Hunter Neuville, left, and Andre Weber proudly hold the five-bass limit that dominated the second Louisiana Bass Anglers tournament of the year at Cabot Landing. Those bass weighed a total of 18.28 pounds to top the 33-boat field.

CABOT BOAT LANDING — Less than a week before his first Louisiana B.A.S.S. Nation tournament as a Boater, Hunter Neuville of Loreauville and his fishing buddy Andre Weber wowed the weigh-in crowd Feb. 20 after a Louisiana Bass Anglers tournament.

Neuville and Weber dominated the Franklin-based bass club’s second tournament of the year with five bass weighing 18.28 pounds, easily enough to top the 31-team field. The closest team to them was nearly 6 pounds behind.

“I wouldn’t say ‘I know we had it.’ I knew where people were going you never know what anybody will catch, especially with the spawn,” Neuville said two days later from Red River South Marina Resort Marina, where he was staying while prefishing for the B.A.S.S. Nation contest that starts Friday.

The Highland Baptist Christian School graduate (Class of 2021) said he was unable to prefish for the tournament.

“I just went fishing. Yeah, I went back to the Basin,” Neuville said about his 1-hour ride one way from here to his destination in the nation’s last great overflow swamp behind the wheel of his 19-foot Triton powered by a 200-h.p. Mercury outboard motor.

“I haven’t fished since the last club tournament (Jan. 22). I just fished what I know. The first spot we went to they were there. We stayed there all day.”

Neuville had no qualms about going anywhere with the water on the rise for the past few weeks in the Atchafalaya Basin. Still, he kept his eye on the Atchafalaya River stage at Butte La Rose.

“The morning before (the tournament), it showed it was still rising. That night the gauge all of a sudden showed the river leveled off. I mean, we were going either way,” he said. “I wasn’t going to go screw up my boat in the lake (Lake Fausse Pointe) with the Federation (Louisiana B.A.S.S. Nation) this week.”

Whatever happened, bass cooperated for the winners in his fishin’ hole, which he declined to name. They caught 25-30 keepers, he said, on black/blue Cajun Lures Crackin’ Craws, mostly, flippin’ and punchin’, with more of the former than the latter.

He caught their two biggest bass, both 4-pound plus fish.

James Fredieu and Jimmy Blanchard finished second with a limit weighing 12.82 pounds. Defending AOY Dicky Fitzgerald and Greer Billeaud were third with five bass at 11.60 pounds. Tony Sinitiere and Kenton Sinitiere finished third with 11.38 pounds that included the day’s biggest bass, a 4.59-pounder.

The bass club’s next tournament is at Lake Sam Rayburn.