Ry Savoy of Coteau Holmes never will forget the 2024 Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic. He caught the big one of the day on April 27 but the little one got away.

That 1 ½-pounder made the difference between not winning the Big Bass Classic’s fairly new “five-fish stringer” tournament within the big bass tournament that features eight hourly payouts for the first-, second- and third-largest bass each hour. It’s Acadiana’s version of the Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash held at Lake Fork, Lake Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend and Lake Guntersville.

The 31-year-old Savoy gets another shot at the “stringer” winner’s pot and more “big bass” money this coming weekend on Sunday, March 30, at Marsh Field Landing. This year’s BBC originally was scheduled to be held a day earlier but the extended weather forecast prompted the change at midweek, according to Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic director Tee Roy Savoy of Coteau Holmes.

The elder Savoy, an all-around outdoorsman, made the announcement shortly after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 26. Savoy said his decision was based on the high probability of inclement weather and after consulting with other tournament officials, bass fishermen and cooking team members.
His son and dozens of other Teche Area bass anglers have reset their plans to fish Sunday.

Savoy, project coordinator at Automotive Production, and his tournament partner, Derrick Romero of Loreauville, a 31-year-old designer at R&D Engineering, are gunning for one or more first-place big bass again during one of the eight hours – 7-8 a.m., 8-9 a.m., 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m., 11 – a.m.-Noon, Noon-1 p.m., 1-2 p.m. and, finally, 2-3 p.m. They boasted the biggest bass of last year’s BBC, a 4.26-pounder that won the fifth hour’s top payout of $215 ($250, $150 and $100 hourly top three payouts based on a 40-boat field).

“Yeah, we fished by the landing. We didn’t have to go far. The only other one we weighed in got kicked out … If we waited another hour” it would have placed, Savoy said this past Sunday morning.

“That morning we had a small one come off at the boat. If we had that one we would have won stringer, too, but we only had four fish. That was aggravating. You wouldn’t think that makes a difference at the end of the day. It wasn’t a big fish but when you only weigh in four, a pound-and-a-half makes a difference.”

Like crowds and commercials tout “SEC: It Just Means More,” the Southeastern Conference slogan, each succeeding Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic means more to Savoy. After all, it was renamed after his mother, the late Jackie Savoy, shortly after she lost a five-year battle with cancer on Feb. 1, 2021, at age 52.

And his father has been the tournament’s director since the elder Savoy took over for the fundraising tournament’s founder, the late Elvis Jeanminette, in 2015. The BBC’s chief beneficiary is the Lydia Cancer Association, plus individual cancer victims and their families.

“Oh, I like fishing that tournament with a different format. It’ll be fun. I’m going to go early in the morning (to help his dad and other volunteers set up and register bass fishermen). When everything’s said and done we’ll go fish,” he said.

“Ah, it means a lot for my dad to be able to keep that going and I can fish it. I don’t need to win or anything but I always hope for a good turnout. I can catch zero fish and still have fun with it. I just hope for a good turnout and good weather. I think we’ll have a good turnout if the weather’s good.”

Still, it would be nice to stay on the leaderboard again, especially with the biggest bass of the BBC.

“Hopefully, we can do it again this year and Derrick doesn’t miss a little fish,” Savoy said with a hearty chuckle. “Make sure to put that in the paper, too.”

His fishin’ buddy, riding shotgun with him on the way back from a bassin’ trip this past weekend on a windy Lake Sam Rayburn, laughed.

Entry fee per boat is $150. The Savoys and their dedicated helpers usually are ready to begin registering boats after 4:30 a.m. on BBC day.

BBC participants can launch and go to their fishin’ hole in and around Lake Fausse Pointe in the predawn darkness but the first cast isn’t allowed until 7 a.m.

Last year’s five-fish “stringer” winning team of Jeremy Moore and Royd Picard, both of Broussard, topped the 35-boat field with 10.06 pounds worth $850. They also had three second-place fish in the first, second and fourth hours for another $375.

Moore and Picard also fished within a minute or two of the boat ramp.

Other hourly winners last April were Scott Segura (2.42 pounds in the first hour); Don Shoopman (3.72 pounds in the second hour); Travis Meche Jr. (2.04 pounds in the third hour and 2.92 pounds in the fourth hour); Savoy in the fifth hour; Jacob Shoopman (3.86 pounds in the sixth hour); Tyler Bushnelle (3.18 pounds in the seventh hour), and Braxton Resweber (3.12 pounds in the eighth and final hour).

Marsh Field Landing’s parking lot and weigh-in site will be transformed later in the morning while the boats are out trying to get the right nibble or two. Tents sprout from the ground up and tables, pots and such are moved in to prepare for the increasingly popular rice and gravy cookoff featuring beef, pork or poultry. The cooking team entry fee is $30.

Tee Roy Savoy said he’s hopeful for more than 50 boats and at least 10 cooking teams March 30. He’s still accepting donations and welcoming sponsors.

For more information about the tournament and/or about the cookoff call Savoy at (337) 519-3107.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.