AMELIA – The season and cool weather apparently dictated a slow, slow approach Feb. 4 the morning of the Louisiana Bass Anglers first tournament of 2024.

After approximately 1 ½ hours crawling across the water with the trolling motor and soaking a GYCB Senko, Cody Patillo said enough of that. The Loreauville all-around outdoorsman targeted an oilfield canal, his first stop near the site of the safe daylight takeoff.

“I was right north of the landing in one canal. At first I started with a Senko for an hour and a half. I went halfway down. I had to change up, do something different. I had to fish the way I like to fish. I had to move (faster),” he said.

So Louviere started casting and retrieving a soft plastic swim bait.

“I threw to a cypress tree with the swim bait. I was telling myself, ‘There’s got to be one there, it looks tooooo good,’ ” he said.

That cast triggered a good bite from a sizeable bass but as sometimes happens with a hook buried in a bulky soft plastic, it pulled off. That miss didn’t deter him as he picked up a spinnerbait as a comeback bait.

“I threw the Humdinger right back at it. It bit that Humdinger,” he said, noting he boated his first bass of the day, a 3.52-pounder.

The 3 ½-pound bass anchored a 5-fish, 10.21-pound limit that topped the 12-boat field that fished out of the E.C. “Bob” Thibodeaux Memorial Boat Launch, 1668 Louisiana 662 near Amelia.

Louviere needed every ounce to finish ahead of John Gordon and his young son, Owen Gordon, whose five bass weighed 10.16 pounds for a strong second-place finish. The youngster wearing yellow shades was all smiles as he posed with their biggest bass.

Another father-son team, Louis Daigle and Jesse Daigle, finished third with five bass at 9.70 pounds. Tony Sinitere and Levi Louviere’s 3.54-pounder was the biggest of the day.

Patillo, who was fishing alone, missed out by a fraction of an ounce on big bass but had enough weight to win. The 42-year-old Cleco line mechanic has transitioned from the hunting season to the prime time bass fishing season, prespawn and postspawn.

“It feels great, man. I had a great hunting season … ended with an 8-point. Started off with a win in the club tournament. It feels good to start off the year with a win,” he said, adding the nice buck he killed the morning of Jan. 4 weighed 181 pounds.

Patillo is in his third year with the Louisiana Bass Anglers. He finished fourth in the Angler of the Year race in 2022, his first year, then barely out of the Top 8 in 2023.

He was unable to scout for the 2024 opener. So he looked at maps and got some advice from friends in this area before deciding on Bayou L’Ourse in lower Assumption Parish.

At safe daylight he traveled just north to a myriad of canals and bayous near Bayou L’Ourse. He liked what he saw.

Following his first catch, Patillo moved 25- to 30-feet and caught a 2 ½-pounder, then another 2 ½-pound bass before the sun came out. He managed to eek out a 2-pounder as the fishing slowed.

A 12-incher at the end of the day filled out his limit, mostly caught on the ¼-ounce white Humdinger.

“I probably caught 10 fish. It turned out to be a pretty day. It’s a good feeling,” he said.