There always has been a different feeling to one of the premier bass fishing tournaments in the heart of the Teche Area. It’s fast-approaching and we can’t wait.

The Big Bass Classic, known forever, it seems, as the Top Rod Big Bass Classic, gets underway Saturday at Marsh Field Boat Landing near Loreauville. Tow vehicles and boats will show up in the predawn darkness and leave as soon as possible to motor to their fishing destinations in time for the 7 a.m. start.

The first of eight weigh-ins with $500 riding on each hour is at 8 a.m. at the scale furnished and manned by volunteer Neil Carret of Carencro, who served admirably as interim director in 2018. The first-, second- and third-biggest bass hourly are worth $250, $150 and $100 in a format unique to this region and modeled after the annual Bob Sealy Big Bass Splash tournaments at Lake Fork, Lake Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend.

Bass fishermen and onlookers visiting the fishing rodeo headquarters will watch with interest as bass anglers bring their best bass in to weigh in, scrambling with high hopes in the waning minutes of each hour to beat the clock. There is electricity in the air each time one of the fish touches the scale and the weighmaster makes the call.

Last year it was wet, really rainy for the first hour or two, and cool but the combination didn’t dampen the spirits of the men, women and children on and off the water.

That’s what it’s all about. That’s why director Tee Roy Savoy of Coteau Holmes invests so much of his time before the event — time away from his wife, Jackie, who has been battling cancer — in an effort to bring out in the best fundraiser that benefits, among others, the Lydia Cancer Association.

Savoy and a smaller number of board members have been working hard to make it another successful event, which it will be. They are accepting sponsorships and donations up to the first cast, so individuals and businesses with a big heart can get on board by calling 519-3107.

McIlhenny Co. donated big-time this past week. So did Tymor Marine, a UK- and USA-based independent marine and naval architectural consultancy with two offices in Scotland and one in Lafayette.

Tymor Marine posted on its Facebook: “Tymor Marine are proud to sponsor the Big Bass Classic Fishing Tournament to support a local charity Lydia Cancer Association in Louisiana. Ry Savoy (Tee Roy Savoy’s son) helps to organize the Big Bass Classic, a fishing competition on the 23rd of February on Lake Dauterive. Contact Ry to become a sponsor, participate or to make a donation at the following link www.tymor-marine.com/2019/o2/14/fishing-for-support/.”

Those companies have joined others, new and old to the lineup, who have demonstrated their support, like Coca-Cola United, Woodman Life, Gator Tail and more. 

Anglers can register the morning of the BBC. Entry fee is $100 per boat.

And Big Bass Classic participants can follow the action at the scale again, after a year’s absence, with the help of radio coverage truly donated to the cause. Tee Roy Savoy announced the first week of February that 960 AM the Gator, an affiliate of KXKC 99.1, also known as Nash FM 99.1, will provide the service that helps anglers on the water decide whether to head in to weigh a potential money-winning fish or stay on the water to continue fishing.

There will be free chicken and sausage gumbo for all courtesy of Paul Resweber and Shane Resweber, both of St. Martinville. The Reswebers are setting up the day before and staying overnight in an RV, getting ready to cook for the masses. And Tangi Narcisse at the Woodman Life booth will have hot dogs free for the asking.

You won’t want to miss it.

DON SHOOPMANis outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.