VILLE PLATTE – A veteran bass angler was proud of his first catch, a 4.81-pound bass, of the morning and very pleased with the 3-plus pounder his fishin’ buddy netted about 15 minutes later on May 18 at Chicot Lake.

But the fish that meant the most to Travis Meche Sr. of Branch and his tournament partner was a 1 ½-pound class bass late in the day on a wacky-rigged green pumpkin Zoom Trick Worm. It meant all the difference in winning the fourth Louisiana Bass Cats tournament of 2025.

“We rode around with four fish (keeper bass) all day, for hours. I had to pick up the spinning rod to catch the last fish,” Meche said a few days later. “It was about a pound-and-a-half. That’s what won us the tournament, the spinning rod fish.”

Meche and Jacob Shoopman of Lafayette, formerly of New Iberia, needed every ounce of bass flesh and slime to finish first with their limit pushing the digital scale to 14 pounds worth $630. They finished just ahead of the runners-up team of Raven Owens and Brad Romero, both of New Iberia, whose five bass weighed 13.94 pounds and included a 3.38-pounder.

Dieter Gidman and Nolan Gastin, who both live in the Lafayette area, finished third and boasted the biggest bass of the tournament, a “hawg” weighing 5.48 pounds for $140. It anchored their limit that tipped the digital scale to 11.64 pounds.

Meche enjoyed the start of the day, more or less.

More because 15 minutes after they began fishing and taking advantage of a shad spawn his white Spro plastic frog was inhaled by the 4.81-pounder near a cypress tree. Meche said that early “kicker” bass “ate it good.”

Less because when the Xpress boat’s livewell failed to pump water, Meche emptied a small tacklebox, which Shoopman used to fill the livewell with lake water.

A little later, Meche caught their second keeper while slow-walking the same Spro.

“I looked away. I looked back and the frog was gone. I set the hook. I think it was about 3 ½,” he said.

Meche, fishing as a guest of Shoopman, said his tournament partner missed most of the shad spawn period filling the livewell, twice, because of a faulty drain plug he eventually adjusted with tape.

Nevertheless, Shoopman did get bit on the plastic frog he was working around cypress trees in approximately 5-foot depths. It apparently was another big bass but it didn’t get hooked up.

“I said, ‘Jacob you’ve got to lean into them.’ I’m sure it was another good one,” Meche said.

Meche caught another bass on a plastic frog and their fourth bass on a topwater popper. He also caught an 11 15/16-inch bass they decided against dropping in the livewell and his tournament partner hooked and boated an 11 ½-incher.

Meche’s fifth keeper bass saved the day. It was hanging around a tree with a little grass around it, according to Meche.

“It feels good. I knew we’d come back with some good fish and the day was well spent with my buddy,” he said.

Shoopman agreed and said, “Even though the fishing was real tough, the knowledge and experience that Travis has on that lake helped us fill out our limit and get the win.”

The shad spawn was the key because bass were eating breakfast for quite a while, both anglers said. After that the fishing got tough on the lake that was stained in a lot of places.

About the shad spawn, Meche said it’s apparently earlier than usual.

“Sometimes I’ve seen it like, June, even July. I always thought it was later than this … I’m not sure,” he said.

As for Chicot Lake, he said it appears to have less vegetation and has been at a high level.

“It caught like 8 or 10 inches a week-and-a-half ago. It’s come down fast, over the spillway, and it’s kind of stained the water up,” he said.