The effects of the fatal boat crash that occurred earlier this year on Smith Lake are still reverberating throughout Alabama’s tournament fishing community — as evidenced by the recent cancelations of several bass tourneys there. Tournament directors are now citing liability concerns, while others are seeking clarification on the laws and permits that guide these kinds of events.
This all reflects a broader uneasiness across Alabama in the wake of the Smith Lake crash that occurred during a bass tournament there in April, when MLF tournament angler Flint Davis crashed into a striped bass charter and killed three anglers onboard. It resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit against one of the sport’s biggest tournament organizers, Major League Fishing. Davis has since been indicted on manslaughter charges in a criminal case that is separate from the civil lawsuit, which also names Davis as a defendant.
In the wrongful death lawsuit, the family of one of the anglers killed accused MLF of creating a culture that incentivizes recklessness, and of failing to implement a proper safety plan to protect the public. This latter allegation may be giving other tournament directors pause, especially for smaller-scale local tournaments that may not have the legal or financial resources of an organization like MLF.
This would include the Guntersville Open Bass Tournament, which decided in early November to not only cancel two of its marquee tournaments, but to disband as a club altogether. (A YouTuber who spoke with the organization confirmed that it will also delete its social media pages permanently.)
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The group said in a Nov. 2 Facebook post that the popular Black Friday and New Year’s Day tournaments held annually on Lake Guntersville “will officially come to an end.” It clarified that this difficult decision was made in light of the Smith Lake incident.
“It’s unfortunate that something like this has to bring an end to such a long-standing tradition,” Guntersville Open Bass Tournament organizer James Cornelies said in the Nov. 2 announcement. “But we have to protect ourselves and do what’s right.”
Another, similarly worded announcement came from Auburn University’s bass fishing team on Nov. 20. The team said in a Facebook post that it would be canceling its upcoming tournament on Lake Jordan “due to recent events” — i.e. the Smith Lake crash and the resulting legal outcomes — and because of a law requiring a permit for marine events like fishing tournaments. The team said it was canceling the tourney “to keep the team protected,” presumably from litigation that could result from a boat crash.
These announcements and the resulting chatter among tournament fishermen have caught the attention of at least one legislator, Craig Lipscomb, who represents District 30 in the Alabama House of Representatives. In a social post made just one day after Auburn’s announcement, Lipscomb said he’d heard from many of his bass-fishing friends about their concerns around permits and liability. He said he was communicating directly with the Alabama Marine Patrol to seek clarification and eventually resolve these concerns.
Lipscomb clarified in a podcast last week that a lot of this uneasiness revolves around the permit that the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency requires for public events held on public waters. ALEA has required tournament organizers to obtain these permits since 1994, according to one agency spokesperson. But Lipscomb said there is room for improvement with this process, which requires organizers to mail in a written application for a permit at least 15 days before an event. This is required, in part, to ensure that local law enforcement officers have enough resources to keep the public safe when lakes are busier than normal.
Lipscomb said that in addition to modernizing the permitting process by shifting from a mail-in to an online system, ALEA should set a threshold for the kinds of events that actually require a permit, based on the number of boats involved.
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“What size tournament is that going to be? I don’t know yet. I know the number 25 has been tossed around … I’d rather see that closer to 50, but I don’t get to make those decisions,” Lipscomb said. “At some point, we are going to find out from the Marine Police what they think is appropriate for them to manage. It’s really all about their staffing.”
He explained that without this clear threshold, small-scale tournament organizers have in past years been unsure of whether they need a permit, which has led to uncertainties around public safety, insurance plans, and liability. And with the Smith Lake incident still at the forefront of people’s minds, tournament organizers aren’t willing to take any chances that could result in them being sued.
“These accidents are still going to happen, but just as far as the sake of filling out the permits,” Lipscomb said. “If everybody would’ve been doing this all along for all of these years we wouldn’t be here talking about [this.]”
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