Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum HS Boaters missing on Pickwick

Getting out of the boat was not an option under flood conditions. The fact that they were in a tournament was not a factor either.

Lockmaster has nothing to do with floodgates at any dam. They are lock operators. COE operates the flood control/floodgates and Pickwick has 22 floodgates that would take hours to close if it was even possible given the amount of water that was being sent from upstream. This was a death trip from the time they were given the OK to go with only a trolling motor. I pray that ALL fishing tournaments are REQUIRED to make changes to allowing tournaments to be held during flooding/high water release periods, especially for high school and college teams.

I can't imagine the terror of going thru a spillway like that. I reckon I'd just pray like I never before prayed and then His will would be done.

Prayers sent for families and friends of the missing team.

Prayers sent for everyone involved!

Where did they launch from? They should have had plenty of time to call for help. So many mistakes could have been prevented. Sad situation.

I’m curious why they never tried to call anyone for help or never tried to get to shore somewhere if the engine cut off. I would blame the adult for going out in a flooded lake with a boat that had engine problems.

If they launched from the state park it’s only a mile from the mouth of the creek to the floodgate side of the dam. They had to have tried to cross the river using just the trolling motor. That’s the only feasible thing I can imagine.

Battery condition and thrust of trolling motor may have been a big factor since it's assumed that the big motor never was able to be used.

I'll tell y'all that any and all big water that's moving fast scares the Hell out of me. As in absolutely terrifies me. I have absolutely no connection to those that are missing but this whole thing is real heavy on my heart for could have been avoided.

I am the Lockmaster at Pickwick

Bad situation all the way around. prayers for the families.

Seen way to many of these type incidents. Never gets easy.

So sorry for families involved, praying they find them

Alabama Swamper, Do they know the time they went over the damn from surveilance videos from the dam? If so are there any cameras that would show behind the dam to see if any swimmers emerged after going over or would the turbulance be too bad to see them?

Around 8 or 8:30 is what i read earlier

Dang.

Sad situation for all involved. From what I am reading it doesn't appear anyone knew they were missing for some time. I wonder why they weren't calling people for help. Even if I didn't know anyone else on the water I wouldv'e been calling 911 or something if it looked like my boat was heading for the dam.

There are so many things in this incident that don't make sense starting with holding a tournament under flooding conditions. The most concerning thing is the lack of judgement from the dad that thought it was a good idea to fish on a flooded lake that close to the dam without a working outboard motor. Can only pray for a miracle but a lot of time has passed

From the pics it doesn't look like that much of a drop am I missing something?

Just a regular low overhead damn killed rescue workers trying to save someone a few years ago in Gadsden ...if they went in water it'll b miracle if they survive

This graphic says you have a chance to escape, but if you get caught between the boil point and the dam with the amount of water we have right now, it would be next to impossible to get out of it. A life jacket wouldn’t do much even if you had one on.

[It just looks like the boat had a decent chance at staying upright and afloat with a short drop.

That is something you learn early on if you kayak or canoe. The re-circulation power is amazing. If you approach from down stream, it can actually pull the boat under water.