LOREAVILLE — By the time Raven Owens picked up a black Stanley Top Toad to cast April 23, it had been a bittersweet 5 ¾ hours to the start of the Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic.

Owens tossed that hollow-bodied soft plastic frog around some cover near the shoreline in a Texaco Field canal, then saw something that took his breath away and that of his partner, his wife, Brandy Dugan Owens. A big ol’ bass smashed the bogus frog.

“This bass hit it like a white shark. That was the funnest fish I ever caught,” he said.

‘Sharks’ attack in Texaco Field

His wife agreed and said, “It breached the water like a shark. It came out of the water. I thought he missed it. He kept reeling and reeling. I said, ‘Do you got it?’ He said, ‘Get the net!’ ”

The adventure had just begun. After he got his hands on it he looked at the time and saw they had nine minutes to get back to Marsh Field Boat Landing, weigh-in site for the popular fundraising tournament on Lake Fausse Pointe. Weigh-in for the sixth hour closed at 1 p.m.

He dropped the bass in the livewell and immediately cranked up the 250-h.p. Mercury on the back of his Bass Cat Puma.

“As soon as he started unhooking it he saw we had nine minutes,” his wife said.

“My wife was strapping down rods while I was getting on step,” he said.

Eight minutes later he climbed the bulkhead with the bass finning around in a weigh-in bag. A tournament official advised he had one minute left and asked for his chip with boat number on it. Ummmm. He didn’t have it.

He lost precious seconds hustling back to the Bass Cat. His wife, still in the boat, threw him the chip attached to a key chain floatie.

With seconds to spare tournament director Tee Roy Savoy announced the weight of the bass at 4.88 pounds. The biggest bass of the day was the husband-and-wife team’s second bass to win an hour.

It wasn’t the last. They returned to the same canal, Raven hooked and boated a 3.52-pounder on the Top Toad and, with a little more time to work with, also won the seventh hour that ended at 2 p.m.

The Owenses owned the awards presentation. They boasted three first-place bass, including the third hour’s winner at 2.16 pounds, for $750.

The five bass they weighed totaled 14.14 pounds to win heaviest stringer worth another $1,000.

Day started out bad

“Man, it was fun. As much of a bad day it started out to be, it ended up being one of the best tournaments we ever fished,” Raven said.

The 35-year-old co-owner — along with his father, Randy Owens, and his older brother, Rusty Owens, — of Randy’s Total Renovations said they were in Sandy Cove for “first cast” at 7 a.m. The water was stained and fairly low, then the wind started to blow. Around 7:15 a.m. he decided to try another spot in the cove but couldn’t get on step easily.

“I said, “You know what? I’m done’ and took off,” he said.

The New Iberians headed to the borrow pit along the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee. While he was happy his wife had two bites but no takers there on a black/blue Sweet Beaver, a malfunctioning trolling motor continued to try his patience.

Raven was all but ready to go home.

“At 9:30 I could have packed up and went to the house. That’s how aggravated I was,” he said.

Fortunately for the Owenses, he stayed on the water but he did make a move to the Texaco 111. Brandy got another bite on a black/blue Sweet Beaver, so he switched to that color and caught a 2.16, then a 1.90, ran in and took first place for the third hour, which ended at 10 a.m.

They motored back to the Texaco Field to fish the Dogleg, where Brandy saw a 4-pound class chase the Sweet Beaver. Then she caught a 1.68-pounder.

Fortunes changed

Their spirits soaring, Raven picked up the Top Toad. The shark, er, big bass bit.

“I don’t know. It was magical. Crazy. Nothing was biting. Then for that hour-and-a-half they wanted that frog. We went back from 2- to 3-p.m. and didn’t get a bite. We didn’t need it. We still had that 1.68 in the livewell. That fish made our total,” he said.

His wife, who works in human resources and compliance for Premier Inc., an oilfield casing company, said, “He made all the right calls. We started out in Sandy Cove. That’s his go-to place. It was windy. We had issues with the trolling motor.

“It was definitely an adrenaline rush. That was great. We fish a lot of tournaments. Last year I was actually pregnant so I didn’t get to fish. This year, I wanted to fish that tournament because I like the format. It’s definitely not going to be my last.”

The couple became the proud parents of Ripp Owens, a 7.7-pound baby boy born Aug. 23, 2021. The new arrival more than likely will get into fishing and hunting.

“We’ve been together since I was 14, so we’ve been fishing together 18 years. We’ve always been outdoorsy. I grew up in Loreauville,” Brandy said about her and her husband. “We were fishing CCA tournaments, saltwater tournaments. The last five years we fished freshwater (bass) tournaments. He’s hooked. I’m hooked, too.

Another team also had a good day. Jimmy Champagne and Vitt Somsanith boasted two first-place bass, a third-place bass and the second-heaviest five-fish stringer in the 45-boat field at 13 pounds for a total take of $1,150.

They won the fourth hour with a 2.64-pounder and the eighth hour with a 4.16-pound beauty. Their 2.56-pounder was second in the fifth hour.

Big day for BBC

It was an even better day for the Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic. When donations and sponsorships are collected fully, the fundraiser will raise an estimated $7,000 for Lydia Cancer Association and Acadiana Hope for a Cure, plus other nonprofit charities.

The silent auction held all day under the big tent raised $1,955. An online auction raised another $450.

Savoy and his sons, Sy Savoy and Ry Savoy, Angela Mayeaux, Tee Roy and Trisha Blanchard and many other volunteers, including LCA members, ran the event from an hour or two before sunrise until long after the last anglers and visitors left the site.

Another volunteer, Robert Boudreaux, cooked a sausage and pork jambalaya that was in demand and lip-smackin’ good. The ingredients were donated by local companies.

1. Hunter Neuville-Andre Weber, 1.96.

2. Derrick Romero-Mike Romero, 1.94.

3. Phil Ransonet-Vernon Colson, 1.64.

SECOND HOUR

1. Travis Meche Jr.-Neal Meche, 3.56.

2. Derrick Romero-Mike Romero, 2.02.

3. Wesley Merrill-Travis Meche Sr., 1.64.

THIRD HOUR

1. Raven Owens-Brandy Owens, 2.16.

2. Cade Lipari-Tommy Lipari, 2.12.

3. Garett Blanchard-Devin Verret, 1.98.

FOURTH HOUR

1. Jimmy Blanchard-Vitt Somsanith, 2.64.

2. Don Shoopman-Mike Sinitiere, 2.58.

3. Dusty Davis-Gerrit Landry, 2.56.

FIFTH HOUR

1. Rusty Owens-B.J. Frank, 3.02.

2. Danny Bulliard, Carroll Delahoussaye, 2.72.

3. Jimmy Blanchard-Vitt Somsanith, 2.56.

SIXTH HOUR

1. Raven Owens-Brandy Owens, 4.88.

2. Justin Laviolette-Brodie Fredieu, 3.14.

3. Alex Griffin-Hagen Riche, 2.52.

SEVENTH HOUR

1. Raven Owens-Brandy Owens, 3.52.

2. Phil Ransonet-Vernon Colson, 3.48.

3. Mike Louviere-Tabitha Landry, 2.88.

EIGHTH HOUR

1. Jimmy Blanchard-Vitt Somsanith, 4.16.

2. Alex Griffin-Hagen Riche, 3.20.

3. (tie) Gerard Dupuis-Daniel Dupuis

and Randy Durand-Gregory Bourque, 2.54.