BROOKELAND, Texas — Two St. Mary Parish bass anglers were pleased to see the first good-sized bass on their last day of prefishing before the start of a bass club tournament at Lake Sam Rayburn.

Dicky Fitzgerald of Charenton hooked it and his fishing Buddy Bubbie Lopez of Centerville grabbed it at the boat March 17. Lopez admired the nice, 4.18-pound bass.

There was something a tiny bit different about its appearance, though.

“At first, after I lipped it, I thought it was a piece of slime on the dorsal fin. I handed it to him. He (Fitzgerald) was going to release it and said, ‘Whoa. That’s a tag.’ We cleaned it off and saw a number,” Lopez said about that improbable moment the day before the Louisiana Bass Anglers first-day tournament at the Big Sam.

They called that number. The bass was a special bass because it carried a BassCashBass tag inserted in 2017.

The bass that has been swimming around the big lake in western Texas for five years was worth $500 and a 7-foot long Halo Fishing Rod MH for Fitzgerald.

As instructed, they took photos, removed the tag and released the bass on the spot.

“Our only big fish scouting was that one. It was the biggest one,” said Lopez, a production operated for Industrial Oilfield Services.

It was the highlight of the day.

“I caught him on a Chatterbait in a foot of water in a piece of bush. I mean, honestly, I was trying to shake the fish off. It’s a good thing we landed him,” Fitzgerald, two-time defending AOY in the LBA, said.

They were pleasantly surprised by what unfolded.

“Oh, he (Lopez) couldn’t believe it. We laughed and joked. I was trying to shake the fish off not knowing it was tagged. It was unbelievable. It really was,” Fitzgerald said.

“Then to have the good tournament we had — 14 pounds (the first day) and come out second, and to have 19 pounds (and win the second day) is pretty awesome. It was a pretty awesome week.”

Fitzgerald’s wait to collect his prizes was a short one. BassCashBash founder and owner P.D. Vinson of Leesville drove over to Lake Sam Rayburn in time for the bass club’s weigh-in the next day and presented the check and fishing rod.

“That says a lot about their organization. That was pretty cool that he came,” Fitzgerald said.

Vinson also told him the bass was 14 inches long when it was tagged in 2017. It was a healthy 4.18 pounds five years later when Fitzgerald and Lopez got their hands on it March 17.

Fitzgerald, who has a State Farm Insurance agency in Morgan City, registered before fishing in BassCashBash. He also purchased a T-shirt, which made him eligible for the $500 bonus.

A BassCashBash spokesman said Halo Fishing Rods sponsors the payout for registered bass anglers who land a tagged bass from any previous year.

The BassCashBash days for Lake Sam Rayburn are Jan. 1-April 30.

Louisiana Bass Anglers members appreciated it but good-naturedly gave him a hard time.

Fitzgerald chuckled and said, “Ah, they were just ragging me … ‘You’re lucky!’ All that, you know?”

His wife, Lisa Luke Fitzgerald, was proud but joined in the gentle ribbing. Something about a horseshoe, he said, laughing softly again.