Story by Brad Fuller | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
There’s a rising tide in professional bass fishing, and I’m not talking about water levels.
I’m talking about the noise … the negativity … the anonymous comments … the armchair critics who sling mud not to offer insight, but to stir chaos and get attention. Lately, it’s taken an even uglier turn.
In the wake of Easton Fothergill’s win at the Bassmaster Classic—the Super Bowl of our sport—I’ve seen a disturbing amount of it. And honestly, it’s disgusting.
I don’t know Easton personally. But I know of him. I’ve paid attention. And from what I can see, he’s a young man with integrity, talent, and the kind of character this sport needs. He beat 55 really good professional anglers. Same water, same rules, same clock. And he won.
That should be the story. Instead, we’ve got people tearing it down, trying to discredit his accomplishment.
Let’s call it what it is—a childish thirst for attention. You see it all the time. Just like a kid who doesn’t get the reaction they want. They ramp up the outburst. The more they’re ignored, the louder they get. Sound familiar?
But here’s the thing: attention without substance is meaningless. And trying to get attention by tearing others down doesn’t make you credible. It makes you a coward.
There’s this idea floating around that you can say whatever you want online without any repercussions, that you can question a man’s work, his character, his integrity, and then vanish into the shadows of anonymity.
Well, let me offer a reality check. If you’re going to run your mouth, you’d better be ready to walk the walk when you’re called out. Words matter. And there are consequences for what you say and how you act, especially in a community like ours.
That’s why culture matters so much.
In fact, culture is everything. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. In USAF Special Operations, the culture wasn’t just something we talked about—it was life or death. You knew the standard. You upheld it. And when someone stepped out of line, accountability wasn’t optional, it was automatic.
In this sport, we’re not dealing in life or death. But the same principles should apply. Culture is built on what WE tolerate, what WE reward, what WE allow to take root.
And lately, WE have allowed too much nonsense to go unchecked.
There’s a choice in front of us: Do WE let this culture of anonymous criticism and attention-seeking nonsense define our sport, or do WE decide that we’re going to raise the bar … together?
Lifting people up is more powerful than tearing them down. It creates energy. It builds momentum. It multiplies opportunities for everyone.
If you want to have the biggest building in the city, then build the biggest damn building. Don’t try to be the tallest by swinging a wrecking ball at everyone else’s building. That doesn’t make you strong. That makes you small.
Look, I’m not under any delusion that this article is going to magically fix things. But maybe—just maybe—one person reads this and stops to think. Maybe they feel that twinge of accountability. Maybe they start building instead of breaking.
If that happens, then this was time well spent.
Because Easton Fothergill deserves better. Every angler grinding out there deserves better. The fans who love this sport deserve better.
WE deserve better.
It’s important to understand that culture isn’t handed down—it’s created, defended and upheld by the people who show up, speak up and live it. And it’s up to us to set the tone.
It taps right into the heart of culture—what we allow, what we reward, and what we stay silent about. That’s where the tone is truly set … not by rules alone, but by what the group collectively deems acceptable.
Let’s make respect the baseline. Let’s stop rewarding childish behavior. Let’s start calling out nonsense when we see it, and let’s do it in a way that builds, not burns because ultimately culture is shaped by what WE determine to be acceptable. What WE tolerate becomes the standard. And if WE want better, WE must demand better.
Let’s stand shoulder to shoulder and build a culture that values character over clicks, effort over envy, and progress over pettiness.
Only WE can do it.
