PINELAND, Texas — New Iberian Zach Suit, with a big assist from his bass club tournament partner, rose to the occasion Oct. 25-26 when the Angler of the Year title was on the line in the Louisiana Bass Cats.

Suit and Mike Sinitiere, also of New Iberia, a bass club champion several times in the past, dominated the second day of the eighth and final tournament of 2020. Suit returned from Lake Sam Rayburn as AOY.

Suit was vying for the coveted title against his older brother, Ben Suit — best man at his recent wedding, future colleague at Erik Guillory State Farm Insurance in Broussard and the bass club angler who won AOY titles back-to-back in 2018-19. He knew his closest challenger well: They were AOY two straight years together in the Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series.

Zach and Sinitiere’s two-day total was 32 pounds, 9 ounces, to give the younger brother an unbeatable 1,918 points. Ben and his father, Kevin Suit, finished with 28 pounds to give the past two-time defending bass club champion 1,841 points.

“I am excited. It’s fun to win. The hardest part is going to be doing it again,” Zach said.

“It was really cool. It was a lot of fun,” Ben said.

Zach agreed and said, “That’s what it’s about, having a good time.”

Of course, an AOY title had to be decided starting at safe daylight each day they left the boat ramp at San Augustine State Park. Going into the tournament, Zach owned a 4-point edge, 1,392-1,388, over his older brother.

“I felt even though I was the defending champion, the pressure was on him. I didn’t feel any pressure,” Ben said about his mindset in the days leading up to the seventh and last tournament.

Brothers fit to be tied

Ben, 30, and his father, Kevin Suit, fished well enough the first day to forge a tie atop the point standings between the brothers. Zach and Sinitiere’s five bass weighed 13 pounds, 13 ounces. Ben and his dad’s limit, however, weighed 13 pounds, 12 ounces, with extra points earned for Kevin Suit’s big bass of the day, a 5-pound, 3-ounce fish.

As far as they all could determine, the brothers were tied going into the second and last day on Lake Sam Rayburn.

“I think we were tied going into the last day, which is crazy. It was pretty much whoever won the day won it all,” Zach said.

Ben said, “After Day 1, I’m pretty sure we went out tied. We started the year at zero and went into the last day at zero.”

His thoughts in the predawn moments before takeoff? “Like I’ve always said, bring in my best five, throw ‘em down and see what happens.”

Before leaving the boat ramp the second day, the brothers talked.

“Oh, we just said, ‘Good luck!’ I told Mike I wanted him to do good but just a little bit less than us. They did good, you know?” Zach said.

Zach and Sinitiere, who led the second-day charge, did better.

“We did. We had a good day, a really good day. It came down to making the right decisions,” Zach said after the Skeeter he was riding in checked in with 18 pounds, 12 ounces, while his brother had 15 pounds.

Game, set and match to Zach.

The 2020 AOY couldn’t credit his tournament partner enough. Their second-day bag included the day’s biggest bass at 5 pound, 15 ounces, plus the day’s second-biggest bass of 5 pounds, 11 ounces, both hooked and boated by Sinitiere.

That morning, Zach said, they started at their “best spot,” made one pass and had one bass to show for it. But it was the big one, which bit a Whopper Plopper.

Two big bass highlight second day

“We had our biggest but it was the only one,” he said, noting they discussed changing locations but stayed put.

“We started talking about it. Mike started throwing a Senko and caught two more. We left the first spot with three keepers,” Zach said. “We pull up to our second spot (close to their starting point) and fish were schooling, blowing up all over. We filled our limit with two 14-inchers. Mike decided to keep throwing a Senko and see what happened. That’s when he caught the 5-11, probably about 9:45.”

They were pleased at that point, he said, adding they had two “really decent” bass and two 1 ½-pounders they later replaced with 2 ½-pound class bass.

“The key for us was Mike for switching over to a Senko. Mike spent all the time scouting up there and found those fish. I’m really appreciative of someone scouting up there and putting in the work,” he said.

Did they think they had the tournament and title locked up?

“Yeah. We thought if we got beat they would have to have an exceptional bag, which is really possible, but we were pretty sure we had it,” Zach said. “It was exciting. We didn’t know how much (their limit was) going to weigh. That’s pretty good (18-12) considering how tough it was. I guess it’s damned good any time.”

After the weigh-in and the small crowd dispersed, the runner-up was alone with his tournament partner, his father.

“We didn’t talk too much about it. If I remember right, he said, ‘Congrats, anyway. Second place sucks, but we made him work for it,’ ” Ben said.

The older brother also said, “I don’t like to finish second, ever. I guess if I had to finish second, it’s not as bad he finished ahead of me. He had a really good year. I’m proud of him. I’m happy for him.

“Congrats again to him. I told him a hundred times it’s not easy, including on a club level.”

AOY angler had

three wins

In 2020, Zach finished first three times, second twice and third once. Most of the time he relied on a homemade swim jig his brother makes.

His most satisfying win was on May 17, he said, when he fished by himself and came back with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce, nearly 1 pound more than weighed by his dad, who led the AOY race a few months to rekindle memories of his championship days with the old Basin Boys Bass Club.

Ben said he hasn’t begun to chirp yet but it probably won’t be too long. After all, the next bass club season begins in four months with the Louisiana Bass Cats Open.

“I haven’t started to talk yet but I’m sure he knows I’m ready to go,” he said.

Oh, yeah, Zach knows that.

“It feels good. (But) I’m going to have to work hard next year to stay on top. I’m sure Dad and my brother are going to be gunning hard. Everybody will. But I’ll hear a lot more from the two,” he said.

For now, the younger brother has center stage.

“I’ve got bragging rights in the house,” he said.

And Ben and Zach’s dad is a proud papa. He was hoping all along he and his two sons would qualify for the prestigious Best Six Tournament at Toledo Bend. They did.

LOUISIANA BASS CATS

2020 POINT STANDINGS

(Final)

1, Zach Suit, 1,918. 2, Ben Suit, 1,841. 3, Kevin Suit, 1,802. 4, Mike Sinitiere, 1,625. 5, Hagen Riche, 1,400. 6, Jordy Russo, 1,246. 7, Junius “Nonkie” Dore, 1,073. 8, Max Stevens, 1,068. 9, Chris Vedrines, 908. 10, Randal Savoy, 894. 11, Derrick Romero, 824. 12, Lawrence Kuznik, 726. 13, Jean Trahan, 594. 14, Ry Savoy, 548. 15, Zack Savoy, 520. 16, Ronnie Dressel, 343. 17, Peter Romero, 315. 18, Raven Owens, 263. 19, Gavin Savoy, 242. 20, Phil Ransonet, 5.