Imagine weighing in at least one keeper bass in 26 consecutive Louisiana High School B.A.S.S. Nation tournaments, which is what Piers Picou of Houma and Jaxon Plaisance of Morgan City accomplished while fishing the circuit’s Junior Division.
That remarkable feat fueled back-to-back Anglers of the Year (AOY) titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24, said Piers’ proud father, Conrad Picou, who captained the Central Catholic Fishing Team members the past three years.
“They’ve had two good years,” he said. “I think both have a higher focus than most kids their age fishing. Their approach is how to catch a fish instead of five every tournament. After the first fish is in the boat, they do whatever they want. Catching the first fish is the most important thing. Twenty-six consecutive tournaments without scratching… They stayed focused. It’s good.”
His son began fishing with Central Catholic as a second-grader, while Plaisance began as a sixth-grader. The Junior Division standouts double qualified for nationals last summer to fish Lake Hartwell in South Carolina, then qualified this past season for the 2024 Bassmaster Junior National Championship on July 26-27 at Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee.
But after fishing this year’s Bassmaster Junior National Championship in late July at Chickamauga Lake, they’ll go their separate ways. Plaisance will be a freshman at Central Catholic High School and Picou will be a seventh-grader.
On top of the Junior Division
Keeping their amazing streak intact, plus a timely win in the regular-season finale April 21 at Stephensville, clinched a second straight AOY. Their limit, anchored by a 3.31-pounder, weighed 12.34 pounds to top the Junior Division.
Picou and Plaisance both agreed their win at Doiron’s Landing, Stephensville, was exciting, but perhaps the biggest thrill came with scant minutes before they had to roll and get back to the weigh-in Sept. 9 at Manchac. They were staring at a streak-ending first scratch.
“At Manchac we had no fish and me and Piers caught fish back-to-back with five minutes to spare,” Plaisance said about the regular-season opener for 2023-24. “Oh, we screamed like some girls. It was crazy.”
They finished second with those two bass.
Hard work pays off
The Central Catholic team capped the streak at 26 at their in-state swan song, the state championship tournament in May on the flooded Calcasieu River.
About the streak, Picou said, “I’m really proud of it. It’s a grind but in some tournaments you can just knock the living crap out of the fish.”
One of those bountiful days happened to be his favorite tournament, he said, referring to a weekend at Toledo Bend during his first year teaming up with Plaisance.
“We probably caught 50 fish that day,” Picou said. “It was really fun … every 10, 15 minutes you were catching at least a small fish or you were catching a double.”
Both anglers were pumped up about taking on the bass at The Chick.
“Oh, I’ve been watching YouTube videos on it and stuff,” Plaisance said. “I think it’s going to be a real fun tournament.”
“I’m really excited to go there,” Picou said. “It’s going to be a fun tournament … like the only thing we’re talking about the last month or two.
Plaisance said the team got on enough solid fish on the final practice day to win last year’s national championship at Lake Hartwell. However, officials started pulling water the next day and, presto, the bass were gone Day 1. Nevertheless, they used topwater poppers and drop-shotted soft plastics to catch 100 bass both days and finished 69th in the 123-boat field with 7 pounds, 5 ounces.
A great mentor
The elder Picou, 53, who owns Picou Marine Construction LLC in Houma, enjoys sharing his time and expertise with the youngsters who carved an impressive streak over a three-year period, which included one other win in February 2023 at Belle River.
Plaisance, whose go-to bait is a Cajun Tackle House Chatterbait, said the team has been successful because of good communication, plus, he said, “Our boat captain, Mr. Conrad, he has so much experience with fishing. He knows how to teach us to become better fishermen. He’s the reason we’re so good.”
The freshman’s favorite place to fish in August is Bayou Grosbec in the Spillway.
Picou’s favorite artificial lure is a chartreuse/blue Bandit or Strike King crankbait. His go-to spots in August are Lake Hatch, Mandalay and The Trace.
