Officer met with operator of vessel 1, who had made it to the private ramp to meet emergency responders.  Operator stated he and victim had been fishing for over an hour when the accident occurred.  Operator was in the front of the boat and victim was in the rear.  The vessel was equipped with two trolling motors, one near the front of the vessel and one near the rear.  Operator and victim had fished together for years and both were comfortable with each other in the vessel.  Operator stated they had just made it to a spot where they wanted to fish and victim was baiting his hook with a red worm.  Operator said he felt the boat lean to the left and heard something break.  In his statement, Operator thinks victim was leaning over to wash his hands clean of dirt from baiting his hook.  When victim leaned over the seat broke free causing victim to fall overboard.  The seat was held on by four small screws that were anchored to a thin aluminum bench seat made into the vessel.  Operator imminently realized what happened and threw victim a type iv pfd.  Victim grabbed the pfd and held it to his chest which caused him to float face up.  Operator then tied a piece of rope onto another type iv pfd and threw it to victim, but the rope was tangled and it did not make it.  Operator stated he jumped into the water to swim to victim, but he felt his leg cramping and had to swim to the shore line.  Operator said by the time he jumped in the water, he noticed bubbles coming from victim's mouth under the water.  He knew then victim had drowned.  Operator told officer Officer he got back into the vessel and managed to grab victim and pull his body to the shore line. Operator then went for help.  Operator made contact with a vessel on the river and one of the passengers made contact with 911.
Operator and victim were less than 10 feet from the shore line when the accident occurred.  Victim was a non-swimmer.  When emergency responders arrived, victim still had the type iv pfd under his arms.
No charges were filed.  The vessel did not have any type i, ii, or iii pfds on board but did have two type iv pfds.
Photos were taken of the inside of the vessel, the broken seat, and other equipment.
It was not mentioned by the officer of this report what caused the seat to break.
KELLY