For Romero, Owens, getting there was half the battle on way to a win

Published 5:00 am Sunday, September 4, 2022

MYETTE POINT – A New Iberia outdoorsman was more worried about completing a round trip to his fishin’ hole than catching bass Wednesday evening in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Brad Romero knew he might get there through ultra-shallow water filled with obstacles like wood and rafts of lily pads. Even if he got to the spot he wondered if he’d get out to return for an 8 p.m. weigh-in for the 12th and final Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series.

The gamble paid off. Catching fish was no problem.

Romero, 28, and Raven Owens, both of New Iberia, got there AND got back to Myette Point Boat Landing with their three-fish limit that easily bested a 15-boat in the regular-season finale for 2022. Romero and Owens’ collected $338 with their catch weighing 8.03 pounds, including the biggest bass of the tournament, a 3.51-pounder worth another $75.

“It was more of a shot in the dark. If I make one bad move (driving his aluminum boat) we’re in the trees or out of the water,” Romero said after the win. “The thrill was being able to get back there and come out.”

The self-employed all-around technician — who can make the deck and hull of an aluminum boat look better than new — caught dozens of bass at his hotspot Aug. 27 to finish second in a Coteau Bass Hustlers tournament with five bass weighing 11.92 pounds. However, he realized there was a slow drop in the Atchafalaya River stage at Butte La Rose.

Would there be enough water to get there again? He took some afternoon trips the Monday and Tuesday before the Hawg Fight.

Inclement weather, chiefly lightning, kept him from checking it out so he ran the pipeline and other water on a hope and a prayer. He believed an estimated 2-inch rainfall kept some water in there.

Romero missed the first bass that tried to eat a Whopper Plopper. He cast a white buzz bait by the stump and caught the 2-pound class bass.

They hooked and boated between 10-15 bass. After the first one, they caught some smaller ones before running into a 2 ½-3-pound class bass as they circled the area.

The fish that clinched the win bit on a point. It was a solid 3-pounder.

A little later, though, Romero looked in the livewell and saw “one of the bigger bass” in stress, perhaps close to death. He got out a piece of string, tied one end to a 1-ounce weight and attached the other end to a bottom fin to keep the fish from turning over.

“When we got back to the landing, I was surprised the fish was still alive, barely breathing,” he said.

That save propelled them ahead of the pack. Their closest challengers were Dicky Fitzgerald of Charenton and Bubbie Lopez of Centerville. The accomplished bass fishing veterans, usually one-two in the Franklin-based Louisiana Bass Anglers, brought in a three-bass limit weighing 7.57 pounds for a runner-up finish and $203.

Jacob Shoopman and his father, Don Shoopman, both of New Iberia, were third with a limit weighing 6.55 pounds worth $135. That showing capped a strong second half of the season led by the younger Shoopman, who keyed back-to-back wins in July.

But Romero and Owens teamed up to have the hottest hands in tournament No. 12.