RedactedNarrative: On December 3, 2022 at 1:07pm, LDWF Corporal was notified by TPSO Water Patrol Sergeant of a single vessel boating incident that he was responding to in Lake Decade located in Terrebonne Parish. Sgt. advised Cpl. that there were 2 occupants on board the vessel at the time of the incident and no injuries were being reported. Sgt. also advised that the vessel was grounded by the operator in the Northeast corner of Lake Decade (N 29°24.975' W 90°50.744') due to the amount of water that had entered inside of the hull. 
  
  Sgt. captured photos of the vessel while on scene and provided them to Cpl. for his investigation. Sgt. transported the 2 occupants back to Falgout Marina after gathering personal belongings out of the vessel where they were advised to remain at the boat launch until LDWF Cpl. arrived to have them fill out the required LDWF boating incident paperwork. No signs of impairment from either of the 2 occupants were reported by Sgt.. For report purposes, the vessel will be labeled as V1 throughout this report.
  
  Cpl. arrived at Falgout Marina where he made contact with both of the occupants of V1. Cpl. identified himself as a LDWF Agent, and that he would be the investigating officer of this boating incident. The operator/owner of V1 was identified. Cpl. asked both subjects if they suffered any injuries during the incident or needed medical attention. Both subjects replied that they were not injured in any way and no medical attention was needed. Cpl. supplied Operator with the LDWF Operator Boating Incident Report packet and a Boating Incident Witness Statement form to Occupant to be completed.
  
             According to both of the occupants from V1, Operator and Occupant were fishing on the Northern bank of Lake Decade. They decided to leave the spot they were fishing on the northern bank and make way to the southern bank. V1 was cruising at approximately 45 MPH when it struck a submerged object beneath the water's surface once they reach the middle of Lake Decade (approximately N 29°23.814 W 90°51.573). 
  
  Immediately after impact, V1 threw itself into a hard turn to port (left). Occupant (passenger) was thrown into the starboard (right) gunwale falling to the floor of V1 afterwards. Operator (operator) remained behind the helm as he was holding onto the steering wheel. Operator disengaged the throttle of V1 to make sure Occupant was ok and to look around to see what they had struck. After a couple of minutes, both occupants started to observe V1 taking on water. 
  
  Operator maneuvered V1 towards the northern bank of Lake Decade in an attempt to make it back to Falgout Marina. Once V1 got just south of Minor's Canal, it had taken on too much water to stay afloat. Operator grounded V1 in the northeast corner of Lake Decade (between Minor's Canal and Falgout Canal) in a last resort effort to salvage the vessel. Once grounded and partially submerged, the occupants of V1 called the Terrebonne Sheriff's Office to report the incident.
  
              On 12/07/22, Cpl. was able to see the vessel in person to evaluate and document the damage V1 sustained after being notified by operator that the vessel was taken out of the water and put back onto it's trailer on 12/06/22. Cpl. took several photos of V1 (attached to this report) showing what caused it to get flooded with water.
  
             V1 sustained extensive damage to the bottom of it hull, all on V1's port side (mid-ship to stern) in the result of striking the submerged object. This damaged allowed water to continue to enter V1's hull as Operator tried to get it back to Falgout Marina. Sgt. and Cpl. could not locate anything submerged below the water's surface where the occupants of V1 stated the impact occurred. It is unknown if drugs and/or alcohol was a contributing factor in this incident, but no signs of impairment could be detected by TPSO Sgt. or LDWF Cpl.. At the time of the incident, both occupants were wearing PFD's and the operator was connected to his engine cutoff lanyard. Vessel is a 22'6" 2014 Epic 2200SC equipped with a 250 HP Yamaha outboard (serial #: 6PX1039337) and has remote steering. No contributing factors could be linked to this incident involving impact with a submerged object. Attached to this report are photos, maps, and diagrams of the incident.