CYPREMORT POINT – If you’re going to win one tournament a season in the Southcentral Fishing Association, without a doubt it’s the SFA Classic.

Winning $2,420 with two “slot” redfish weighing a total of 11.05 pounds underscored that point for Brooks Amy, his father Perry Scott and their fishing buddy Jacob Fisher here on Aug. 12. Following a regular season with just one highlight to their credit, a second-place finish in the fourth tournament, those three saltwater fishermen captured the grand prize by topping a seven-boat field that left at 6 a.m.

“It was a l-o-n-g day. Whenever you have three fish in the livewell, it’s not a good day but, now, it’s a good day!” Fisher said soon after the big payday in the SFA Classic.

Only seven boats vied for the SFA Classic title on a triple-digit temperature Saturday. None could beat the Fish Karma, Amy’s 24-foot long Blue Wave.

“I had no idea. I didn’t think we’d even come close with the fishermen we had fishing today. I didn’t think it would happen,” said Amy, who caught the two nice “slots” they put on the scale.

Amy tipped his cap to his dad and his fishing buddy.

“I’ve got a great team. We always give it a 150 percent effort. It feels really good … we were just not expecting it,” he said.

Scott, the veteran on the boat, said, “On the ride in, we kind of thought we might have a little chance. We didn’t know how the other fellows were doing. We were pleasantly surprised by the result.”

While they hooked and boated their share of redfish it still took “all day” to catch three right-sized “slots,” Scott said. The key was teamwork.

“Well, we can’t ask for a better team. Everybody put in 110 percent. All three of us are working to help each other,” he said.

Fish Karma’s crew fished from The Worm to the east side of Marsh Island, according to Amy. They fished with live and dead shrimp under a popping cork and caught beaucoup redfish but only three preferred “slots.”

Those two redfish, both caught by Amy, proved to be unbeatable.

Fisher, a 37-year-old plant supervisor for a chemical blending company for Schlumberger, said the team’s SFA year wasn’t that bad.

“We actually did pretty well. We caught a lot of fish on multiple trips. (But) the hotter it got, the more the fish scattered. We want to win every one but that’s not going to happen. We’ve got some good fishermen in the SFA,” he said.

“Well, we can’t ask for a better team. Everybody put in 110 percent. All three of us are working to help each other.”

The boat the eventual winners needed to worry about the most experienced that sinking feeling at the time of reckoning when Amy put Ryan Savoy of Lafayette, formerly of Loreauville, and Colby Bourque’s nice-sized “slot” redfish on the “official” Check-It Stik. The redfish they were counting on was a fraction of an inch over the minimum mark of 27 inches.

If it or another one measured, Savoy and Bourque would have walked away the big winners. After all, they did boast the biggest kicker redfish, a 7.50-pounder that took the Calcutta’s $70. But there was nothing else to go with it.

That opened the door for others to cash in.

Milton Davis of Lydia, sporting a freshly sunburned face at the weigh-in, and Jonathan Rush finished runners-up with a two-fish limit of “slots” weighing 10.35 pounds for $175. Davis was disappointed in their finish. They won the SFA Classic in 2022 with 10.55 pounds .

“Oh, it was terrible. Yesterday (Friday) the bite was on but the tide was out earlier today. The fish were there but spooky. If you did catch one it was too big – 28, 29 inches,” Davis said after the outing aboard his Strickly Bidness, a 23-foot long Nautic Star.

Most of their “slot” redfish came from Oyster Lake inside Marsh Island, he said, and others from “about 15, 20 other spots.”

“We fished till 2:10 trying to get them,” he said.

Third place was nailed down by Matt Migues, Randal Savoy and Savoy’s son, Rylin Savoy. Their limit of “slot” redfish weighed 9.95 pounds for $95.

It was a frustrating Classic day for the winningest SFA boat in 2023, however.

Keo Khamphilavong of New Iberia, who led his two-man crew to the 2023 Team of the Year title by winning three of five regular-season tournaments, said, “We wanted to get this one.”

His boat successfully defended its hard-earned title from last year but he hoped to nail down an ever-elusive SFA Classic. It wasn’t in the cards.

Khamphilavong and Craig Landry fished the Classic in a backup aluminum boat because the skipper’s yellow 24-foot Blazer Bay outboard motor was knocked out by serious mechanical problems while scouting a couple days before the tournament. Due to the size of the smaller backup boat, Randy Migues, who was able to fish all five tournaments this season, stayed home.

Despite a challenging day on the water, Khamphilavong and Landry had their chances. However, they never could boat the right-sized “slot” redfish.

“It’s one of those deals, man. We had fish around us. There was one good (“slot”) fish we lost at the boat, a real nice fish,” Khamphilavong said, noting it probably made a difference between winning and losing. “Hey, we had a good year. I can’t complain.”

SFA has some hurdles to overcome, i.e., dwindling membership and tournament participation. Seven boats competed in the last two tournaments of 2023.

Amy said he and others plan to work even harder during the offseason to bring more saltwater anglers into the fold and onto the water for tournaments. He said the organization’s annual banquet is scheduled to be held in September.

“Of course, we’ll give it a shot again next year. I hope in the future everything pans out a little better,” the first-year director said, noting members will discuss any and all facets of SFA.