No Criminal Charges Filed in FLW Drowning

http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk_article/...ah#.Wxk75kgvyUk

A terrible set of combined circumstances contributed to this accident.

Sad deal for all involved.

very sad deal

Tragic, and a awful way for us all to get a reminder about the danger of big cold water. In water below 60 degrees you've got about 6 hours max. Unconsciousness could come in as little as 2 hours. Below 50, 3 hours survival, 60 minutes to unconsciousness.

I'm actually surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often on our lakes in our tournaments especially ones on Rayburn, Ray Bob. Toledo and some others that can get very dangerous in a hurry. Especially with all of the "tough guys" on here that always say oh 25-30 mph are no big deal.

In cold water (below 60 degrees) with clothes on and in a life jacket you'd be lucky to move 1 mile in an hour. So get offshore more than 2 or so miles and you could be in real trouble if you go in the drink and can't get out.

4-6 ft waves in 6-10 ft of water makes a big difference. When you get to the bottom of one of those waves, you are on the bottom of the lake.

How long did it take to recover the body? I guess I missed that and how far away was it recovered from the site?

He went in the water on January 4 and was recovered in the area of the Clewiston water tower on January 10. I don't know how far that is, but I know it's a long way from where Kayler was ejected.

Surprised they were even looking at a possibility of criminal charges, but glad none were filed.

No telling what kind of civil suits will come out of this. I will say that it seems since this incident that tournament directors are being much more cautious on the conditions they allow anglers to fish in 

6 days, even with a life jacket on, hard to believe. After this I started stitching reflective tape onto my life jackets, unknown if this will help?

It sure as heck won't hurt, Mike.

Sad story but these are the type of stories that we always need to share to bring us 1 down on ego.. especially for boat captains. I understand its YOUR boat but it's MY life. I want to be safe that's all

I don't believe this is going to be the end of the sad situation. The real question is 'would he still be alive had he been riding in a dual console?'

Terrible tragedy

Any info on why the big motor couldn’t be restarted?

Idiotic statement #1 in this thread.

Locator beacons would be a good idea. Maybe make them mandatory like wearing a life jacket.

What?

legitimate question.....apparently the wave came over front of the boat and when it came over the front deck,it lifted the passenger out of the boat...got to believe with a dual console,he would have been protected to the extent that his chest and face would be hit by the wave but it wouldn't have gotten under him and lifted him out of the boat....plus he would have opportunity to duck under the console and let most of force of the wave pass over him....

sad deal for all concerned....

Sad that we have become a society that tries to find blame in every single event where tragedy strikes.
Too rough, bad driver, too fast, too slow,single console, dual console,,the list goes on and on.
Sometimes bad things happen. Sad and unfortunate fact of life.

"4-6 ft waves in 6-10 ft of water makes a big difference. When you get to the bottom of one of those waves, you are on the bottom of the lake."

I had this happen at Richland Chambers a number of years back when a massive storm blew up quickly. I was doing fine surfing the waves back to the launch area only to run into shallow water. When you were at the bottom of a swell your were banging around on the stumps on the bottom of the lake. It would last two or three seconds until the next wave lifted you out of it. Then you would repeat.

This was the only time I have ever thought I was not going to make it. Of course I was by myself. My adrenaline was to high to get scared but I was shaking like a leaf when I finally got the boat beached.

Ah, the things we do for fun.

Sad that people jump on others for pointing out something that might have changed the outcome....

With no disrespect intended, I believe it would be very wise to consider all the factors you've listed when trying to understand and prevent future accidents.

A thousand things could have changed the outcome to any accident. I wonder what woulda happened if he had on two left shoes. Unless there's some blatant negligence there's no point to it and it detracts from just saying well [censored] and thinking of a person and their family, the frailty of life and to just be careful out there. Unless I missed something it's not 'the real question' it's a worthless question. No one knows or ever will

A wave did not come over the boat and swipe him out,, they were running down the lake and speared a wave, the boaters original statement made that clear...

For a wave to break over a boat it would have to be a surf quality wave, meaning breaking over the top etc... Ive been on fork and berryessa with huge waves likely a good 10 feet tall with no break over on them.

There have never been 10' tall waves on Fork

let me rephrase that to mean that when they speared a wave and when the water came over the front deck,it lifted/washed the passenger out of the boat.....we had a similar wave spearing situation happen on Eufaula last year but fortunately the boater was able to get turned around and pick up his Dad who had been washed out of the boat....their Ranger boat was almost full of water but they were able to drag him over the stern,get the boat turned around into the waves...took a while with both bilge pumps going until they managed to get back on plane and get out of the really rough water....

It's not the console. It's the decision to go mainlake in those winds.

Multiple times when reading this story since it happened, I’ve mentally put myself in that situation. The one part that gets me every time is the passenger being washed over board. It was very cold that day and so they were all bundled up for the ride. I know in simliar situations as the passenger i usually have hands in a pocket and head tucked down. I can’t but wonder if that was the case making it easier to be lifted out vs hanging on to grab bars. I think a lot of us don’t scrutinize to blame, but to prevent.