Be aware of your surroundings folks. Always be ready to move.

https://ap-police.com/fatal-kayakin...MKnnYhEXDswNari17cQF3GE-bAj4lI79FCv8iOQ0

Yep, Sad! "boater may have not know�.... Boater may have and kept on Going...

Yes very sad. There's talk of it possibly being a shrimp boat or other large sized boat. Shrimp boats push water away at the bow. Seems like it'd wash a kayak away before contact was made.

We may never find out what happened.

indeed safety is the first priority and everyone should concerned and atleast bring 1 friend with you when you are fishing and all the safety gear ofcourse!

Any time you are out kayaking where power boats are around you need to keep your head on a swivel.
Kayaks sit low in the water and are at times depending on sunlight and cloud cover they are hard to spot.
An air horn is better than a whistle, and a flag isn't a bad idea either.
Just remember, just because you see them doesn't mean they see you!

Jimbo is 100% correct. Hug the bank as much as possible and look a mile or more each direction when crossing open water and/or boat lanes. A 250hp motor attached to a fiberglass bass boat will go 1 mile per minute.

That's horrible and absolutely scares the poo out of me. Fellas, tragedy's like this, are why I'll probably stick to fishing stock tanks. We have one close by that's 26 acres. No boat motors allowed.

My heart aches for the victim's family.

I've crossed this channel many times and even being able to see boats coming a long ways away it doesn't take long for them to travel that. It's especially hard at this spot because your probably fighting cross tide, wind, and waves to get across the channel.

Always hate reading news like this. Prayers sent to the victims family and friends. The Lord Jesus Christ has control.

No reason to be scared of fishing areas that are shared with power boaters.
You just need to pay attention to what is going on around you, and stay alert, use common sense, and try to be seen with bright clothing and maybe a flag.
I also mentioned an air horn, so they can hear you before they see you if they are on a course in your direction.
I've had people in a power boat trolling, with everyone looking to the rear, watching their rods and not paying attention to where their boat was going.
I was anchored, so that makes it even harder to get out of the way even at trolling speed.
In kayaking, you have to watch out for the other guy!

Just like the image in your signature, you can paddle hard and not go anywhere, and once you get out almost halfway across you are committed and the pucker factor increases.