COTEAU HOLMES – Johnny Hester was fishing for bass on a hot and sticky evening June 14 when a fish bit one of his favorite soft plastics around a cypress tree in the Atchafalaya Basin.

It inhaled the june bug Zoom Ultra-Vibe Speed Craw, then kept moving like a freight train. The Lafayette bass angler had it under control and said as much to his Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series partner Jerry Marcotte.

“I told him, ‘Don’t worry about getting the net. It isn’t a bass,’ ” Hester said while recalling the exciting moments.

Luckily, Marcotte got a better look and, according to Hester, who said, “Jerry saw it. He said, ‘That’s a bass!’ ”

Marcotte scrambled for the landing net after all and scooped up a 3.60-pound bass that anchored their three-bass limit weighing a whopping 9.12 pounds, more than enough to win the seventh WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament of 2023. It also was their last keeper of the evening and culled a 2-pound class bass.

With their first-ever WN Hawg Fights BTS victory ever that Wednesday, Hester, formerly of Franklin, and Marcotte pocketed $516 for first place in the 23-boat field that fished out of Bayou Benoit Boat Landing. It was the popular local circuit’s third tournament in the nation’s last great overflow swamp, the second at Bayou Benoit. The other one was at Myette Point Boat Landing.

The winning team’s catch won handily. The closest team to the top team was that of Jacob Shoopman and his father, Don Shoopman, both of New Iberia. The WN Hawg Fights BTS Angler(s) of the Year in 2015 and 2020 checked in after a long boat ride with a limit weighing 7.57 pounds for $311.

Brad Romero and Kyle LeBlanc finished third just a fraction of an ounce behind the Shoopmans. Romero and LeBlanc rode the evening’s biggest bass, a 3.75-pounder worth $115, to a 7.46-pound limit for $207.

“Brad came in with a bigger one. He had a nice fish,” Hester said.

Hester, 69, a retired rig superintendent for Hunt Oil Co., was proud of their first win on the series.

“You know, for a Wednesday afternoon Hawg Fight, there’s some excellent fishermen in there. These guys are good. You never know if you have enough to win,” he said.

On this evening, Hester and Marcotte, who lives in rural St. Mary Parish between Baldwin and Jeanerette, were much better at putting keeper bass in the boat than anyone else. But, oh, it was a challenge just to get the ball rolling.

“Oh, you know, it started off kind of disastrous. I cut a little too close to the curve (leading to their fishin’ hole) and we ended up stuck on a sandbar,” he said, noting just the very end of the stern was lodged while the rest of the big aluminum bass boat was in 5-foot depths.

They both got out of the boat, pushed and got it floating within minutes and continued on their way.

“I was trying to think who fished around us who could tow us. The day started very interesting,” he said.

Keeper-sized bass were waiting and willing to bite in their fishin’ hole. The bass anglers put one in the boat on a spinnerbait, then switched to flipping soft plastics – Hester with the june bug Speed Craw while a june bug plastic lizard was the bait of choice for Marcotte, who works in production for Shell.

The last fish was one for the highlight reels, including Hester’s declaration he didn’t need a landing net. It culled a 2-pounder, according to Hester.

“It’s funny that last one hit like a redfish running,” he said with a chuckle.

With five tournaments left on the regular-season schedule, St. Martin Parish bass anglers Austin Theriot and Gavin Savoy remained atop the point standings in the race for 2023 Angler(s) of the Year. Their 615 points are ahead of runner-up John Gordon’s 595. Mike Sinitiere and Mike O’Brien, who won the AOY in 2022, are next following a slow start to the season with 581.

The stretch run should prove to be an exciting one.

The next WN Hawg Fights BTS is scheduled to be held June 28 at Myette Point Boat Landing.