Braving cold and wintry conditions on the waters of Lake D’Arbonne, anglers from Jackson Parish fared well at the first Northeast Louisiana High School Anglers Trail Tourney of 2024 this past Saturday.

Proving their mettle, five of the eight teams that sported anglers from Jackson Parish caught at least three fish on a day when nearly half of the field of 48 that launched from the D’Arbonne Spillway failed to land a single one.

Four teams featuring local anglers finished in the top 20, highlighted by Hayden Davis and Maddox Duck of Quitman High coming in 6th place and being one of only five teams to land the five fish limit.  Addison Ledford and Hailey Chatham also turned in a great performance, as their three fish catch was good for 10th place overall and tops  among girls teams. 

Landin Chatham of Weston High and partner Hunter VanBuren came in 15th and the team of Andrew Brown and Cason Rogers, representing Quitman High finished in 19th place overall. Waylon Sullivan and Jake Vail of QHS also caught three fish that would have given them a tie for 11th but their weight total didn’t count. Maddox Williams of Saline High and his partner Eddie Hyatt came in 13th after weighing in a pair of fish. 

In overall competition, Davis and Duck sit in second place after being one of only two teams to have landed five fish in all three tournaments with Chatham and Van Buren holding down 8th place. Brody Halbrook and Brendan Newton, representing Gracepoint Christian are in 14th place, Sullivan and Vail are in 21st and Chatham and Ledford are in 24th place, giving Jackson Parish six teams in the top 25.