With all due respect to paraphrasing Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, now is the time of year when a competitive bass angler’s fancy or, better yet, pure obsession, turns to thoughts of slammin’ the steel home on the jaw of a big ol’ bucketmouth.

And there’s no better time to do that than a tournament with a lot on the line, pardon the pun. The year’s first onslaught of bass tournaments have been scheduled or already rolled on the bass club level as well as the professional level regionally and across the country.

Acadiana’s many tournament bass fishermen can whet their appetite and get an early start to treating “spring fever” with the Teche Area’s first “major” of the year Feb. 15. That’s when dozens of two-man teams tackle the 20th annual Louisiana Bass Cats Open Invitational out of the Fairfax Foster Bailey Memorial Boat Launch in Franklin.

The tournament is considered the official kickoff for the area’s bass tournament season. It’s right around the corner and several bass anglers already are checking the perennial spring hotspots across the area, including Lake Fausse Pointe.

Entry fee per boat is $100 with an optional $10 for the big bass pot. For more information call Max Stevens at (337) 281-5018, Mike Sinitiere at (337) 321-1178 or Rusty Owens at (337) 577-3113.

Last year’s winners, me and my youngest son, Jacob Shoopman, made the long, bitterly cold ride Feb. 18 to the lake in their Ranger RT198P aluminum bass boat powered by a Mercury 150 ProXS, then came back with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 13.5 ounces worth $900, plus another $210 for the biggest bass of the tournament, a 5-pounder Jacob hooked and reeled in, all the while praying his partner wouldn’t miss it with the net, around a shallow-water point near the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee.

The area’s major tournament schedule ramps up again March 1 with the annual Legends on the Lake tournament hosted by the Sunset-based Atchafalaya Basin Hawg Hunters Bass Club. As usual, it is scheduled to be held out of Marshfield Landing at Lake Fausse Pointe.

The handsome winner’s plaque, shaped in the outline of Louisiana, plus $840 was claimed by Jason Pecoraro of Lafayette and Brandon Sellers of New Iberia. They got their limit in a crowded canal then headed for Sandy Cove.

The long-time fishing buddies topped a 26-boat field.

Entry fee is $100, which includes inclusion in the big bass pot, according to tournament director Jarade Schexnayder.

For more information on the tournament, call Schexnayder at (337) 501-3539. He’s hopeful of a 40-plus boat turnout.

The granddaddy of all the early major tournaments here, a derby so many bass anglers across the region proudly support for the benefit of the Lydia Cancer Association and other nonprofits, is the Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic. This year’s big event, which includes payouts for the top three bass each hour as well for the top three heaviest five-fish stringers, is scheduled to be held March 29 at Lake Fausse Pointe.

Veteran tournament director Tee Roy Savoy of Catahoula announced the schedule last month while hopeful of drawing more than 50 boats to Classic HQ at Marshfield Landing. Savoy scrutinized as many bass club tournament schedules and those of other popular cast-for-cash tournaments trying to prevent a conflict that would impact turnout at Marsh Field Landing.

Last year’s big bass winner on April 27 was his son, Ry Savoy of Coteau Holmes, who weighed in a 4.26-pound bass the fifth hour to win bragging rights and $215 in the tournament named after his mother, Jackie Savoy, who died Feb. 1, 2021, at age 52.

Broussard bass anglers Jeremy Moore and Royd Picard boasted the big bass stringer in 2024. Their limit weighed 10.06 pounds worth $850. They also had second-place bass in three of the first four hours for another $375.

Entry fee is $150. For more information call Savoy at (337) 519-3107.

It certainly ’tis the season.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.