MANCHAC – Eleven-year-old Cannon Leger has caught much heavier bass over the past seven years but none more exciting or gratifying than the 1.96-pounder he got his hands on Sept. 9.

The Catholic High School-New Iberia student, a sixth-grader on the CHS Fishing Team, started his Louisiana High School Bass Nation venture that morning with what proved to be the biggest bass in the Junior Division’s 32-boat field.

“It was exciting. It felt good,” Leger said a few days after the 2023 Louisiana High School B.A.S.S. Nation East Qualifier tournament at Manchac in southeast Louisiana.

He fished the regular-season opener with his friend, Greyson Young, also a sixth-grader and also a new member of the CHS Fishing Team. They were in an Xpress H20 Bay Boat captained by Cannon’s father, Mark Leger of Jeanerette.

Their day began with a boat ride across Lake Pontchartrain to a marshy area near Metairie, where fish were bustin’ the water.

“There was like, fish everywhere, going after big mullet” in the weeds, Cannon said.

“We pulled up into a little pool off a cut. We saw some bait moving and they grabbed a few poles,” his father said.

It was approximately 8:30 a.m. when, finally, one of those marauding fish bit.

“They wouldn’t bite on anything but that one fish hit,” Cannon said.

His father said, “He (Cannon) picked up a watermelon Senko. When the Senko fell, that bass hit it. He set hook and got it all the way in the boat and livewell. It didn’t fight too long. He got it straight in the boat as fast as possible. Everybody was pretty excited.”

They had a few more bites but no serious takers there and several other places before taking the long boat ride back around noon, just to be safe to make it in for the 1 p.m. weigh-in. The walk across the stage with their bass was one of the highlights of their first-ever bass tournament experience.

And what a nerve-wracking, rollercoaster of feelings during the rest of the weigh-in it was for Connor and Greyson, who usually fish on a small lake behind the Legers’ house from a 10-foot long Bass Pro Shops Pond Prowler. Connor said he was nervous but it was the opposite for Greyson after their bass registered 1.96 pounds on the digital scale.

They were among the first to weigh in. After that, they held their breath whenever another two-man team showed up with a 2-pound class bass.

“It was just the nerves. How much does that one weigh? What’s that one weigh? It definitely was fun to watch,” Mark Leger said.

The suspense peaked when Matthew Fontenot and Cole Billiot from the Lafourche Bassmasters High School Team walked to the digital scale with a five-bass limit weighing 6.13 pounds, good enough for a second-place finish. That limit was anchored by a nice-sized bass that looked worthy of ending their hopes of garnering big bass honors.

But the Lafourche team’s bass weighed 1.95 pounds. Cannon and Greyson held on to big bass.

The CHS Fishing Team’s newest members, who also play soccer on the U12 Panthers in the Iberia Soccer Association, were called to the stage first during the awards presentation. Cannon won a 7-foot long Shimano XTS fishing rod and a fishing cap, the latter which he gave to his tournament partner.

The weigh-in and awards presentation were live streamed by Louisiana High School Bass Nation. A 35-year-old bass angler who started the CHS Fishing Team in August 2021 was proud of young Leger and Greyson.

“Just watching the weigh-in after they weighed in was kind of exciting, knowing they had a chance (at big bass) the whole time and never got knocked off. I was pretty happy for them to do that in their first tournament. It was pretty cool,” Jacob Shoopman of Lafayette, formerly of New Iberia, said recently.

Mark Leger, 42, an automation and controls engineer for Talos Energy Inc., was happy for the youngsters, who finished eighth.

“They exceeded all my expectations. They set the bar high. They never complained one time about the day. I think there’s a long future for this kids in this sport,” he said.

Joining Cannon and Greyson in Manchac from the CHS Fishing Team were Junior Division partners Roman Segura and Walker Hidalgo, and Hollis Daigle and Vincent Soprano, who recently competed in the 2023 Bassmaster Junior National Championship after qualifying in 2022-23. Segura-Hidalgo were captained by Segura’s paternal grandfather, Vic Segura, while Brock Daigle captained Daigle-Soprano.

Unfortunately, Hollis hooked a 3-pound class bass on a jerkbait early in the day but it became unbuttoned at the boat.

Jarret Baquet and Seth Switzer represented the CHS Fishing Team in the High School Division. Plagued by numerous misses, the team captained by Dr. Shawn Baquet weighed in three bass at 3.77 pounds for a 62nd-place finish in the 162-team field.

The Junior Division was won by Cole Watkins and Luke Delaney from the Jr. Southwest Bassmasters with a limit weighing 6.58 pounds. Lutcher High School’s Matthew Milioto and Brian Roussel topped the High School Division with five bass weighing 10.53 pounds. Sulphur’s Bryce Young and Bodhi Trahan finished 12th in the upper category with one bass, a 7.16-pounder.