LOREAUVILLE — Twenty years ago, Grant Chataignier of New Iberia caught the biggest bass of his life, a 4 ½-pounder.

Chataignier erased that, and how, about a half-hour before sunset May 30 while fishing an Original Hawg Fight mini bass tournament on Lake Fausse Pointe. The 34-year-old New Iberian was in the boat with Alex Lassalle, who lives at Bull Island, when he got their only bite of the evening.

It was the right bite, for sure. After an “exciting” battle, Chataignier guided a 5.95-pound bass into the landing net wielded by Lassalle.

That “hawg” was the biggest of the sixth Original Hawg Fight of 2018, a bragging-size bass any time on the lake, particularly during early summer,  and one worth $50. Chataignier and Lassalle also finished third in the tournament with that bass and won another $80.

“Ah, man, awesome. Honestly, when I got that bite, originally I thought it was a choupique. It was pulling drag and going for deeper water,” Chataignier said.

The Sorrel Electrical LLC service manager said he pitched a spinnerbait and ran it parallel to a deadfall on a point in a borrow pit along the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee. He felt a slight bump that he thought was an underwater branch or something.

Chataignier set the hook when he saw the spinnerbait slowly veering away.

“It put up a good fight. It was exciting,” he said.

Lassalle, 27-year-old electrician for Sorrel Electrical LLC, agreed.

“He cast a ½-ounce spinnerbait and the fish smoked it,” he said. “It went to deep water and he fought it for about five minutes before he could get the bass to the boat.

“That was the only fish that night, the only bite, I should say. I don’t know who was more excited, me or him. That was his personal best,” he said. “It was heart-breaking that we couldn’t catch two more (keepers). We stayed there and finished there.”

The spot was the same place where he caught a 4.50-pounder to win another mini bass tournament on April 25. It has proven to be a big bass haven.

Chataignier’s previous personal best was caught on the other side of the levee in Bayou Benoit when he was 14 while fishing with his grandfather, the late Ronald “Mousey” DeRouen.