MYETTE POINT — Two New Iberians had enough keeper bass right where they wanted them — cooling their fins under the green stuff on a bright, sunny post-cold front day in the Atchafalaya Basin — for the stretch run of the Coteau Bass Hustlers Top 10 Classic.

Doyle Louviere and Marlin Hebert needed more bites in the last few hours and they got them Nov. 20. As a result, they went out on top in 2021.

Louviere and Hebert, fresh from winning his fourth Angler of the Year title with a first-place effort in the bass club’s regular-season finale Nov. 13, culled to a five-bass limit weighing 9.78 pounds to claim the Classic title. Their winning catch was anchored by the biggest bass of the tournament, a 3.02-pounder caught late in the day by Louviere.

They had a good start in the Syrup Mill, a popular borrow pit near Myette Point Boat Landing, where the 10-boat field launched at safe daylight. But the bite petered out.

As midday came and passed, Louviere got a little uneasy. They had three keepers in the livewell with weigh-in time looming at 3 p.m.

“For a while, I didn’t think we would get five. We had to make a move, find fish and start catching,” he said. “About 1 p.m., I got nervous. I said, ‘We’ve got to go.’ We left the Syrup Mill and went to the Boy Scout.”

The winners caught their first three keepers on soft plastics — wacky worms for Louviere, Brush Hogs, Speed Craws and Texas-rigged weightless Senkos for Hebert. They caught five more keepers, including their biggest two fish, in the last 1 ½ or so hours punchin’ soft plastics in and around grass beds and other rafts of vegetation in 2-foot depths along the Boy Scout Canal.

“We caught them real quick, too. Then our spirits were up,” Hebert said.

Louviere caught the 3.02-pounder around 2 p.m.

“Doyle ended up catching the best one of the day punchin’ lilies,” his Classic partner said.

“I guess they were hiding under the grass from the sun. That’s where we started catching them at,” Louviere said.

The 57-year-old co-owner of Acadiana Diesel had a feeling they’d probably finish second or third with some luck. The scene at the digital scale soon told the story.

“We knew it’d be tough. Win? Nope. I didn’t think we’d win. (But) when they weighed in it looked like everybody struggled,” he said.

Louviere and the 2021 AOY won by nearly 1 pound and earned $450 for first and $100 for big bass. Tim Sturm and Keith Altazin came closest with five bass for 8.87 pounds for the second spot. Brandon Sellers and Gerald Frederick finished third with a limit weighing 6.76 pounds.

Louviere, who has been a CBH member for approximately 20 years but never captured AOY or a Classic until Nov. 20, was pleased with the outcome. And proud.

“Oh, it felt good to win. I had a good partner. I had a damn good time fishing. I enjoyed myself,” Louviere said.

The Top 10 CBH members for 2021 took a team photo in their respective new Top 10 shirts after the weigh-in. It was a special time for the Classic winners.

“It was a real nice day. It’s a nice way to end it. Me and Doyle, we’ve got bragging rights for the next year for the Top 10,” said Hebert, 53, an insulation and installation manager for Butcher Air Conditioning.