Last month, a collision between two boats resulted in a number of serious injuries. Both watercraft carried high school teams as well as their accompanying adults participating in the California Open Challenge fishing tournament.
Six people were involved in the April 19 crash that hospitalized four of the injured individuals. All but one, an adult, were quickly released from the hospital. One teenage angler suffered a punctured lung with broken ribs.
Complete details of the crash are still sketchy, including identifying details about the persons involved.
What We Do Know
According to media sources, the serious collision between two boats happened just after they left at 7 a.m. for the competition.
About 50 teams of high schoolers were set to compete in the California Open Challenge, part of the 2026 Student Angler Federation circuit. Tourney boats started off near the Orwood Resort in a channel connecting to central and northern California’s San Joaquin Delta.
Then, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 7 a.m. that a boat crash had occurred. The collision happened north of Discovery Bay near a narrow area called Werner Dredge Cut.
The Student Angler Federation tournament drew in high school boat teams via the California Bass Federation, a state division of The Bass Federation. According to officials, those high school anglers aren’t allowed to run tourney boats — that’s where the adult passengers come in. Every team of two high school anglers had an adult boat operator aboard with them who is required to have special certification to pilot competing boats.
Media Statements So Far
Official statements to the media said one boat had landed onto another one near a no-wake zone. They believed one boat was idling through that no-wake area when a second boat behind it ran into the first boat, ultimately landing on top of it. The boat captain was hurt, with injuries to his arm, spine, and face.
Rory Castle, one of the competition participants, told a local TV station that the collision launched one boat 20 feet in the air.
Three people in the boat that struck the first craft were thrown into the water. They swam safely to shore wearing life jackets.
Tournament participants are given detailed instructions on boating safety prior to events, with safety equipment a demand for each boat.
“We need to drive these boats like school buses,” Barry Sterud of the California Bass Federation said to reporters.
This is an ongoing investigation by state officials, including the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.
