LOREAUVILLE – James Fredieu’s penchant for flippin’ soft plastics in the bassiest-looking cover paid big dividends early in the Legends on the Lake tournament Feb. 25 at Lake Fausse Pointe.

“I’ll tell anyone, ‘Find what you have confidence in and throw it,’ ” the rural St. Martin Parish outdoorsman said a few days after he and his son, Brodie Fredieu of Parks, netted first place with a tournament limit of five bass weighing 15.71 pounds.

“I’m kind of hard-headed. I like flippin’ a june bug- or watermelon-colored, something like a Beaver (Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver) or a jig. I’m not one for changing. I just try to keep it simple. I stick to what I have confidence in,” he said, noting he kept the soft plastic locked in his hand throughout the tournament.

One nice-sized keeper bass after another went into the livewell before 7:30 a.m. on a calm, warm morning that saw 32 boats take off from Marsh Field Boat Landing for first cast at 6:08 a.m.

“We had our limit in the first hour-and-a-half, I would say. We caught four 3-pounders right off the bat,” James Fredieu said.

Brodie Fredieu gave credit where credit was due.

“Oh, he caught the big ones. Well, I say big ones. He caught three of the 3-pounders,” Brodie Fredieu said about his dad.

There was more to the day than culling up by ounces – the big bite flurry didn’t last — on the way to winning $800, plus two handsome plaques shaped like Louisiana.

The elder Fredieu, 54, owns JF’s Louisiana Crawfish, a tasty product that, understandably, is in high demand this time of year. Father and son run the business with at least one on the business site, even on Saturdays.

However, the elder Fredieu said, “My wife (Sonja Fredieu) said, ‘You go fish. Spend the day together.’ ”

The Fredieu father-and-son team made the most of the opportunity.

“It was sweet to win the tournament but it was sweeter since I got to win it with my son. The last time probably was when we won one of the Hawg Fights when he was 12 or 13,” he said. “When we finally get a chance to fish, you know, it’s a special thing.”

His son said, “Ah, it’s pretty neat. We don’t get to fish together that often. Normally, one of us is over here (at the plant) so we really can’t fish together often.

“The way our day started I kind of thought everybody caught,” he said.

His father agreed and said, “I really felt like early in the morning somebody would crack a really big fish. If somebody catches something like that 7, that’s tough to beat.”

He was talking about the 7.13-pounder by Mike O’Brien on Feb. 19 to help him and Mike Sinitiere win the 17th annual Louisiana Bass Cats Invitational on Lake Fausse Pointe.

There was no such beastly bass carried to the digital scale in the Legends. Still, Ben Berard and Robert Johnson’s 5.71-pound “hawg” worth $250 anchored a 14.86-pound limit that gave the team a runners-up finish and $600.

Third-place and $400 went to Andre Cazelot, who was fishing by himself and brought in a limit weighing 14.30 pounds.

Rusty Owens and Junius Dore finished fourth with 14.25 pounds worth $250. Their biggest bass was a 5.10-pounder.

Just missing the cut line for payouts was Jarade Schexnayder, Legends tournament director, and Jaron Schexnayder. The Schexnayder’s limit tipped the digital scale at 12.90 pounds for fifth place.

And Justin Ledet and David Guillory’s five bass weighed 11.65 pounds for sixth.

The Fredieus started in a borrow pit, moved to the Texaco Field, then returned to other borrow pits in their quest to upgrade their early-morning catches.

“We were trying to stay in clear water,” James Fredieu said.

“We kept culling up but the most we could get up to was like, a 2.2-pounder (the smallest that hit the digital scale). We felt good with a good start but as the day went on we felt we needed to upgrade.”

His son, who said he caught a few on a bladed jig as well as soft plastics, said, “The big ones came early. We caught fish the rest of the day but, man, we just couldn’t get another big one after the first hour.”