NACT Tourney on Wheeler Lake – Top Honors Go To Team of Don Lawrence and Dan Treadwell
by Ron Presley
First-place team also claims Big Fish honors on Wheeler Lake.
The North Alabama Catfish Trail (NACT) held its second event of the 2024 season on Wheeler Lake out of First Creet Boat Ramp in Rogersville, AL. Even with the nasty weather the January 27, 2024 event attracted 18 teams ready and willing to tackle the elements head on. Fishing hours were 6:30 am to 3:30 pm with anglers required to be at the scales by 3:30 pm.
“It was so cold our spools were freezing on our reels,” said Kevin Childress, one of the anglers. “Add in 20 mph winds and it was brutal.”
NACT intentionally draws a variety of anglers to the sport. Childress, for example, was fishing with his young daughter Peyton. In addition to the normal winners, NACT recognizes a Top Veteran Angler, a Top Lady Angler, and a Top Youth Angler.
Anglers were harshly challenged by Mother Nature with cold windy conditions but it was reported that all the teams caught some fish. When the scales were closed and weights tallied it required nearly 125 pounds in three fish to win.
First Place and Big Fish 
The top spot at NACT went to Don Lawrence and Dan Treadwell. They teamed up to bring 124.69 pounds to the scales to earn the first-place spot. Their bag included the Big Fish of the tournament at 64.35 pounds.
Like all the anglers the team had to battle the wind for boat position and bait presentation. They set out to drag baits and drag them they did.
“We were able to drag baits up a secondary ledge,” reported Lawrence. “We were water that was about 23 feet deep. It is a bend in the river and the current there is slack so the bait is just stacking up like crazy because the current out in the channel is a good 5 mph or more.”
Lawrence found the fish while scouting on Thursday night before the tournament. However, due to the flood stage of the river, there was too much trash to drag it. Things changed by tournament day. Lawrence noted that there isn’t really anything to anchor on in this area. These fish were just scattered and moving up and down the ledge and anchor fishing was not productive.
“In a way, the wind was a blessing,” noted Lawrence. “Yesterday the wind was so high it pushed all of the trash away and we were able to fish it when our first spot didn’t work out. We went to this 2nd spot knowing the fish were there. The wind had pushed the trash out and we were able to fish it using big gizzard shad that we caught the day before. This spot is where we caught all of our fish!”
“As soon as we started fishing it was game on,” continued Lawrence. “We caught more than 30 fish over 20 pounds and around 8 over 40 pounds that we had to cull. We also lost two more big fish.”
Lawrence and Treadwell were dragging a 500-yard stretch, picking up, and returning to where they began to drag it again producing fish each time.
“There was a time while we had steaks on the grill and three 40-plus fish in the boat at one time,” declared Lawrence. “It was nuts. The fish wanted the bait at a crawl and we only got bites when moving 0.2 to 0.3 mph. The wind was a blessing because it blew out the trash, but the wind made it difficult too because where we were fishing we had a crosswind and it was hard to get down to that 0.2 to 0.3 mph speed. If you got 0.5 or higher the fish wouldn’t bite.”
In a reminder of the dangers of navigating in flood waters, Lawrence described what happened when the team hit a log as they motored to their spot following registration.
“The log was in the trough of a wave at just the right time and I didn’t see it until it was too late,” Lawrence said. “We were running at 50mph and I had just enough time to slow down to 40 and either turn or straighten up. I hit it perfectly perpendicular. I didn’t want to hit it with the boat sideways so I squared up the best I could. We nailed it and it was quite the bang but luckily SeaArks are tough and we don’t seem to have taken any damage. Luckily it didn’t get our prop. The incident just took a little paint off the skeg.”
“I would like to thank Reel Deel Rods for all of their support of our team and for making the best rods on the market,” concluded Lawrence. “Thanks also to Katmama Industries for all of their great gear and all they do for the sport and our local trails. Finally, thanks to B-Kat Boards for awesome planer boards and to Black Oak LED for their waterproof lights.”
Second Place and Top Youth Angler 
The runner-up spot went to Kevin and Peyton Childress. The father/daughter team brought 118.07 pounds to the scales to earn the second-place spot. Peyton also received the Youth Angler Award sponsored by Parks Planers boards.
Third Place and Top Veteran 
The third spot went to David Ryals and Tim Adams. They posted a total weight of 104.08 pounds to earn third-place honors. Ryals also won the Top Veteran Angler Award.
Fourth Place 
Ron Goucher and Ray Nix brought 99.96 pounds to the scales to claim the fourth-place hardware on a challenging day for the anglers.
Fifth Place and Top Lady Angler 
Bringing home the 5th place weight was Jerry and Hannah Ishcomer. The father/daughter team brought in 97.01 pounds to earn the 5th spot. Hannah also won the NACT Lady Angler Award sponsored by KatMama Industries.
Final Thoughts
The NACT is a family-friendly tournament trail aimed at fishing for old-fashioned fun. Tournament director Lisa Gail Haraway has assembled a great group of sponsors, volunteers, and anglers to accomplish her goals for 2024 and Richard Vinson has stepped up to fill the duties of Tournament Director skillfully.
“I worked with Lisa for two years on the trail,” explained Vinson. “This was my first time to direct it. Lisa had to step away because of her schedule. Other than the weather everything went pretty well.”
With winds at 12 to 15 mph and cold temperatures, it wasn’t easy but we survived,” continued Vinson. “We had new people come to fish our tournament and we’re very happy with that.”
“I want to thank the anglers who came out to fish with us with us and for being so dedicated to the sport,” concluded Vinson. “Even with the weather as bad as it was we had 18 teams show up and I believe everybody caught some fish. I also want to thank our sponsors and send a big shout to Lisa Haraway for all the hard work she put in to bring this tournament to where it is today.”
The next NACT tournament will be on Wilson Lake. The March 23, 2024 event will launch out of the Safety Harbor Boat Ramp.
For more information on North Alabama Catfish Trail visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
