It’s that time of year again for hump days to become special days for Acadiana’s tournament bass anglers who crave more competition on the plate.

The ever-popular Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series gets underway on March 20. The 12 evening bass tournaments will take participants to Lake Fausse Pointe for that first Wednesday. Tournament hours are from 5:30 p.m. to weigh-in time, which will be announced before the boats leave Marsh Field Landing.

Mike Sinitiere of New Iberia, veteran director for the WN Hawg Fights BTS, is more than ready to usher in the regular-season that leads up to the WN Hawg Fights BTS Classic.

“I’m looking forward to the upcoming season. I don’t know what to expect on participation this year. Hopefully, it’ll be the same or better than last year,” he said recently, warming up to one of his favorite subjects.

Sinitiere urges prospective participants to go to the “Hawg Fights” Facebook page and print out and fill out the entry and waiver form before arriving at the boat landing March 20. The pretournament hour(s) are busy and hectic on site, tournament officials realize, and completed entry/waiver papers tend to cut down on the time it takes to get everybody registered and paid up for the tournament.

“I mean, the first one is always the largest tournament. They can call me if they have any questions,” Sinitiere said, noting his cellphone number is 337-321-1178.

Entry fee is $60 per boat, with no more than two anglers per boat. There is a three-fish limit with a minimum size limit of 12 inches.

The tournament director, who fishes with Mike O’Brien of New Iberia, anticipates fair to good bassin’ success for the first tournament on the lake.

“Yeah, as long as we don’t get a big rain,” he said.

Anglers must fish at least seven of the 12 tournaments to qualify for the WN Hawg Fights BTS Classic.

Austin Theriot of St. Martinville and Gavin Savoy of Catahoula are chomping at the bit to make their first cast in the evening bass tournament. They earned the circuit’s Angler(s) of the Year title last year with consistent showings in 2023.

Theriot, 23, said he may be unable to fish all 12 regular-season Hawg Fights in ’24. He is working as an aviation mechanic for Arrow Aviation in Broussard.

“I ain’t going to be able to fish it much. I definitely think six or seven, whatever. I’ve got a big boy job,” he said with a chuckle.

“It’ll be fun,” he added, noting he’ll probably fish a few with Savoy, a few with his girlfriend, Leryn Quintana, and a few with his cousin, Braxton Resweber of St. Martinville.

Chances of repeating as AOY are remote, he realizes.

“It sucks. (But) you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said.

As for March 20, he said about the opener and, even, the rest of the season, “It’ll be a fun one, for sure. The Basin’s low and the lake is on fire.”

Theriot and Savoy, 22, a welder, had to battle down to the wire last year to clinch AOY. They brought back one keeper bass in the regular-season finale and that was enough to turn back the hard-charging team of Brandon Sellers of New Iberia and Blaine Miller of Loreauville, 1,068 to 1,038.

The champs won one tournament, the fourth stop and first tournament of the year in the Atchafalaya Basin, with three bass weighing 7.06 pounds, plus a kicker at 3.09 that was the night’s biggest bass.

Otherwise, they stayed consistent in all but one regular-season tournament. The duo also teamed up to win the WN Hawg Fights BTS Classic with five bass weighing 11.90 pounds.