Boat accident on Barkley Lake

[Deb]

There are 5 major tournaments going on on Barkley/Kentucky Lakes.  An estimated 1100 boats involved.

Two boats from different tournaments collided about 7 this morning.   One co-angler was killed.  All others are reported as ok.

Please pray for these anglers and their families!

[5bass]

Wow, this is happening a lot lately. Very sad to hear.

[Sfritr]

That is terrible.  My prayers to the families

[Carrington]

From what i know, a co angler was killed when two boats collided head on. One of the boats was fishing a BFL event. The other boat was fishing a separate event.

[edit]no links to other websites[/edit]

[Bass XL]

Sad. I would like to see a more in-depth report.

[fishfordollars]

Sad story. My wife told me about it last night, and then started in on me about being more careful.

[Carrington]

ya, i tried to find more indepth but this is about all i could find on it.  i will def be being a little bit more safe when it comes to tournys.

[frogtog]

I was there and it was a mess. These tournaments should have never started with the fog the way it was. When I hit the first fog bank I almost got ran into myself. All I had to go by was my gps and I pointed it to the bank. I could hear boats running a wot ( Fool's ) The director's should have sent a couple boats out to check the river first. IMO

Prayers go out to the family's.

[Sam]

Been there, seen that.

Too many times.

Remember blasting off from Hopewell on the James River in Richmond only to have boats blow by me at full throttle heading the opposite direction from Osborne Landing back towards Hopewell.

We slowed down and hugged the shore to get out of their way.

And there was fog? What dummies would let the guys blast off in fog? "At First Safe Light" is the rule for our club, state and region tournaments if we can't blast off at the appointed time.

Good case for the lawyers.

So sorry to hear someone lost their life needlessly.  :'(

[SkilletSizeBass.]

Sad to hear. Prayers offered for the family.

[bmadd]

While I wasn't on Barkley Friday, I was on Kentucky. It was very foggy there at 7. I agree, the directors should have been a little more cautious. I know everybody is in a hurry to get out and fish but this is just crazy.

I also heard  one of the drivers was involved in another accident a few years ago. He hit something in the water causing his outboard to break off it's mounts and the top hit him. He's the luckiest unlucky man if he was involved.

[Glenn]

When I first there was a head-on, I thought there must have been a corner or something they rounded at WOT.  But fog?  Who the heck runs on plane in the fog?  For that matter, what tournament organization blasts off in the fog?  That's just insane!!

I've been in many a tournament where we delayed launch until the fog cleared, which sometimes took hours.  Ya, all the guys will say, "Oh we'll be careful, we promise" but all bets are off once they start getting passed up by other boats.  Then the stupidy begins.

Sorry, but if I were in a tournament and they decided to blast off in unsafe conditions, I'd wait (and have) until it's safe to venture out.  Common sense folks.

[5bass]

If what I heard was correct, there were 4 major tournaments on Ky - Barkley when this happened, plus all the smaller tournaments, plus the usual non tournament anglers. So you've got what, 700 boats all running straight at each other from all the different ramps? In fog? That's very, very dangerous to say the least.

Tournament Bass fishing has BLOWN UP so much in recent years that there needs to be some real laws made to keep everyone safe. There are so many people fishing tournaments and the lakes are simply overcrowded these days. Plus, all the different tournament organizations scheduling on top of each other doesnt make much sense.

This will be an ongoing problem until someone intervenes.

[R520dvx]

Fog was not an issue in this case .... nor was the number of boats on the water ..... yes, a lot of tournament boats ... probably upwards of about 1000. The four tournaments launched out of ramps spread over nearly 75 miles. in fact the 2 boats involved came out of ramps 25 miles apart.

I know some about this accident based on eyewitness accounts and have my own opinions about what happened and know one of the boaters pretty well.

[5bass]

iin fact the 2 boats involved came out of ramps 25 miles apart.

Going 65-70 mph at each other cuts that 25 mile separation down in a hurry. Some others on the lake when it happened reported foggy conditions but then others on the lake closer to the accident reported that there was no fog in the area. 

No matter what happened exactly, it's tragic and most likely could've been avoided.

[5bass]

[postsmovedhere1] 4 [postsmovedhere2] Tournament Talk [move by] five.bass.limit.

[frogtog]

This is all I could find. I seen some pic of the boat but don't know how to get it posted.    From ***:

Tragedy at KY Lake 10/8/2010

An accident this morning at Barkley Lake claimed the life of a co-angler fishing the BFL Regional there.

Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife public-affairs officer Sgt. Garry Clark issued the following statement to another site about the accident.

"Two bass boats in two different tournaments collided on Barkley Lake near Kuttawa, Ky. at approximately 7:15 this morning," Clark said. "One boat was fishing the Renegade Bass Classic, and there were two people on that boat. The two people in the other boat were fishing the BFL Regional bass tournament. They were on Barkley out in the main channel one heading east, the other heading west. They came on a collision course and collided with each other. When they realized they were on the same course they tried to make amends and still collided.

"On the (Renegade) boat, it ejected the operator but he had his lifejacket and killswitch on and it didn't hurt him. (Both the driver and the passenger) were unhurt. In the other boat, the passenger did have the boat hit him and he died on the scene. The driver was okay he had his safety stuff on too. He was practicing safety as far as having the killswitch hooked up and lifejacket on while moving."

Sgt. Clark added that the deceased was a 41-year-old male from Eupora, Miss.

According to FLW Outdoors standings and pairings for the event, Freddy McCrory was the only co-angler in the event from Eupora, Miss. His boater today was David "Scotty" Young. Young, a Kentucky Lake legend, survived a terrible boating accident in October 2007 at the Kentucky Lake BFL Regional that resulted in lacerations to his head and a neck injury that required surgery. His accident apparently occurred when his boat contacted underwater structure. Young's motor became dislodged and struck him. His partner then was uninjured.

The sport grieves.

[AaronW]

I was in the boat directly behind the boat the coanlger that got killed was in.  I would say we were about 40 to 50 yards away.  Fog was not an issue.  It was clear as can be.  It was a case of two boats coming towards each other and not doing what it took to avoid each other.  It was an accident and I didn't see where it was any more one driver's fault over the other.  They just didn't decide who was going to the right or left of each other soon enough and then it was too late. 

[FishingBuds]

Dang Thats a shame, I just won't understand some people and their reckless speeding on water. Thats one of the worst place to speed at.

so hopefully this wakes up at least one angler on the water

[J Francho]

That's a crying shame.  Its a simple navigation rule....

#14: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=Rule1415

[Fishing Rhino]

Not knowing the rules of navigation can be deadly.

While I did not witness it, I knew the boat captain involved.

Lobstering in Buzzards Bay can be hazardous on a clear day.  It leads to, or from, the south end of the Cape Cod Canal.

A foggy day and the lobsterman in question saw a tug and made to pass by its stern.  The captain of the tug gave three blasts on his horn, which signals he has something in tow.

The lobsterman, not knowing the regs, thought it was a friendly toot, waved at the tug and continued across its stern, only to be run over by the empty barge it was towing.

He was literally run over.  His boat along with him and his crew were passed over by the entire length of the barge.  The lobsterboat never broke the surface and sank on the spot. 

The three men barely escaped with their lives.

The tug may have been making 10 - 15 knots, tops.  The lobsterboat was even slower.  Speed was not a factor, but ignorance of the "rules of the road" was nearly deadly.

[Chaz Hickcox]

If what I heard was correct, there were 4 major tournaments on Ky - Barkley when this happened, plus all the smaller tournaments, plus the usual non tournament anglers. So you've got what, 700 boats all running straight at each other from all the different ramps? In fog? That's very, very dangerous to say the least.

Tournament Bass fishing has BLOWN UP so much in recent years that there needs to be some real laws made to keep everyone safe. There are so many people fishing tournaments and the lakes are simply overcrowded these days. Plus, all the different tournament organizations scheduling on top of each other doesnt make much sense.

This will be an ongoing problem until someone intervenes.

Why not have responsible adults instead of more nanny-state regulations?

[Fishing Rhino]

If what I heard was correct, there were 4 major tournaments on Ky - Barkley when this happened, plus all the smaller tournaments, plus the usual non tournament anglers. So you've got what, 700 boats all running straight at each other from all the different ramps? In fog? That's very, very dangerous to say the least.

Tournament Bass fishing has BLOWN UP so much in recent years that there needs to be some real laws made to keep everyone safe. There are so many people fishing tournaments and the lakes are simply overcrowded these days. Plus, all the different tournament organizations scheduling on top of each other doesnt make much sense.

This will be an ongoing problem until someone intervenes.

Why not have responsible adults instead of more nanny-state regulations?

I agree in principle with that sentiment, but, how do we get responsible adults?  And, what do we do with those who are not responsible?

[5bass]

If what I heard was correct, there were 4 major tournaments on Ky - Barkley when this happened, plus all the smaller tournaments, plus the usual non tournament anglers. So you've got what, 700 boats all running straight at each other from all the different ramps? In fog? That's very, very dangerous to say the least.

Tournament Bass fishing has BLOWN UP so much in recent years that there needs to be some real laws made to keep everyone safe. There are so many people fishing tournaments and the lakes are simply overcrowded these days. Plus, all the different tournament organizations scheduling on top of each other doesnt make much sense.

This will be an ongoing problem until someone intervenes.

Why not have responsible adults instead of more nanny-state regulations?

The issue I have the most problem with is the tournament organizations scheduling events on top of each other. 1000 boats between the different tournaments plus all the recreational boats on the lake at the same time greatly increases the odds of something like this happening.

The 'laws' would effect the big name tournament organizations scheduling, not the 15 boat club tournaments or non-tournament anglers. It's just dumb to schedule huge events on top of each other. There are other lakes, as well as 52 different weekends a year.

[Chaz Hickcox]

If what I heard was correct, there were 4 major tournaments on Ky - Barkley when this happened, plus all the smaller tournaments, plus the usual non tournament anglers. So you've got what, 700 boats all running straight at each other from all the different ramps? In fog? That's very, very dangerous to say the least.

Tournament Bass fishing has BLOWN UP so much in recent years that there needs to be some real laws made to keep everyone safe. There are so many people fishing tournaments and the lakes are simply overcrowded these days. Plus, all the different tournament organizations scheduling on top of each other doesnt make much sense.

This will be an ongoing problem until someone intervenes.

Why not have responsible adults instead of more nanny-state regulations?

The issue I have the most problem with is the tournament organizations scheduling events on top of each other. 1000 boats between the different tournaments plus all the recreational boats on the lake at the same time greatly increases the odds of something like this happening.

The 'laws' would effect the big name tournament organizations scheduling, not the 15 boat club tournaments or non-tournament anglers. It's just dumb to schedule huge events on top of each other. There are other lakes, as well as 52 different weekends a year.

That I do agree with. 

As far as Rhino's comment, to keep people in line keep swift and harder consequenses for breaking rules that are already in place.  In short, don't make new rules, enforce the hell out of the old ones.