Unfortunately, the fishing community recently lost one of its’ own. Tragically, Nik Kaylor lost his life after he was ejected from a bass boat on the first day of an FLW tournament in extremely cold and rough conditions on Lake Okeechobee. Within hours of the announcement that the boat he was on didn’t make it back to the weigh station as scheduled, word of the accident quickly spread across social media. With rough conditions persisting over the next several days, numerous folks volunteered their time, boats and their own lives searching the Big O for six days in hopes that he would be found alive. Sadly, Nik did not survive, but his body was recovered and returned to his family, providing them with some sense of closure.
In the wake of this unimaginable accident, I’d like to ask that tournament directors across the fishing world consider making the use of EPIRBs or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons a requirement on all participating boats and PLBs or Personal Locator Beacons mandatory for all anglers. Considering the fact that tournament anglers already spend lots of money to enter and participate in these events, it seems that another $400 for an EPIRB or $250 for a PLB are small prices to pay to insure that this kind of tragedy doesn’t affect another angler’s loved ones.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Nik’s wife Kelly and their daughter Caralee deal with this difficult time. If you can, please donate by visiting www.gofundme.com/nik-kayler.
GENE DYER
Editor & Publisher
Coastal Angler Fort Lauderdale
fortlauderdale@coastalanglermagazine.com
(954) 680-3900