Mike Louviere Sr., right, lifts a 3.34-pound bass out of his boat's livewell as his son, Mike Louviere Jr., enjoys the moment March 19 on their way to winning the WN Hawg Fights BTS opener at Lake Fausse Pointe. The father-son team won with 8.34 pounds. DON SHOOPMAN / THE DAILY IBERIAN

LOREAUVILLE – Punchin’ lilies for bass has proved to be the go-to pattern so far this spring and even earlier for Mike Louviere Sr.

The Loreauville bass angler, who has a history of putting keepers in the boat when it counts, was dismayed to get no takers on the black/blue soft plastic creature baits he and his son punched through the lilies the evening of March 19 on Lake Fausse Pointe.
“We get over there (to his current hotspot). We start punchin’ lilies and … nothing! We might have a bite and miss it. Six-forty-five, no fish. Seven, no fish,” Louviere said.

Time was running out for the father-son team on the first Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series tournament of 2025, one he was thrilled to be fishing with Mike Jr. So he adjusted the game plan.

“We go down the bank and the lilies thin out. I start flippin’ a cypress tree. I get a 3-pounder. I flip back and get another one about 2 pounds. I miss one. He flips and catches it,” Louviere said.

To make a longer story short, the Louvieres picked five keepers off that one cypress tree.

The 45-year-old Louviere, a Jeanerette resident born and raised in Loreauville, knew something was missing. A kicker.

“I said, ‘We need a 5-pounder,’ ” he said, and sure enough one that qualified as a quality fish bit his soft plastic and he missed it. Mike Jr. flipped right behind him, set the hook and the fishing line parted.

That 20-minute flurry, nevertheless, was what they wanted. Louviere took no chances and left in plenty of time to return to Marsh Field Landing, where 27 boats launched at 5:30 p.m.

Their limit was just enough to finish ahead of the pack and win $608.

“It was nice, really nice,” Mike Jr. of Loreauville, a welder at Chart Industries like his father, said a few days later. “I didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t fished in two, three years. It was nice to get on the water again. I kind of needed that. My dad needed that.”

The elder Louviere agreed and said, “He’s pumped. We won this one. We’re going to be fishing all the way. I want Angler of the Year with my son. That’s the goal I set for us. I’ll be putting in the time and doing the homework.”

The winners were challenged the most by Brad Romero and Raven Owens, whose three bass weighed 8.04 pounds, including a 3.34-pounder that was in the running for the tournament’s lunker bass for a while. The runners-up team, which took home $365, had a banner weekend in two bass club tournaments the previous weekend at Toledo Bend.

Third place was nailed down by B.J. Becnel and Andy Louviere. They brought back a limit weighing 7.89 pounds, a bag that included the tournament’s lunker bass, a 4.02-pounder that added $135 to their third-place payout of $243.

Seven of 27 entries did not weigh a keeper bass (12 inches or longer) that Wednesday night.

Louviere made it clear to his 21-year-old son if they fished the first one they were fishing all 12 in 2025. He has had varying degrees of success on the Hawg Fight trail over the years and reached out to his son to fish this first one. He was pumped.
“Yeah, I was. My little boy, you know, I’m fishing with my son this round. I told him we’re fishing all 12 or not fishing one,” he said.

His son accepted. And the team delivered.

“I wasn’t expecting it. It’s nice having the first win. It’s amazing to make memories with people you love,” Mike Jr. said.
New Iberian Rusty Owens, a veteran Hawg Fighter who took the director’s reins before the season began from Mike Sinitiere of New Iberia, who stepped down after eight years at the helm, was happy with the opener.

“I think it was a great turnout and very well accepted. Everybody liked the new ideas, liked their voice in voting on stuff, and very accepting of sponsorships and getting new equipment for the program, like new scales. And we’ll get new trophies and are having an extra weekend tournament to raise money as well. They’re excited about new shirts, banner and having a bigger pot at the end of the year,” Owens said.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make it a painless transition, switching management, making it all-around better for everybody. Actually, we have a lot more people coming forward asking to help out, checking livewells, Brad (Brad Romero) doing the scales. A lot of people are excited to get involved so far.”