MYETTE POINT — First cousins Andre “Tank” Sampay of Conroe, Texas, and Ron Boutte of New Iberia are getting hot at the right time on the Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series.

It’s more than the stifling summer heat. It’s their recent charge on the evening circuit, most recently a convincing win Wednesday night in the eighth WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament of 2021.

After finishing second June 16 at Lake Fausse Pointe, Sampay, who was born and raised in Jeanerette, and Boutte took the latter’s 20-foot Skeeter FX LE with a 250-h.p. Yamaha Sho to the former’s favorite fishin’ hole upriver and returned to Myette Point Boat Landing with three bass weighing 9.70 pounds worth $540. They also boasted the evening’s biggest bass, a 3.93-pounder that netted an additional $120.

“We had put no time in on scouting. We had no idea where to go. We went to Tank’s spot. He thought they’d be more aggressive. I give him credit,” Boutte said later.

The bass cooperated soon after their arrival in a popular area of the Atchafalaya Basin. They had their three-fish limit one hour after the 5:30 p.m. start.

It was a bass that bit around 6:30 p.m. that made the difference. Sampay flipped in a june bug Zoom Speed Craw and got the 3.93-pounder.

“We only culled one time because we had solid fish. The only thing that could have helped us was the big bass I had at the end and culled a 2 ½-pounder. That was the fish that put us over the top right there,” Sampay said.

“I didn’t think the fish was almost 4 pounds. (But) after pulling that fish out of the livewell (before the weigh-in), I told him it was a good 3 ¾ pounds,” Boutte said.

The 43-year-old real estate investor said he wasn’t surprised by the first-place finish.

“After catching fish early, I told Tank if we continue catching the (quality) fish we’re catching, the field will have trouble beating us; it’d take somebody with two 5-pounders,” Boutte said.

That didn’t happen.

The Atchafalaya Basin, despite a slow fall from the 11s to around 10.0 feet on the Atchafalaya River stage at Butte La Rose, was a tough nut to crack for many bass anglers that evening. Only half the 24-boat field came back with a three-fish limit.

Brandon Sellers and Blaine Miller kept the pressure on the frontrunners in the Angler(s) of the Year race with a second-place finish. Sellers and Miller’s limit weighed 7.52 pounds for $324. The runners-up also had a 3.93-pound bass to their credit but the big bass tie was broken by the total weight for each team.

Cade Lipari and Luke Bulliard finished third with three bass weighing 7.19 pounds worth $216.

The winners were coming off a second-place showing in mid-June at Lake Fausse Pointe.

“It’s definitely good to get one (win) under our belt. It feels good. Hopefully, we can get a couple more, man,” said Sampay, who sells commercial printers and copiers via Sampay’s Solutions.

Boutte, who caught his fish on a chartreuse/white Chatterbait, said, “It does feel very good to finally break the monotony of a losing streakand returning to the winner’s circle.”

Boutte also was fresh from a recent second-place finish in a Dog Fight, similar to Hawg Fights, at Henderson Lake.

The ninth of 12 scheduled WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament is set for July 14 at Bayou Benoit Boat Landing in the Atchafalaya Basin. For more information about the local circuit call tournament director Mike Sinitiere at 321-1178.

The WN Hawg Fights BTS Classic is scheduled for Sept. 12.