New Iberian Zach Suit, with a big assist from his bass club tournament partner, Mike Sinitiere, rose to the occasion Oct. 25-26 when the Angler of the Year title was on the line in the Louisiana Bass Cats.
Suit and Sinitiere dominated the second day of the eighth and final tournament of 2020. Suit returned from Lake Sam Rayburn as AOY.
Suit was vying for the coveted title against his older brother, Ben Suit — best man at his recent wedding, future colleague at Erik Guillory State Farm Insurance in Broussard and the bass club angler who won AOY titles back-to-back in 2018-19. He knew his closest challenger well: They were AOY two straight years together in the Wednesday Night Hawg Fights Bass Tournament Series.
Zach and Sinitiere’s two-day total was 32 pounds, 9 ounces. Ben and his father, Kevin Suit, finished with 28 pounds.
“I am excited. It’s fun to win. The hardest part is going to be doing it again,” Zach said.
Starting their day from San Augustine State Park, Zach owned a 4-point edge, 1,392-1,388, over his older brother.
“I felt even though I was the defending champion, the pressure was on him. I didn’t feel any pressure,” Ben said.
Ben, 30, and his father, Kevin Suit, fished well enough the first day to forge a tie atop the point standings between the brothers. Zach and Sinitiere’s five bass weighed 13 pounds, 13 ounces. Ben and his dad’s limit weighed 13 pounds, 12 ounces, with extra points earned for Kevin Suit’s big bass of the day, a 5-pound, 3-ounce fish.
The brothers were tied going into the second and last day on Lake Sam Rayburn.
Ben said, “After Day 1, I’m pretty sure we went out tied. We started the year at zero and went into the last day at zero.”
“We had a good day, a really good day. It came down to making the right decisions.”
The 2020 AOY could not credit his tournament partner enough. Their second-day bag included the day’s biggest bass at 5 pound, 15 ounces, plus the day’s second-biggest bass of 5 pounds, 11 ounces, both hooked and boated by Sinitiere.
That morning, Zach said, they started at their “best spot,” made one pass and had one bass to show for it. But it was the big one, which bit a Whopper Plopper.
Mike started throwing a Senko and caught two more. We left the first spot with three keepers,” Zach said. “We pull up to our second spot (close to their starting point) and fish were schooling, blowing up all over. We filled our limit with two 14-inchers. Mike decided to keep throwing a Senko and see what happened. That’s when he caught the 5-11, probably about 9:45.”
They were pleased at that point, he said, adding they had two “really decent” bass and two 1 ½-pounders they later replaced with 2 ½-pound class bass.
“It feels good. (But) I’m going to have to work hard next year to stay on top. I’m sure Dad and my brother are going to be gunning hard. Everybody will. But I’ll hear a lot more from the two,” he said.
Photo courtesy Zach Suit
