Todaro and Muller became first team from Hahnville High to qualify for nationals
Picking a highlight from their freshman year on the Louisiana High School B.A.S.S. Nation (LHSBN) circuit was easy for Hahnville High School’s Drew Todaro and Chase Muller.
Fishing the Bayou Segnette area in March 2025, Todaro and Muller had a small limit and were struggling to get a “kicker” bass, before they saw a nice-sized one on a bed. On one of the subsequent casts, Todaro hooked it while his partner sat on the front deck rigging a lure.
Muller jumped up when his fishin’ buddy’s spinning rod bent double and he netted the fish, a 4-pound bass that probably made the difference between qualifying for nationals or not in 2025. It’s a testament to the team mentality they’ve had since 8th grade.
“We’ve been fishing really well together … figured things out,” Todaro said. “Eighth grade really helped us out.”
A solid partnership
Todaro, the son of Vincent and Dixie Todaro, and Muller, the son of Jason and Amanda Muller, fished LHSBN tournaments as eighth-graders at J.B. Martin Middle School in Paradis. Those years fishing from the bank along canals near their homes formed a bond between the two boys who have a passion for fishing.
It showed last year when they were freshmen at Hahnville. They delivered keepers to the scale when it counted throughout the season, with the most satisfying result coming at Bayou Segnette. They finished third with a limit weighing 10.63 pounds, including the 4-pounder.
Muller said that was his proudest moment as a high school bass angler. Todaro, whose father has captained them into their third year, agreed.
“That was a fun one. We caught fish all day long. That’s our backyard almost,” Muller said about the Bayou Segnette area they fished with Strike King Rage Bugs and Rage Scounbugs.
Fun at nationals
The Bayou Segnette finish helped the freshmen become the first bass anglers from Hahnville High to qualify for nationals.
“It was actually pretty crazy because based on the points they released at first, we thought we were just short of what we needed,” Todaro told the St. Charles Herald Guide back in June. “We were around fifth but there were some double qualifiers, and that meant we were in…”
“Oh, it was fun,” Muller said about the 2025 Bassmaster High School National Championship at Clarks Hill Lake in Georgia. “It was a good experience to be able to compete at a high level. The last day we figured them out. Drew caught about a 3 ½-pounder.”
“It was a cool place,” Todaro said. “Definitely different than fishing around here. We put the ’scope down and figured it out right at the end, what we definitely should be doing (targeting bass as deep as 80 feet).”
The team’s goal for 2025-26?
“Our goal for this year is to try to win the East Division Angler of the Year, get up there in the total AOY and get back to nationals, of course,” Todaro said.
They got off to a great start with a second-place finish in the Stephensville tournament Sept. 13 from Doiron’s Landing. The sophomores fished the Atchafalaya Basin side with Chatterbaits to weigh in 12.60 pounds.
Favorite fishin’ holes
Muller is an all-around outdoorsman who hunts deer at his family’s lease in Hazelhurst, Miss., and plays left tackle for the Hahnville Tigers. He started fishing with his dad and paw paw, David Muller, at a young age.
Muller’s favorite November fishin’ hole is around Des Allemands where he likes to flip soft plastics or work Strike King Stump Jumper plastic frogs.
Todaro, who said his “ultimate goal” is to fish the Bassmaster Elite Series, also began bass fishing around 7-8 years old with his father. They fished bass tournaments together.
His favorite fishin’ hole in November is Lake Cataouatche, where he targets the mouth of cuts from the river diversion with his favorite bladed jig, a green pumpkin Chatterbait Elite Mini Evo.
