Cody Pattillo, with some help, shows the five bass that propelled him to a bass club win April 15.

LOREAUVILLE — One week after a blessed new arrival, Cody Pattillo shook himself out of a bass fishing slump on his way to a first-place finish April 15 in a Louisiana Bass Cats tournament at Lake Fausse Pointe.

The 37-year-old Cleco lineman from Loreauville busted a five-fish limit of bass that exceeded a 3-pound average to  top a 12-boat field that fished out of Marsh Field Boat Landing. He was more than pleasantly surprised with his winning weight of 17 pounds.

“I was shocked. I tell you what, I didn’t expect to go out there and catch three 4 1/2-pound fish,” Pattillo said a few days later.

“When I went fishing that morning, I thought 12 or 13 pounds might have won it because of the windy conditions and high water,” he said.

Perhaps, he reasoned, it might be a “new good luck charm” at home. Pattillo and his wife, Carrie Morris, were the proud parents of a 6-pound, 14-ounce girl on April 7. Hazel was welcomed to the family and a week later he was able to fish the bass club tournament.

Pattillo, fishing alone, finished comfortably ahead of the runners-up team of Mike Sinitiere and his guest, Kirt Romero, who checked in with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 7 ounces.

Right behind the second-place team were Chris Vedrines and Zach Suit, whose five bass weighed 12 pounds, 8 ounces.

The biggest bass of the day was brought in by Randal Savoy, who fished with Ben Berard. Their 4.14-pounder took the big bass honors.

Pattillo’s good luck charm didn’t start kicking in until around noon the day of the tournament.

“I caught them all in one little location. I didn’t get on them until 12 o’clock. I was just jumping around and had two little fish in the livewell. I thought I wouldn’t have a good day,” he said.

But, then, he caught one of the three big’uns and his outlook brightened considerably. With a couple hours left before weigh-in he got another bragging-size bass.

Then, 30 minutes before it was time to leave, he caught another one.

“I slowed down and threw a soft plastic and that’s when I caught the biggest one with 30 minutes to go, on a Brush Hog,” he said.

“The fish were biting on chartreuse/white spinnerbaits. Basically, I was just going up and down the bank. The wind was blowing right down the gut,” he said. “I took my time, kept picking at it.”

With post-cold front conditions, Pattillo believed the bass would want a slow presentation, such as a soft plastic. But they bit the spinnerbait just right and then he got the kicker with a soft plastic creature bait.

“I knew I was in some fish. I didn’t think they’d bite like that in those conditions,” he said.

“I’m not going to tell you where that was. That’s a secret, there. I can’t let that out of the bag,” he said with a chuckle.

He was relieved to get a win.

“Man, I finally had a good tournament. I got in a slump. It felt good to win one, for sure,” he said. “I was blessed to have that day. I was not expecting 17 pounds. I’ll take it all day long.”