Co-Angler Killed on Barkley

[SethV]

Not many details yet - but this morning there was a boat accident on Barkley.  Between the ABA and BFL regional and a couple other events, there are 600 - 900 boats on KY-Barkley this week.

A boat in a tournament around Buzzard Rock was hit from the side by another boat and the co angler was killed.  Not many details available.

Pray for the family...

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Boat-crash-kills-one-on-Lake-Barkley-104571069.html

[MadWags]

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Boat-crash-kills-one-on-Lake-Barkley-104571069.html

[SethV]

From Bass Fan:
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 BassFan 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.

[Firefighter Jeff]

Yikes !!

[Victor Cerabone]

Very sad.  I work with a guy that rows (not manly, I know) down near Elizabeth Park on the Det River every morning.  He complains every time a pro, semi-pro, or even amateur event is held. "Somebody is going to killed one of these days...".  We need to do a better job with safety all around IMHO.

Prayers sent for all involved.

Vic

[djkimmel]

Yes we do. No tournament is worth a life or risking one. I see it way too often.

[jgip087]

Totally agree that we need to be more safe on the water. I have been in two boating accidents and am very lucky to have lived through both, either could have easily killed me. From experience, I can say that things happen very very quickly and you should always wear your life jacket while the engine is running, in a tournament or just fun fishing. Also, applying to this situation we need to remember that if two boats are going towards each other both boats need to go off to the right to avoid an accident. I have seen well too many times were a boat or pwc has been coming toward me and turned to the left, ticks me off every time! The boater from the BFL was the same guy who cut a corner a few years ago and struck a log almost killing both occupants.

[Anthony Adams]

The boater from the BFL was the same guy who cut a corner a few years ago and struck a log almost killing both occupants.

This statement is not correct. Here is an article. I know Scotty and he is a good guy and a great fishermen who has had some bad luck in BFL regionals.

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/146703/david-young-accident-update/

The facts -

His co-angler was not hurt.

The water was low exposing stumps and structure that is not an issue during normal pool.

They don't know what he hit but they guessed it was a stump.

He was in 15 + feet of water when he hit whatever he hit.

He did not cut a corner... That is false.

[Basscaster]

There was another death the same weekend at Lake Matoon in Illinois. Two boat had a headon accident. 1 killed in a boat with 7 people in it. you can read about it if you google lake amtoon boat accident.

[djkimmel]

All boat captains are responsible for avoiding a collision. Too often, one or both think the other guy will turn. Right up until they collide or until the last minute when snap decisions are wrong or there's not enough time now.

Just one of the many reasons I'm in favor of mandatory training and a boater license before anyone gets behind the wheel of anything faster than a kayak. Not a popular position, I know, but one death is too many. There are usually several deaths a year at St. Clair alone.

[REEL_MAN]

Dan,
I agree!!!  to many new boaters (let alone old) get behind the wheel and have no idea how fast a high performance boat will react. I feel that no matter how long you have driven a boat a manditory class should required, especialy if the driver is new to boating. You would think the boat dealers and manufactures would be pushing for this just because of liability.

Reelman
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