When New Iberia resident Blake Trahan began the second day of the annual Louisiana Bass Cats Tournament on March 10, he had no idea what lay in store for him.
He’d fished the tournament since 2004 and that morning, like the morning before, was windy. Trahan and his fishing partner Peter Romero went back to their “secluded cove” to get out of the wind.
And the payoff was a double-digit trophy bass.
They’d had some luck with this cover the day before and, after catching a few decent keepers on spinners and crankbaits, the pair figured they would see what else would turn up in the grass.
Trahan (who goes by his real name on the LouisianaSportsman.com forum) decided to start the day with a new bait, so he tied on a swimming silver-and-black Money Minnow and cast out a few feet from the boat. The second cast was as uneventful as the first, but the third was a charm.
As Trahan reeled back, barely 10 minutes after dawn broke, he felt a fish bite down.
“It felt no bigger than a 2- or 3-pound fish,” he said.
As he reeled in and the fish neared the boat, Trahan’s heart began to race.
“When it got within 4 or 5 feet of the boat, I realized it was a big fish,” he said.
The entire fight lasted 30 seconds. The fish tried to swim under the boat so Trahan, a Toledo Bay regular, let out some drag and let the fish fight the reel.
When the bass came back from the short trip, it was all over. Trahan pulled up the largest bass he has ever caught.
“My first thought was to run over to Toledo Tackle and have it weighed and certified,” he said. “I had a feeling it was going to be the biggest fish in the tournament.”
He was right. It was a 10.1-pound lunker.
“If I never catch another fish like that again, I’ll know I caught that one,” Trahan said. “There is nothing like it.”
Sam Ebeyer
