Cleo McGlorie, left, and Leonard ‘T-Clyde’ Norris hold thefive bass that netted them a Bullet Bass Club win in the Atchafalaya Basin on July 8.

MYETTE POINT — Before dominating a Bullet Bass Club tournament under trying conditions July 8 with the water coming up fast in the Atchafalaya Basin, Leonard “T-Clyde” Norbert of New Iberia was sac-a-lait fishing in one of his favorite areas in the Atchafalaya Basin.

There was a friend of his fishing in the front of the canal and the friend’s brother was fishing in the back and they had seen an angler boat a bass. So Norbert said he “took out my bass line” and fished without success until he put down the fishing rod with a soft plastic and started throwing a crank bait.

After getting bit, setting hook and boating two quality bass, Norbert said he knew where he was going to fish the Bullet Bass Club tournament with Cleo McGlorie of Lafayette. That’s where he went and the action started soon after the “safe daylight” start out of Myette Point Boat Landing.

They culled to a five-fish limit and topped the 13-boat field with 13.18 pounds for $185. Norbert and McGlorie also had the tournament’s lunker bass, a 3.65-pounder caught on a buzz bait that was worth $100.

“McGlorie caught that one, probably at 10, 11 o’clock, on a Havoc Pit Boss,” Norbert said. “In the early part of the morning, I missed one about the same size.”

They put a 3-pound class in the boat early on a spinnerbait, he said, and caught the rest on soft plastics.

“We culled at least 10, 11 pounds of fish. We figured we should have had 15, 16 pounds between the fish he missed and the fish I missed,” Norbert said.

Considering the Atchafalaya River was on a steady rise, the catch was even more noteworthy.

“You could see the water rising in the canal we were fishing. Muddy water was pushing farther and farther to the back,” he said.

Ron Boutte of Abbeville and his guest, Kay Cormier, finished a distant second with five bass weighing 11.25 pounds. Wrenwick Drexler, fishing alone, was third with a limit weighing 9.69 pounds.

Norbert goes into the next tournament, Aug. 5 at Myette Point, atop the standings with 740 points. Boutte is right behind him with 735 points.

• BULLET BASS CLUB

July 8 at Atchafalaya Basin

1, Cleo McGlorie-Leonard Norbert (5), 13.18. 2, Ron Boutte-Kay Cormier (5), 11.25. 3, Wrenwick Drexler (5), 9.69. 4, John Gordon-Johnny Manor (5), 8.38. 5, Ben Suit-James Charles (5), 7.85. 6, Al Falcon-Jennifer Falcon (5), 7.66. 7, Errol Sigue (4), 6.12. 8, Andre Sampay (4), 5.44. 9, Gerald Foulcard (3), 3.54. 10, Robert Tarleton (3), 3.41. 11, Elvis Paul (1), 3.01.

(*) Tournament’s lunker bass, 3.64.

• BULLET BASS CLUB

2018 POINT STANDINGS

1, Leonard Norbert, 740. 2, Ron Boutte, 735. 3, Gerald Foulcard, 675. 4, Andre Sampay, 650. 5, Elvis Paul, 635. 6, James Charles, 580. 7, Gary Foulcard, 560. 8, Johnny Manor, 535. 9, Robert Tarleton, 530. 10, Al Falcon, 505. 11, Cleo McGlorie, 495. 12, John Gordon, 375. 13, Carlos Smith, 295. 14, (tie) Kerry Bourgeois,  Errol Sigue and Wrenwick Drexler, 260. 17, Randal Ardoin, 250. 18, Ben Mayfield, 205. 19, Wendell Williams, 185. 20, Ben Suit, 160. 21, Zack Suit, 155. 22, Chris Davis, 145. 23, Travis Mose, 100. 24, Barry Celestine, 90. 25, Joe Ward, 75. 26, (tie) Kam Greene and Leo Williams, 55.