Doumit, Louviere ride big bass to Day 1 win; Heberts win Day 2

Published 1:20 am Sunday, March 29, 2020

MILAM, Texas — Steve Doumit of New Iberia boasted the biggest bass of the Coteau Bass Hustlers tournament the first week of March after catching the “hawg” on a piece of structure that was hit all morning by dozens of bass anglers March 6 at Toledo Bend.

The long deadfall, about 3 inches in diameter with two branches, wasn’t pounded by artificial lures, though, Doumit said, recalling that morning he and tournament partner Doyle Louviere launched their boat in Carrice Creek. Numerous other boats fishing bass tournaments put down and could take off in the predawn darkness but per bass club rules they had to wait until safe daylight.

Doumit and Louviere heard most of those boats hit the branch just under the surface as they took off in the dark that Friday. After hearing so many knocks, Louviere said they’d have to fish that underwater structure.

Doumit, 60-year-old distributor for Lil Debbie Snacks, said it’d have to wait because it’d been knocked so much. So they fished around Carrice Creek, caught some good bass on PB&J Senkos, and returned about 1 p.m. to the deadfall. 

“I cast on the right side of the tree toward the middle (of the creek) in probably about 5 feet of water. You have to let a Senko sink down real slow. I let it sink,” he said, then said he thought he got hung up on the structure, so he snapped his fishing rod to. It’s a good thing I tried to snap it off. That’s when I hooked him.

“I said, ‘Man, that’s a big fish,’ ” Doumit said, noting Louviere missed the first time with the landing net and the bass hit the side of the boat.

“Him” was a 6.81-pound bass that anchored their winning stringer of five bass weighing 15.77 pounds.

Doumit and Louviere topped an eight-boat field that fished either Toledo Bend or Lake Sam Rayburn. They finished ahead of Joey Trahan and Dustin Dore, whose five-bass limit weighed 14.17 pounds and included a 4.18-pounder to nail down second place, and Robbie Mayer and Gerald Frederick, whose limit weighed12.32 pounds.

On March 7, Doumit moseyed over to that same structure at approximately the same time and pulled a 3.47-pounder off it.’

“Two casts on the tree and I caught two nice fish on it,” he said, happily.

Marlin Hebert of New Iberia and his son, Colby Hebert of Loreauville, won the bass club’s second tournament here March 7 with five bass weighing 13.29 pounds. They were followed by Keith Altazin and Todd Trahan, runners-up with five bass weighing 12.78 pounds, and Mayer and Frederick, third with 12.38 pounds.

After scrambling to catch four keeper bass, one short of the tournament limit, for 6.01 pounds on Friday at Lake Sam Rayburn in Texas, the Heberts regrouped for the second tournament on Saturday while fishing Toledo Bend.

“We were bummed out, man. First place Steve and them come in with 15 pounds from Toledo Bend and we couldn’t get more than four,” Marlin Hebert said, explaining they prefished Thursday and fished Friday at Lake Sam Rayburn out of San Augustine Park. 

They had put their recent marine electronics lesson to good use and found cooperative bass deep that wanted drop-shotted soft plastics. However, the first tournament day was windy and they were unable to get to the offshore fish. 

“Friday night we decided we were going to go fish some old honey holes in Six Mile and Mill Creek. We didn’t even scout that area at all. It’s just some old spots we go back to every year and they hold fish,” he said. “We junk fished. We caught on spinnerbaits, drop shots, Carolina rigs, swim baits …”

Marlin Hebert, who celebrates his 52nd birthday in April, is the bass club’s defending Angler of the Year. The second-day showing moved him into second place in the standings behind his friend, Joey Trahan of Coteau.

“Me and my old buddy are battling again. It’s all fun,” Marlin Hebert said.

The installation manager for Butcher Air Conditioning and his 22-year-old son, an A/C technician for Red Guard, learned a lesson.

“When you’re on offshore fish, that’s what it’s about. When you can’t get out there, you need a Plan B,” he said.

They came up with and executed a winning Plan B.

COTEAU BASS HUSTLERS 

March 6 at Toledo Bend/Lake Rayburn

1, 1, Doyle Louviere-(*) Steve Doumit (5), 15.77. 2, Joey Trahan-Dustin Dore (5), 14.17. 3, Robbie Mayer-Gerald Frederick (5), 12.32. 4, Tim Sturm-Spencer Bailey Jr. (5), 10.59. 5, Keith Altazin-Todd Trahan (5), 9.74. 6, Jason Jones-Damon Bowers (5), 9.64. 7, Johnny Schexnayder-Brandon Sellers (5), 9.39. 8, Marlin Hebert-Colby Hebert (4), 6.01.

(*) Tournament’s lunker bass, 6.81.

COTEAU BASS HUSTLERS 

March 7 at Toledo Bend/Lake Rayburn

1, Marlin Hebert-Colby Hebert (5), 13.29. 2, Keith Altazin-(*) Todd Trahan (5), 12.78. 3, Robbie Mayer-Gerald Frederick (5), 12.38. 4, Jason Jones-Damon Bowers (5), 11.86. 5, Johnny Schexnayder-Brandon Sellers (5), 10.92. 6, Joey Trahan-Dustin Dore (5), 9.76. 7, Doyle Louviere-Steve Doumit (3), 7.42. 8, Tim Sturm-Spencer Bailey Jr. (4), 6.26.

(*) Tournament’s lunker bass, 3.72.

COTEAU BASS HUSTLERS

2020 POINT STANDINGS

1, Joey Trahan, 270. 2, Marlin Hebert, 247. 3, Gerald Frederick, 245. 4, Steve Doumit, 241. 5, Todd Trahan, 240. 6, Doyle Louviere, 238. 7, Robbie Mayer, 236. 8, Jason Jones, 235. 9, (tie) Keith Altazin and Colby Hebert, 235. 11, Johnny Schexnayder, 233. 12, Dustin Dore, 232. 13, Brandon Sellers, 223. 14, Tim Sturm, 152. 15, Damon Bowers, 145. 16, Jarrod Guilbeaux, 100. 17, Ralph Leleux, 80. 18, (tie) Blaine Miller and Paul Trahan, 75. 20, Irvin Guillote, 67. 21, James Hartwell, 66. 22, Spence Falgout, 65. 22, Ramon Ladner, 10.