Randal Savoy, left, and Randy Clark hold bass they caught to win the 11th and final Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series tournament held at Henderson Lake.

HENDERSON —  Randal “Rooster” Savoy of Catahoula, one half of the winning team in the 11th and final Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series, points out his partner, Randy Clark, lives in rural St. Martin Parish between Parks and Breaux Bridge.

Press Savoy a little more and he’ll laugh and say Carter lives in Kern’s Pit, a borrow pit along the Atchafalaya Basin West Protection Levee just south of Interstate 10.

“Put that in there. He fishes that about eight days a week. He stays on them,” Savoy said after the two paired up to win with a three-bass limit weighing 7.39 pounds worth $400. 

They caught four keeper bass, including Savoy’s 3.64-pounder that was the evening’s biggest bass for another $200, to top a 20-boat field that fished a WN Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series tournament away from Lake Fausse Pointe for only the second time in 2019.

“I’ve been waiting for that one,” Savoy said. “They (WN Hawg Fights BTS board members) said a couple times they were coming to Henderson. They never came.”

The 39-year-old outdoorsman texted Carter as soon as he learned about the destination for the last WN Hawg Fights BTS event. It was announced Aug. 7.

Savoy won a Lafayette-based Dog Fight evening bass tournament two weeks ago at Henderson Lake. A week ago in a Dog Fight at Henderson Lake, Carter was second and Savoy was fourth with the evening’s biggest bass.

They teamed up for the WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament Wednesday. 

“He caught really good scouting in that area” in the days leading up to the tournament, Savoy said.

“We thought we’d catch more (and bigger) bass. It was a home run but it could have been a grand slam,” he said. “Those fish are funny at Henderson. They’re there one day, the next day they’re there but don’t want to bite.”

Usually, the wind dictates whether the fish want to eat, he said.

Savoy said he caught the tournament’s biggest bass at approximately 7 p.m.

The four keepers they put in the boat all fell for topwaters, which isn’t surprising, he said.

“It ain’t no secret … Henderson/topwater. They’ve been on top since it was at 19,” Savoy said, referencing the Atchafalaya River stage at Butte La Rose, which has been unseasonably high.

Nearly 1 pound behind  the winning team was the team of Ben Suit and his younger brother, Zach Suit, both of New Iberia. They were second and captured the Angler(s) of the Year title with three bass weighing 6.48 pounds for $240.

Joey Hains, son of 1975 Bassmaster Classic champion Jack Hains, and Brett Touille, fishing their first-ever WN Hawg Fights BTS, finished third with three bass weighing 6.11 pounds worth $160.

Mike Sinitiere of New Iberia, WN Hawg Fights BTS director, announced Thursday that 45 boats qualified to fish the 2019 WN Hawg Fights BTS Classic at a site to be determined at a meeting Wednesday at Billeaud’s Too. Votes will determine the site, which, based on the rules, will be at either Lake Fausse Pointe, Franklin or Henderson Lake.

The entry fee is $100 per boat that, coupled with the $2,760 extracted from entry fees in the regular season, push the total purse to $5,000-plus. If qualifiers are unable to attend the meeting, a team member can vote on a preference for the site by texting Sinitiere at 321-1178 before 5 p.m. Aug. 28. The entry fee must be paid at the meeting or before 4 p.m. Sept. 6 at Cajun Guns & Tackle.