LOREAUVILLE – Two Teche Area bass anglers got more than big bass money March 27 when they fished the second Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament on Lake Fausse Pointe.

Cody Patillo of Loreauville and Brock Daigle of New Iberia, formerly of Loreauville, high-fived, fist bumped and otherwise enjoyed the nice-sized bass Daigle caught a little later than midway through the evening bass tournament that began at 5:30 p.m. and ended with weigh-in at 7:45 p.m.

“Cody said, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s a big bass.’ He kept saying, ‘We got big bass.’ He was right, I just kept my fingers crossed the whole time we were going to place in the top three,” Daigle said a few days later.

They did cash in for big bass with a 3.65-pounder worth $130 but, thanks to a clutch kicker bass reeled in by Pattillo, topped the 26-boat field with a three-bass limit weighing 7.58 pounds for first place and another $585

Pattillo, a Cleco lineman whose 43rd birthday is April 19, and Daigle, 44, went through elementary school and high school together while growing up in Loreauville. They even worked together as electricians for about a decade.

The WN Hawg Fights BTS win was only their second time paired up on the water for one of the popular local evening tournaments. They fished as a team once last year, Pattillo said.

At the last minute recently, he decided to fish the second Hawg Fight. He called Daigle.

“I knew I was on fish. I went scout Sunday. I caught a lot of fish, a few of them over 3 pounds. I definitely knew they were there but it’d be a popular place,” Pattillo said. “I told him, ‘We’ve got a chance. Make sure all your knots are tied good.’ ”

A handful of boats were at his starting spot, a traditional spawning area, and a few more came in after he arrived, he said.

“I tried to be as courteous as possible. I just fished really slow. I found a little spot where there wasn’t too much traffic and worked it back and forth. We didn’t catch a lot of them … probably six,” Pattillo said.

Their two biggest bass were hooked and boated after Pattillo caught and deposited three smaller keepers in the livewell. It got interesting around 6:45 p.m., he said, when his longtime friend got the big bite.

Daigle said the hook point in the plastic worm he was using kept working its way out on retrieves, thus giving him some trouble around any vegetation.

“I was dragging the worm. I felt a little resistance on the line. I thought I had a piece of grass. I pulled. Then I felt a fish pull back,” he said, noting he swung the fishing rod hard and set the hook.

“It bit not too far from the boat. I was going to boat flip it but Cody said, ‘Oh, no. Don’t boat flip.’ He just lipped it and got it in the boat.”

Fifteen minutes later there was more excitement as Pattillo caught a 3-pound class bass.

“Then we had the other (small) keeper. I was worried. I thought we’d have to get rid of it to get a check but it turned out we didn’t have to,” Pattillo said.

The winners needed every fraction of an ounce to turn back the father-son team of Don Shoopman and Jacob Shoopman, both of New Iberia. The Shoopmans, Angler(s) of the Year in 2015 and 2020, finished an agonizingly close second for the second straight Hawg Fight when they brought back a limit weighing 7.32 pounds worth $351.

Brad Romero and Raven Owens, both of New Iberia, who won the Hawg Fight opener on March 20, kept the pressure on again with three bass weighing 7.25 pounds for third place and $234.

Daigle, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who works as a welding teacher at the Iberia Parish Career Center, enjoyed the sweep of first and big bass.

“I texted my wife (Ashley Charpentier Daigle) – ‘First place, baby, and big bass!’ Hollis (their oldest of two sons) got home from basketball and told my wife, ‘I’m so proud of daddy,’ ” he said.

Pattillo was proud, too.

“Oh, that was a good time. We caught up, laughed a lot and had fun. Just a good day,” he said.

The next WN Hawg Fights BTS tournament is scheduled to be held April 10 at Lake Martin in St. Martin Parish. For more information call 337-321-1178.