Smooth…
A pair of fishermen have been suspended by Major League Fishing for one year after running in a no-wake canal (Apopka Beauclair Canal) on the Harris Chain of Lakes, which resulted in a boat collision. According to MLF, on Day 1 of the Toyota Series competition on the Harris Chain of Lakes, in Leesburg, Florida, bass angler Mark Succi of Cataula, Georgia, and his co-angler Jeff Cox of Saline, Michigan, along with boater Douglas Reed of Bridgeton, New Jersey, and his co-angler Mitch Hayes of Chipley, Florida, were running their boats in a no-wake canal when they collided and wound up on top of each other.
No serious injuries were reported, although according to witnesses, one guy was bleeding pretty bad. Both boaters were in violation of MLF Toyota Series Rule No. 9 which includes operating the boat in an unsafe or unsportsmanlike manner, as well as intentionally violating the rules in a posted no-wake area.
Both anglers, Succi and Reed were suspended for a period of 1 year.
Another tournament angler, Eric Panzironi, was in the lock with them and you can hear them in the video talking about running in the canal to try and get to the weigh-in before time expired. Panzironi, who knew he wasn’t going to make it, let the the guys go ahead of him and thank God that he did.
He captured the whole thing on video and it looks like only one boat is up on the bank, but that’s because it is completely on top of the other. Utterly insane…
