Entirely by accident, I yesterday stumbled across a real-life example of a time when the inflatables on an FLW tournament angler and his marshal failed simultaneously during an event on Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama.
This situation occurred on Sunday, March 29, 2015, and involved FLW angler John Cox (left) and his marshal, Bryan New. Cox said they were moving to another pocket in the lake's mid-section to do some sight-fishing. They were traveling about 45 to 50 mph when the boat suddenly cut to the left.
Both men subsequently were launched into the 52-degree water. Because their PFDs didn't deploy, they quickly dropped 10 feet to the lake's bottom, since both were wearing their foul-weather bibs and extra layers of clothing. Those PFD failures, however, may have saved both men from suffering additional and more severe injuries.
Said Cox, "If we had been wearing regular jackets, it would have kept us toward the surface, and there's no telling what would have happened when our boat passed over us."
The kill switch thankfully worked and cut off the motor as soon as Cox left his seat, but he nevertheless ended up with a gash on his head that required staples and possibly a concussion. He also almost bit through his tongue. And New suffered a bump on his forehead and was left nursing an unrelated collarbone injury.
"The whole thing was just scary," said Cox, who had moved onto some beds that Sunday morning. He already had caught two 2-pounders when the accident occurred.
"I may have been barely turning left at 50 mph tops," he explained afterward. "I don't even remember hitting the water. I've been doing this for a while, and the only thing I can liken it to is when you hit something and knock off the lower unit, and the boat then spins."
There were two boats behind Cox and New when the accident occurred, but none of those occupants could add anything to what either of the victims had to say. They were just stunned by how the boat instantly spun around.
"We were going dead straight, and there was no wind, no chop, and no waves," added New. "All of a sudden, my head hit John's shoulder or the seat, and then I think I tried to come back over to my side, but then I got throwed again. I remember John and me going in the water at the same time. I had my phone in my hand the whole time."
New went on to recount that when he realized his couple years old Stearns SoSpenders PFD didn't inflate, he already was almost back to the surface. Cox was wearing a new Mustang inflatable PFD.
New got back in the boat first and helped Cox get back in. They looked at each other for a few minutes, then asked, "What in the world just happened?"
According to New, "The driver of the chase boat that was trailing us said the rooster tail coming off our boat was normal and "then, all of a sudden, shot really high like Cox had hit something, or the motor was trimmed really high."
Both Cox and New feels it's a true miracle that neither was injured any worse. Once both were back in the boat, they idled to the ramp, and Cox opted to end his day early, before seeking medical attention. He took a zero and finished 10th.
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