Four men escaped injury last Sunday after they were involved in a head-on boat collision captured on film at Lake Okeechobee.
The crash occurred between two bass boats in a narrow channel near an area of the lake known as the Monkey Box. Video of the incident shows the boats navigating a semi-blind turn and having very little time to react to avoid the crash. Both boats were carrying anglers competing in the B.A.S.S. Nation Florida state championship.
Blaine Partee, a passenger in one of the boats driven by George Mitko, captured a 3 1/2-minute video on his phone as they were making a run along Cochran's Pass toward the Monkey Box in the southwest corner of the lake. He told BassFan today that a small-craft advisory had been issued Sunday for the lake and that's why they weren't fishing the main lake.
Partee, who was the co-angler leader after day 1, estimates Mitko's boat was traveling at 45 miles per hour when it collided with the oncoming boat driven by Bob Grosso. Ironically, Grosso had volunteered to take Partee back to weigh-in the previous day after the boat of Partee's day-1 boater broke down. Grosso's boat also encountered issues and Partee ultimately jumped in a third boat to get back to the ramp.
"Neither person was in the wrong," Partee told BassFan. "It's unfortunate that it happened and that we met there at the same time."
He said had he been driving the boat, he would've avoided running through that channel with a passenger.
"I would never take somebody else down that trail," he said. "It's my life and I can do what I want with it and I would only go through there by myself. I wouldn't put someone else at risk. I was pretty upset about that."
He said Mitko ended up on top of him after the collision and that Mitko had a sore neck.
"I was a little sore on my left side, but nothing serious," Partee said.
To view tootage of the collision, click here. The crash occurs around the 3:00 mark (be aware some obscenities are used after the crash).
