HENDERSON — The teams that won back-to-back $1,000 bass tournament paydays at Henderson Lake had a common denominator: Gavin Savoy.

The Catahoula bass angler, who just turned 20 on July 8, fished July 30 with Austin Theriot of St. Martinville to win the 2nd annual David Thibodeaux High School Bass Team Benefit Tournament, then teamed up July 6 with Theriot’s cousin, Braxton Resweber of St. Martinville, to win the Carencro Bass Club Open.

The Teche Area’s rising young bass angler is no stranger to big wins, including when he and Nick Vidrine of Arnaudville dominated the Legends on the Lake Tournament on Feb. 24, 2018, at Lake Fausse Pointe.

No doubt the last two Ws were special to Savoy. He credited the cousins, his friends and fishing buddies who aren’t much older, for the recent success.

“Both of those guys, Austin and Braxton, anytime I fish with those guys we have fun. I learned a lot from those two guys fishing. I do something different and vice versa,” Savoy said. “We just have fun and do what we know. That’s how it goes sometimes.”

That they topped some of the lake’s best bass anglers was impressive.

“The local boys weren’t too happy about it. I think winning out there means a little more. They’ve got guys out there who fish every day. We did very well. We had fun,” he said. “To win two weekends in a row feels good. I think we’re doing something a little different than everybody else, a little bit of everything. We catch bigger fish trying to get a reaction bite.”

Savoy and Theriot, 21, kicked off his streak the last Saturday of a hot July when they culled to a five-bass limit weighing 15.48 pounds to finish mere ounces ahead of Evan Lebouf and St. Martinville’s Matthew Bulliard, the grandson of veteran bass angler Danny Bulliard of St. Martinville, who had 15.25 pounds worth $350.

Young Bulliard is a senior who fishes on the Teurlings Catholic Rebel Fishing Team.

Savoy, a mechanic at GOM Energy Services LLC, which repairs hydraulic power units and hydraulic tongues for oil field drilling, and Theriot decided the night before the tournament to fish. They made the right moves on tournament day.

“Austin actually was smoking me. He had five or six and we had 9 or 10 (pounds). We went up north and it started pouring down on us. We went to moving baits. Bait(fish) were piled up,” Savoy said about the slugfest that ensued.

They ran south for the last hour or two. Savoy made the move pay off when he caught a 4-pound class bass that anchored their limit.

Savoy said he used to fish a lot at Henderson Lake. He learned how to catch bass in 2- to 3-foot depths or in 30-foot depths.

The tournament the following Saturday with Resweber, 25, was tougher as the bass were less aggressive. They figured out a winning pattern to boat five keepers weighing 11.77 pounds.

As the week before, a last-hour bass made the difference. Savoy said Resweber caught a 3.15-pounder to put them over the top.

“I knew it was tough when about 1, 1:30, we were talking to some guys who were looking for their fifth fish,” Savoy said.

They hit one point that gave them beaucoup 1 ½-1 ¾-pound bass, he said, noting a blowup on the point alerted them to the feeding bass there.