Louviere pleasantly surprised team wins with 12.34 pounds

MYETTE POINT — If Michael Louviere said a two-word phrase once he said it four dozen times, laughing softly, incredulously, bewildered, surprised (pleasantly) following the weigh-in for the Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series Classic.

“Mind boggling,” Louviere said, repeatedly.

Louviere, 42, and Tabitha Landry, both of Jeanerette, his tournament partner, won the Classic, a feat worth $2,000. Their five-bass limit weighed 12.34 pounds, which is what boggled his mind.

“That was crazy. Mind boggling,” Louviere said, again.

“That doesn’t happen, not with the ‘sticks’ (high-caliber of skilled bass anglers) we fish against. At any given moment it takes 15 to 20 pounds. They’re not slouches. You better be fishing to beat them,” he said. “It’s just, you look at it, the year before, it wasn’t no 12-pound stringer.”

To illustrate his point, the 2021 Classic winners, New Iberians Mike Sinitiere and Mike O’Brien, had 16.01 pounds, and the 2020 Classic winners, St. Martinville’s Braxton Resweber and Austin Theriot, boasted 16.46 pounds.

Something about the weather or Atchafalaya River conditions challenged bass anglers on 19 Classic-qualifying teams that fished Sunday from safe daylight to 4 p.m.

“Whew. It was a struggle,” Landry said, despite the fact her team was one of few, if any, that caught bass all day, and survived losing three good-sized bass.

Nevertheless, Louviere said, “We had an awesome day. We did what we had to do. We caught fish. Tabitha said I couldn’t be upset with myself. She was like, ‘We did well. You can’t fuss at nothing. You missed a couple fish but you can’t beat yourself up over it.’ ”

Their closest challengers in the Atchafalaya Basin were Dicky Fitzgerald of Charenton and Bubbie Lopez of Centerville. The veteran, accomplished bass anglers and long-time friends from the Louisiana Bass Anglers didn’t venture far from the launch site, caught keepers early and culled to a 12.02-pound limit to pocket $1,000 with a second-place finish.

Brad Romero and Raven Owens, both of New Iberia, nailed down the third-place spot with five bass weighing 11.95 pounds worth $750. Romero capped a trying season that ended on a high note with a win in the nation’s last great overflow swamp in the regular-season finale Aug. 31.

The popular circuit’s Angler(s) of the Year, Mike Sinitiere and Mike O’Brien, both of New Iberia, finished fourth with five bass weighing 11.76 pounds for $500. They also collected $300 at the awards presentation for AOY.

Lafayette’s Greer Billeaud and Breaux Bridge’s Andre Cazelot, runners-up in the 2022 AOY race, boasted the Classic’s biggest bass, a 4.61-pounder worth $260.

Louviere, born and raised in Loreauville, and Landry’s five bass topped the field. As the welder for Chart Industries Inc. said, they persevered in a tough tournament.

Or, perhaps, it may have been semi-heavenly intervention.

“When the fishing gods are with you, they’re with you,” he said.

“We had a helluva bag. Four big fish. One dink. I’m always the one who says dinks don’t win tournaments. Basically, 10 pounds came off four fish. We caught fish all day long. We were looking for that one bite” to cull out the dink, he said.

“I missed it three times to get that one fish.”

The miss that stung the most was after midday in the waning hours of the Classic. It was an estimated 4-plus pounder that hit a buzz bait.

“I don’t understand how I missed it. It short-striked for some reason,” he said, noting the other two misfires on potential kicker bass came on a black Spro popper plastic frog.

His black Boogerman buzz bait and Spro plastic frog accounted for all the bass that hit the scale, he said.

Landry caught her share of the 20-30 keeper-sized bass they boated on GYMC Senkos. She prefers the Texas-rigged Senko because it gets hung up less often.

The outcome was a catalyst for more bass tournament fishing in the future for Landry. She admittedly was ready to give up her seat in the boat.

“The last couple days I went fishing I told Michael I was on the edge of retiring. I wasn’t catching nothing. I told Michael he could fish by himself,” she said.

Also, she said, it wasn’t the most successful of seasons on the WN Hawg Fights BTS circuit for her and Louviere. Their lone finish in the money was in the opener March 23, a second place, at Lake Fausse Pointe.

They fished 10 of the 12 events. Twice they didn’t put fish on the scale.

Landry, who works at her father’s business, B’s Lounge, near Myette Point, stayed as positive as possible throughout the season.

“Michael’s hard on himself. He’s his worst critic. When he’s not winning he’s like, ‘I’m not doing something right. I’m doing something wrong,’ ” she said. “Like I tell everyone, I’m his biggest fan.”

Winning with 12 pounds and change still amazed Louviere.

“I’m not going to lie. I’m still in shock. I can’t believe 12 pounds won this magnitude of a tournament,” he said.

That’s mind boggling, for sure.