Savoy sets date for 2024 Jackie Savoy Memorial BBC

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, January 24, 2024

The Jackie Savoy Memorial Big Bass Classic’s director want to keep it reel, er, real — the competitive part of the fundraiser — but he also wants to grow the social side of what has become an “event” for all.

Tee Roy Savoy of Coteau Holmes said a few weeks ago this year’s event is scheduled to be held April 27 at Marsh Field Landing on Lake Fausse Pointe. He announced the annual “two-in-one” tournament’s date on the Big Bass Classic Facebook page on Jan. 6.

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Acadiana’s bass anglers will compete for hourly big bass cash prizes as well as the recently introduced biggest five-bass stringer division that has added to the tournament’s popularity. Entry fee is $150 per boat with a guaranteed $4,000 going to the three biggest bass each hour ($250, $150 and $100) and $2,000 for first-, second- and third-place finishes in the biggest limit division.

“You can be just an everyday angler-type bass fisherman and win this thing. It’s luck. You just have to be in the right place at the right time” to catch the biggest bass of the day, Savoy said Jan. 22.

Thirty-one boats fished last year’s event held on April 22. Savoy is hopeful to get at least 40 , which hasn’t been the case the past few years.

“I hope to have over 40 to begin with. Everything else is lagniappe,” he said.

Savoy, who took over as director immediately following the sudden death of Elvis Jeanminette, the tournament’s founder, on Jan. 12, 2015. He has made it a point to emphasize the bass angler part of the popular fundraiser but also add to the experience with live bands and a cookoff.

He definitely is seeking more of the latter this year and would like to hear a few more bands to entertain the growing crowd of non-bass angler who converge at the boat landing.

The Cayenne Building Services LLC owner welcomes any and all comers to set up a booth to cook for the two coveted paddles. He also plans to challenge a group of men and women who cook and follow his Facebook page “It is What’s for Supper!”

He said, “I’m trying to make the cookoff a little bigger. I want to get enough cooks, you know?”

It’d be great to have at least 15 teams on the grounds, he added.

There are numerous raffle items sold at each event that contribute to the fundraiser.

A major raffle item this year is an all-expense paid five-day (six nights) “bowhunt of a lifetime” trip at the Double Deuce Ranch near Powersville in north central Missouri. The $5 tickets are being sold for the trip worth nearly $3,000. The hunt itself, he said, costs $2,150. It covers the $265 license and adds $400 for travel expenses.

It’s all for the purest of causes … to help families dealing with cancer victims defray expenses and/or buy groceries. That’s why the chief benefactors are the Lydia Cancer Society and Acadiana Hope for a Cause.

The namesake for this tournament is the late Jacqueline Savoy, Savoy’s wife who was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and died Feb. 1, 2021. He renamed the tournament in February 2021.

The tournament was held without missing a beat every year the Savoys, including Sy and Ry, coped with the disease for nearly five year. Jackie continued to volunteer, starting at 4 a.m. each BBC, at the fundraising site during those years.

Savoy has been kind-hearted and generous as he distributes the money between the organizations and individuals.

Last Christmas he was alerted to a Facebook post about a woman who had cancer and was concerned about getting gifts for her children. The children got each item on a short wish list, including a gift card to take their stricken mom to her favorite restaurant, Zea Rotisserie and Bar in Lafayette.

Savoy thanked bass anglers who fish, individuals and businesses who donate and everyone associated with the fundraiser for being able to do something like that.