Locally, we were allowed to trailer anywhere we wanted so they tournament director had no idea who launched and who didn't. I think they should all be launched at one location and just go by boat numbers unless weather dictates otherwise and then they probably shouldn’t be fishing anyways. But, then when you allow anyone with a boat to fish on some pretty small lakes that’s a whole other issue. I’m not judging those involved but maybe we can all learn from the mistakes made by others to prevent future accidents.

Seems that a "check in" policy needs to be in place. Even if done by phone.
Too much time passed before anyone knew they were missing.
This sucks.

Sad to hear. Prayers up.

Hopefully they are ok, but it’s getting along in the time it would take to announce they’re safe. I fear the worst.

They are now asking for volunteers with boats to help look tomorrow morning . Sad deal

https://www.wired2fish.com/news/vol...cSYnPlrnFadEvCfjR0l8vRU40faVAyHJ2zmIge6s

indications are that they got swept over the dam ...is this a area with no cell phone signal and why there was no call for help?

IN my experience it can be spotty depending on the carrier

It's not up to the td to decide if their boat had operational difficulties. It's a captains call. I fear this is gonna turn out badly and it was just a matter of time till something happened like this. It can be dangerous at times and the odds catch up sooner or later.

Prayers for all involved.

Ok, so I’m even dumber. Are they not required to wear life jackets in HS tournaments?

The rules there may be different, thsba is when big engine is running they must have jackets on and be seated.

Yes , at least in most I am familiar with just like Adult trails, hopefully they had them on. To soon the be taking guesses on what happened. Hopefully they will be found soon and start to figure out what went wrong. Prayers for everyone involved.

Prayers for all involved. They found a few hikers out her recently after around a week, so no reason to lose hope yet.

I've captained a boat and will be again soon on a fill in basis, this hits home.

Prayers for a positive outcome.

I’m not going to pass judgement on anyone. If I travel a few miles to go fish and my outboard doesn’t start, I am dropping the trolling motor and going fishing. Will especially do so if I’ve already paid to fish a tourney.

Prayers for all involved.

You ever fished any of the river systems, especially after heavy rains and flood gates are open? We’ve all done stuff that probably wasn’t the best idea but I didn’t get anywhere near the dam on the lake I grew up fishing in Tennessee. The drop off was several hundred feet, maybe 300 or 400.