Fatal bass boat crash on Conroe on way to weigh-in

[WB Staff]

LAKE CONROE, Texas - A man was killed and his wife and daughter were injured Tuesday in a boat crash on Lake Conroe.

Investigators said a child called 911 around 9:22 p.m. and reported that there had been a boat crash and her father was seriously injured.

“She was alone able to talk us to her. Before we arrived on scene we knew where we were going. We knew what we were coming up on. We knew what we had to do before every getting there,” said Lt. Tim Cade.

Officers found the 39-year-old father, identified as Jason Clark, of Magnolia, unresponsive on a damaged bass boat along with his 10-year-old daughter. The mother had to be rescued from the water, deputies said...

More info and vid here: http://www.click2houston.com/news/fathe ... ake-conroe

[steve0806]

Doesn't sound like a tragedy, sounds like manslaughter to me. Sounds like the tournament participant was driving at an excessive speed for conditions. This is gross negligence! No wonder many insurance companies will not insure bass boats.

[Robb R]

my son lives down in Texas . On Lake Conroe , there are many houses and boats docks with lights on them . The family that was hit , with the father being killed , were anchored on the lake with lights on , the boater that hit them thought the lights were from houses /docks and not from a boat on the water . Running at full throttle at night is stupid , but in Texas , it is extremely common ----on all lakes .
There is a Texas Bass Fishing forum , TFF.com , if you go on this website , you will see posts of people getting killed boating almost weekly . Usually it's either a drunk idiot , or from driving at high speeds at night .
Add to it that those Texas lakes typically have so many stump fields , it crazy to see guys driving at 70+ MPH in 3-5 feet of water with tons of huge stumps right under the boat .
I was down there two weeks ago and on one weekend , three people killed in two different accidents , all involved drinking and doing stupid stuff ---crazy

[drew]

Its not just Texas. It is not smart to be on pad running fast at night.

I fished a night tourney at Nacimiento last year and around 10:30 I decided to come in and fish across from the marina. In the middle of the largest part of the lake going 6-7mph I hear screaming. I shut the big motor off and went up to the front deck and before I turned on my spot light 3 sets arms appeared over the gunal. There was 3 young kids 15-18 right in front of me. They had a boat failure in Dip Creek and decided to swim in. Gives me chills thinking about it because there were a lot of boats racing around that night.

[jiggin4bass]

It happens on lake Tolloch over the 4th of July holiday big ski boat vs jet ski they were two family's best friend the guy on the jet turn in front of his ski boat and the boat took him out 8 broken ribs liver cut and a broke arm and leg he just got out of ICU Steve the guy driving the boat is having a very hard time with that accident he hit his best friend and nobody was drinking at all it was just and misjudgement on the jet skier part he got slot of recovering to do now

[MichaelB]

You would have to be a complete idiot to be running a boat at high speeds in the dark, regardless if the driver was confused by shore lights or not. Am guessing this Tournaments weigh-in was also in the dark...... how smart is that to invite an accident ? They will probably be getting sued also.

[mark poulson]

Requiring a boating license, like a driver's license, before you can get boat insurance would go a long way toward reducing these accidents. Anyone should have a license before they operate a boat. Why don't insurance companies require this? It beats the hell out of paying damages to the families of people who are killed.

[185vsfrog]

In my opinion, all boaters running during darkness should have a headlight illuminated along with bow lights. Many people launch from one marina and run to another marina for tournaments and this so done during darkness. It's fine if there is full moon and no clouds but if there is a new moon or cloud cover, it's super dangerous. I think the rigid headlight is an excellent idea if you're going to run during darkness.

[WRB]

You have very little depth perception in the dark and running at speeds over 10 mph is a accident looking for a place to happen. Tragic loss of life, when will boaters learn to operate their boats safely. Some use powerful Q-beam spot lights that blind anyone it's shined on, but helps the driver to see where they are going.
Nearly every night bass tournament I have fished with 10 mph speed limit someone is up on the pad running at speed with the lights out during the night, scary to hear it coming not knowing where the boat is!
Tom