STEPHENSVILLE – Louisiana B.A.S.S. Nation competition always seems to bring out the best in Hunter Neuville, who more than measured up Feb. 23-24.

The 21-year-old Loreauville outdoorsman was in 15th after the first day of the Spring 2024 Qualifier, then finished third on Day 2 for a well-deserved and hard-earned seventh-place overall finish in the opener out of Doiron’s Landing. He chalked up that lofty ranking in the 53-boat field with a two-day total of 20.48 pounds.

With that effort, Neuville staked his early claim for a second straight berth on the Louisiana State Team. Last year in his first year as a Boater he made the state team and will fish the fast-approaching 2024 B.A.S.S. National Qualifier on April 3-5 on the Arkansas River out of Muskogee, Okla.

He credits a “meant to be moment” for his latest success that raked in a little more than $400.

“I lucked up with a big one the second day, a 4.40-pounder. It was very last-minute,” Neuville said a day after the tournament. “I caught it off a drain that my Co-angler (Cole Amedee with the Ascension Area Anglers) brought me to on the way back. I let him have about 10 casts, then on my first cast in that drain, I caught it. It was meant to be, I guess.”

That 4.40-pound bass bit on a red squarebill crank bait at 2:55 p.m. near Lake Verret. It culled a 1 ½-pound class bass and anchored his second-day stringer that weighed 11.25 pounds.

The drain wasn’t anywhere close to his starting spot, however. The Atchafalaya Bassmaster member drove his 19-foot long 2001 Triton powered by a 2019 200-h.p. Mercury on a long run at safe daylight to one of his favorite fishin’ holes, which he politely declined from discussing, that Saturday morning.

That return trip east, back through the locks on the Intracoastal Waterway, then north of here meant he had little time to spare to go to the drain and get back for his weigh-in, which was at 3:15 p.m.

“I left there (his original spot) at 1. That’s cutting it close,” he said.

He was proud of his two limits, despite the average size. Nevertheless, the weight both days was enough to vault him into the top three.

The overall winner was Donald Rebstock from the Louisiana Bassholes. Rebstock triumphed with an unbeatable two-day total of 25.28 pounds. He had 15.46 pounds for the lead on Day 1 and came back with 9.82 pounds the second day to finish No.1.

Two Ascension Area Anglers, Malcolm Smith and Tim Carmouche, finished second and third, respectively, in the overall standings with 23.74 and 22.92 pounds.

The Day 2 winner, Casey St. Romain with St. Mary’s Bassmasters, was fourth overall with 22.71 pounds for the Friday and Saturday. St. Romain’s second-day limit weighed 13.18 pounds.

The 2024 Fall Qualifier that will decide the Louisiana State Team for 2025 will be held Sept. 25-28 at Toledo Bend out of San Miguel Park.

Neuville, a production manager at Gator Tail in Loreauville, said he was upbeat after prefishing for the 2024 Spring Qualifier. Admittedly, following Day 1, he was concerned.

“I was expecting a little better from practice. I was really hoping for a better first day,” he said. “I found good ones … don’t get me wrong. The water dropped. It was tough but both days weren’t disappointing.”

The other nine bass bass that he put on the digital scale, except for the 4-plus, during the tournament were caught on Kajun Boss spinnerbaits, he said.

Neuville has emerged as a consistent bass angler since he first started fishing Louisiana B.A.S.S. tournaments as a Boater in 2023. He finished ninth overall in the 2023 Spring Qualifier at Toledo Bend and followed up several months later by finishing seventh overall in the 2023 Fall Qualifier out of Doiron’s Landing.

The ultimate goal for every B.A.S.S. Nation competitor is to beat the tremendous odds to win a national championship and qualify for the Bassmaster Classic, like New Iberian Caleb Sumrall did in November 2017 with a life-changing win on Lake Hartwell.

Neuville has fished two national tournaments related to B.A.S.S. Nation.

The all-around outdoorsman qualified for the Louisiana B.A.S.S. Nation Team as a Co-Angler in 2021, then won the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Central Regional tournament in freezing weather in May 2022 at Milford Lake near Junction City, Kansas, to qualify for the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship later that year on Nov. 3-5 on the Ouachita River near Monroe.

As a high school senior at Highland Baptist Christian School, Neuville and his tournament partner, Avery Derouen, fished the 2021 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School National Championship at Chickamauga Lake near Dayton, Tennessee.