COTEAU HOLMES — Long runs sometimes pay off, bass tournament anglers know.

So do short runs, as John Pecoraro of Youngsville and Kyle Guidry of Opelousas proved this past week in the regular-season finale of the Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series. Pecoraro and Guidry didn’t run the big motor for more than a few minutes on their way to winning the 12th WN Hawg Fights BTS contest in the Atchafalaya Basin out of Bayou Benoit Boat Landing.

“I wasn’t on any fish. I knew an area in the main little bayou” so they fished that thoroughly, Pecoraro, 42, said.

“We burned ½-gallon of gas and I think half of that was putting the boat on and off (the boat trailer,” he said.

They caught about half-a-dozen keeper-sized bass, about nine total, and culled to a three-bass limit weighing 6.77 pounds to win $338. The key fish was a 3.54-pounder Pecoraro caught at approximately 7:15 p.m. on the watermelon/red flake V&M J Bug, a soft plastic creature bait.

It was the biggest bass of the tournament, one that netted another $75.

“That was probably our fifth or sixth keeper. We culled with that one. We caught one more fish (keeper) after that. I certainly didn’t think it would be the winning fish,” said Pecoraro, production manager for Bell Helicopter.

He and Guidry, a 29-year-old salesman for Machine Specialty and Manufacturing Inc., got the bass to bite on the V&M J Bugs, either watermelon/red flake or black/blue.

“We just caught them throwing J Bugs next to houseboats and structure. That’s about it. Mainly any kind of structure. We weren’t punching or anything. Just flippin’ houseboats, structure and cypress trees. We fished clean,” he said.

The winners finished just ahead of Hunter Neuville of Loreauville and Andre Weber of New Iberia, whose three bass weighed 6.29 pounds, good enough for second place in the 15-team field and $203.

Brad Romero completed a consistent campaign on the popular evening bass tournament circuit with a third-place finish. Romero and Randall “Rooster” Savoy’s three-fish limit weighed 6.06 pounds worth $135.

Pecoraro was glad to close out the regular season on a winning note.

“Oh, it felt great. It’s been a tough stretch. We fished the last six to qualify for the Classic. We finished in the money a couple of times but a win builds confidence,” he said.

The 2021 season began March 24 at Lake Fausse Pointe. The coveted Angler(s) of the Year title was won five months later by cousins Braxton Resweber and Austin Theriot, who are neighbors in St. Martinville.

Resweber and Theriot amassed 1,054 points and held off their nearest challengers down the stretch to win AOY. Brandon Sellers of New Iberia and Blaine Miller of Loreauville finished runners-up in the AOY race with 1,018 points.

The WN Hawg Fights BTS Classic is scheduled to be held Sept. 12 at Myette Point Boat Landing in the Atchafalaya Basin. The site was determined Thursday night by a vote among qualifiers during a meeting at Billeaud’s No. 3 LLC in Broussard.