Spencer Gondron, left, holds the winner's cup awarded him at the Top Rod Big Bass Classic by founder Elvis Jeanminette, center, who joins in listening to cup sponsor Eric Haik.

LOREAUVILLE — Spencer Gondron’s last-minute decision to fish the Top Rod Big Bass Classic was a good one, and a profitable one, considering how he fared Sunday on Lake Fausse Pointe.

“I fished by myself. It was a last-minute decision. I did not prefish before the tournament like most people do,” the Loreauville outdoorsman said last week about winning a total of $450 in the fundraising event that for the fifth year benefits the Louisiana PepperPlex.

“My brother-in-law (Marcus Hebert) and I went fishing in Sandy Cove two weeks before the tournament, jumping blind to blind. He asked me if I was going to fish the Big Bass Classic. I said ‘No, I don’t have any interest.’ I didn’t think any more about it,” Gondron said.The 37-year-old Iberia Medical Center technician was reminded about the event the night before.

He reconsidered.“I decided to go fish. I have a little boy who plays Tee Ball at the PepperPlex. I thought ‘Well, I’ll donate my money.’ I wasn’t ‘on’ any fish. You know how fishing is. I was just in the right place at the right time,” he said.And how. He stuck a 2.61-pound bass on the board in third place for $100 the third hour in the unique tournament that pays out $500 each hour from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. He left to go back to fish duck blinds in SandyCove.Then Gondron’s hotspot really paid off. He boated a 4.02-pounder and a 2.71-pounder and headed back to the weigh-in site at Marsh Field Boat Landing, where Iberia Rod & Gun Club members weighed the fish under the watchful eyes of Big Bass Classic founder Elvis Jeanminette of Grand Marais.The biggest bass won the sixth hour for another $250 and the smaller bass took third in the seventh hour for another $100.Gondron said he caught each of the fish on a june bug Senko.“I was just jumping blind to blind trying to find clear water. They were real tight to cover,” he said, noting the big bass “just sucked it in. I threw it in his mouth, I guess.”“I’m no better fishermen than anybody else. They had five boats doing the same thing I was doing,” he said.Gondron, whose son Nicholas, 5, plays in the Evangeline Little League, also won a championship cup and plaque donated by the law firm of Haik, Minvielle & G r u b b s . He was pleasantly surprised he had a winner. “Most people think coming from Lake Fausse Pointe-Dauterive a 5- or 6-pounder would be weighed. I guess they weren’t biting because of the cold water (average 55 degrees),” he said. “To get all the attention — the trophy, the plaque — it feels good. I think it’s great what they do for the kids. I think it’s awesome what Elvis does every year.” Seventy-eight bass were weighed and released by personnel from the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Fifteen were 3- pound plus bass. After 71 boats entered the fundraiser at $100 a pop, 69 showed up on a cool morning, most of them leaving an hour or two before the 7 o’clock start so they could be at their fishing hole for the start of the Big Bass Classic. About a dozen boats carried father-and-son teams, including some young boys just getting into the sport. One of them was Thomas Morris, 8, a third-grade student at St. Edward School who fished with his father Scott Morris of Jeanerette, a 39-year-old lead mechanic for Cleco. They brought in a 3.23-pound bass that finished first the fifth hour to take home $250. “He had a great time,” Scott’s wife Jeannine Fitch Morris, who was at the event, said about their son Thomas. “He was excited. He loves money. They had to go to Game Stop the next day and buy some games.” Participants listened to live broadcasts from the headquarters during the tournament by Jeff Boggs of KANE AM-1240, who arrived at the site around 5:30 a.m. Most of the bassers encountered high, muddy water while prefishing and found more of the same on the day of the event, which coincided with the third and final day of the Bassmaster Classic held on the Red River out of Bossier City. Considering that big event pulled away potential participants and the water conditions were subpar, Jeanminette said he was pleased with the turnout. “Seventy-one boats! With a Bassmaster Classic going on in Shreveport and we still did good,” he said. “I’m looking forward to next year. Next year we’re looking for a bunch of changes. All is good. I can’t wait for next year,” he said. Scott Behringer of New Iberia, an Iberia Sports Complex Commission spokesman who has been integral in steering the development of the PepperPlex, said the revenue for the day was $13,064. “We also have a check coming from the boat auction for $1,000 and a donation of $700,” Behringer said, noting the aluminum boat, trolling motor and battery awarded as a door prize was given back to the tournament by the winner and auctioned within three minutes with the winning bid by Duce Rods of Crowley. The ISCC paid back $4,000 in prize money and there were a few other expenses, he said Thursday, noting the event should net between $9,000-$10,000 for the PepperPlex. While there was a festive atmosphere in front of the large trailer that doubles as an weigh-in platform and awards stage, there was a somber moment in the program after the electronic scale closed at 3 p.m. Don Naquin of New Iberia asked for a moment of silence for his good friend Mark Courville of Loreauville, who died at age 48 in a boating accident in June 2011. Courville, who weighed in the first bass last year in the Big Bass Classic (the card with his name and weight of the fish was held high by Jeanminette), was an avid outdoorsman.