Personal Boat Sinks During Fishing Tournament
Four anglers experienced a near tragedy when their boat sank while attempting an offshore fishing excursion Saturday in Matagorda during the Sixth Annual Texas Oilman’s Charity Invitational Fishing Tournament.
At 2:15 p.m. a call was made to the U.S. Coast Guard that a 25-foot pleasure craft was taking on water about 15 miles offshore in the vicinity of the Colorado River near Matagorda, said Chief Michael Bishop, Executive Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Station at Port O’Connor.
Although the Coast Guard responded, a private vessel in the area heard the radio signals and was able to rescue the boaters within about 25 minutes.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that they were rescued at almost the exact time that the vessel sank.
The boaters were then taken to the Matagorda Harbor with no reported injuries, said Bishop.
While the boaters were being rescued offshore, 750 other anglers registered in the tournament were busy catching and weighing in with fish ranging from red snapper, king fish, triple tail and speckled trout to a 48-pound Wahu and 75-pound Grouper.
