One angler rescued, one missing during fishing tournament on Lake Okeechobee
LAKE OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – A search was underway Friday after a professional angler went missing during a fishing tournament.
CBS affiliate WPEC-TV reports that one angler was rescued from Lake Okeechobee Thursday evening as the search continues for his co-angler.
Fishing League Worldwide organizers identified the rescued man as Bill Kisiah and the missing angler as Nik Kaylor, both veteran fishermen. The pair did not return to a "designated weigh-in location" at C. Scott Driver Park.
The two fishermen, both veteran anglers, were competing in the Costa Fishing League Worldwide on Lake Okeechobee.
Search crews found the men's boat nearly 50 miles away, near Pahokee, the station reported. According to fisherman Mike Jones, Kisiah was found alive clinging to the boat around 11 p.m. Thursday night.
"He had hypothermia real bad," Jones said. "He was really really out of it, I don't know if he even knew where he was at, when he washed up on the bank."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Coast Guard continue the search for Kaylor, the station reported.
