Louviere rushes out of the gate fast with 2nd win in as many tournaments
Published 5:00 am Saturday, January 28, 2023
- Michael Louviere, right, and Tabitha Landry hold the five bass that won the first Louisiana Bass Anglers tournament of 2023 on Jan. 22. Their 11.67-pound catch topped an 18-boat field that fished out of Amelia Landing.
AMELIA – Mike Louviere’s hot streak sizzled again Jan. 22 when he won the Louisiana Bass Anglers’ 2023 season opening bass tournament at Amelia Landing.
Louviere, who finished first in a Bullet Bass Club tournament out of the same boat landing on Jan. 8, topped an 18-boat field in his return to the same site. It was his third straight first-place finish in a bass club tournament since he won the Louisiana Bass Anglers Classic on Oct. 15 out of Myette Point in the Atchafalaya Basin.
The Jeanerette bass angler’s five-bass limit weighed 11.67 pounds, far ahead of the runners-up team of Johnny Hester of Lafayette and Bubbie Lopez of Centerville, whose limit weighed 7.65 pounds.
Hunter Neuville of Loreauville, fishing alone, was third with five bass weighing 7.61 pounds, followed by Wrenwick Drexler of Jeanerette with a limit at 7.28 pounds.
Rusty Owens of New Iberia and James Fredieu’s 3.22-pounder was the biggest bass of the day.
For his latest triumph, Louviere steered his boat to the same area he fished earlier this month. He also used the same slow, deliberate technique that worked so well that day.
“I haven’t been able to get a moving bait bite all year. Just Texas-rigged soft plastics – Brush Hogs, Senkos, Flukes. You have to soak it,” Louviere said.
The 43-year-old welder for Chart Industries fished last weekend’s event with Tabitha Landry and said the bite was slower than the day he topped the Bullet Bass Club with his father-in-law, Yancy Landry.
“I had my five by 11 o’clock. Then we started culling. It was slow,” he said.
Unlike the day he fished with Yancy Landry, he was unable to get a big bite. On Jan. 8, Yancy Landry boated a 3.84-pounder that was the tournament’s biggest bass.
Louviere, born and raised in Loreauville, said he fished mostly around cypress trees in dead-end canals. He concentrated on an area he found while prefishing several years ago for a high school tournament in which he was captain for his son.
He didn’t know the name of the area, he said.
Louviere was pleased to get the win in the opener for the Louisiana Bass Anglers.
“Oh, it’s nice to be No. 1. I finished last year with a win and started this year with a win,” he said, noting he’s on a mission this year.
“Oh, definitely,” he said, adding he will be prefishing as much as possible in a quest for more wins.
The LBA’s next tournament is scheduled for Feb. 14.
