Resweber makes it back-to-back as Angler of Year

The St. Martinville bass angler won the regular-season finale in a 3-7:30 p.m. tournament Sept. 10 in the Atchafalaya Basin and captured his second straight, and third overall, Bass Angler of the Year title in the Catahoula Bass Association.

Resweber, 46-year-old owner of Haroil Construction Co., an oilfield gauging and production company, went out in style with a three-fish limit weighing 8.42 pounds while fishing with his son Braxton Resweber, 14. That made the victory and overall championship even sweeter, he said.

Resweber finished the season with 614.74 points. Jason Courville also leapfrogged past the absent Champagne, finishing fifth in the tournament and runner-up in the Angler of the Year race with 550.65 points. 

“Oh, it feels good. Any time you win it’s better than the alternative, losing. So it always feels good,” Resweber said.

Champagne, meanwhile, who opened the year with an impressive tournament victory Feb. 20, slipped to third in the overall standings with 536.81 points.

“We were on the same fish, so it was fortunate for me he didn’t show up because I don’t know If I could have beat him by 30 or so points to overtake him,” Resweber said. “I was expecting him to be there. There were a lot of fish caught. We had 8.42 and there were a lot of 7-pound stringers.”

For the tournament Sept. 10, the Reswebers went to his favorite fishin’ hole when the nation’s last overflow swamp gets low each year. It’s in the Grevemberg area, he said without providing further details.

They also used a “hot bait” of his that would remain a secret, too, he said.

“This time of year is the only time we really catch on it. I tried it in the spring. It just doesn’t work as good. It’s a hot summertime bait. It’s just using the right bait the right way. I’ll give you a hint ... it looks like a sexy shad,” he said.

Resweber won three bass club tournaments this year, including a July tournament in the Atchafalaya Basin and also one he fished with his son at Toledo Bend. He also had a third-place finish in a tournament.

The avid angler, who also likes to chase speckled trout, teamed up with Mike O’Brien of New Iberia this year to win a second straight title on the Lipari Outdoors Adventures Hawg circuit based in New Iberia.

Fishing with his son was lagniappe, he said.

“Braxton’s a real good fisherman. I mean, he can set the hook with the best of them. He’ll go on his own when we go to to camp, take the boat and find some fish. That’s what he really likes to do,” he said.