, following the Classic with a fourth-place finish at the Pasquotank River and seventh at Hartwell.
Fothergill mentioned on camera while competing at the Pasquotank River that he’d still like to add the Rookie of the Year trophy to his hardware this season. And it would surprise no one who has followed his performances over the last two years.
However, he’ll have to earn it. Marks and Smith demonstrated their abilities with that one-two finish at Hartwell. They’re now 18th and 14th, respectively, in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. Wagner’s ninth-place mark at Hartwell propelled him to 31st place in the AOY standings. Kung has a 16th-place finish at the St. Johns River to highlight his season so far. Beau Browning, 23, of Hot Springs, Ark., also has a 16th-place finish this season – at Lake Okeechobee. Andrew Loberg, 31, of Birmingham, Ala., showed what he was capable of with a 15th-place finish at Hartwell.
