LOREAUVILLE – One veteran bass angler unable to prefish before the ninth Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series tournament of the season actually did his scouting in the minutes before takeoff July 12.

Mike Louviere of Jeanerette, a Loreauville native, and his long-time tournament partner, Tabitha Landry of Jeanerette, waited for the boat numbers to be called for the 5:30 p.m. takeoff from the T intersection where Marsh Field Canal meets Teche Lake Canal. The tournament was held out of Marsh Field Landing at Lake Fausse Pointe.

“I was holding on to a laydown. I was looking at how clear the water was,” Louviere said.

What really caught his attention was the sight of multiple 3-inch long shad jumping out of the water around the deadfall. The presence of baitfish there made an impression but he was looking ahead to driving to his destination.

“I didn’t even scout. I was just going to run old spots I catch them at this time of year. The wind was blowing bad. Everything was blown out. We weren’t there 10 minutes,” he said.

Louviere decided to switch gears, made his decision known to a surprised Landry and cranked up the Bullet. The decision decided the tournament, too.

“We ran all the way back to the landing. We started waylaying on them there. I started flippin’ and catchin’ them,” he said.

He caught about a dozen bass, including a 3.05-pounder, and culled twice to an unbeatable three-bass limit weighing 7.46 pounds worth $450.

The closest challenger to the winners in the 20-boat field was the team of Brad Romero and Rusty Owens, both of New Iberia, whose three bass weighing 6.39 pounds for $270.

Carroll Delahoussaye and Danny Bulliard, both of St. Martinville, teaming up in a bass tournament for the umpteenth time, finished third with three bass tipping the digital scale manned by weighmaster Mike O’Brien at 5.05 pounds worth $180.

Louviere was proud of his decision to leave his first spot in Lake Dauterive so fast. It made all the difference in the world.

“I wasn’t even expecting to catch (in Lake Dauterive). When you’ve got that hunch you’ve got to go. I got on it (around the laydown), made three casts and had a fish in the boat,” he said.

“It was a normal day of fishing for me — read signs, look for things, try to find certain things.”

He caught the bass on a homemade 3/8-ounce jig of a color he declined to disclose. He added a Zoom Vibra Tail as a trailer.

Louviere and Landry cashed in for the second straight time in a WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament. They finished second June 28 at Myette Point Landing in the Atchafalaya Basin.

The next WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament is scheduled to be held July 26 at Bayou Benoit Landing in the Atchafalaya Basin.