RedactedNarrative: On Thursday, October 14, 2021, I, Game Warden (GW) received a call from GW. GW1 was off-duty and had received a call in reference to a boating incident on Lake Harding the previous night. GW1 forwarded me the contact info of the operator that was reporting the incident. 
  
  	Operator gave me a summary of the incident. Operator had launched his vessel from the Idle Hour boat ramp at 20:10 hours. He then headed south in order to avoid the shallow area in the middle of the lake between Idle Hour boat ramp and the mouth of Osanippa Creek. He was heading to meet a fishing partner located at the Valley Park Boat Ramp in Alabama. Operator stated that in order to be extra-cautious during the darkness, he traveled much further south than he usually would to make the turn back North. As Operator reached the southernmost portion of the shallow area, he was executing a right-handed turn at approximately 40 MPH. He was headed North at approximately 20:15 hours. As he was completing the turn, he realized that a pontoon boat was drifting in the middle of the channel without lights.
  
  	 Operator stated that he shifted his vessel into neutral, but that he was too close for his vessel to stop in time. The pontoon was facing North, as though it was headed to Halawakee Creek. Operator stated that the port-side bow of the vessel impacted, ramped onto, and became lodged on top of the starboard-side stern of the pontoon boat. Operator said the top of the pontoon boat was dislodged and floating in the water and that there was substantial damage to the railing on the pontoon. The pontoon boat had one occupant, the operator, and neither of the operators were injured in the crash. 
  
  	Operator informed the operator of the pontoon that he was calling 911 and that they should travel to the Valley Park boat ramp to wait on law enforcement personnel. The unknown operator of the pontoon boat began to act strange, according to Operator. The operator started looking around his vessel and mumbling to himself. Operator pulled the pontoon boat's railing off of the bow of his vessel and observed the pontoon boat make a series of slow, 360-degree turns, likely to give the impression that he was heading to the ramp. The pontoon boat then fled, heading into Osanippa creek, again without lights. Operator attempted to follow the vessel, but did not feel comfortable due to the other operator's behavior and vessel's continued lack of proper lighting. He stated that he followed the wake of the vessel as long as he could. Operator then returned to Valley Park boat ramp. Alabama Marine Patrol officers met with Operator the next morning and informed him that the crash occurred in Georgia waters, and that they would not be investigating. He then reported the incident to GW.
  
  	 He filled out a Department of Natural Resources' witness statement form and completed a hand-drawn diagram of the crash (PDF attachment). I used my state-issued cell phone and body camera application to take photos of the damages to the vessel (attached in Word document). I observed that Operator had all of his required safety equipment and that his lights were functioning properly. He also showed two photos he had taken of the other vessel, and a video where the subject stated that his lights had "just quit working." Operator stated that he lost approximately $1000 in fishing rods/reels, approximately $1000 due to his lost sonar unit, and $800 due to the broken trolling motor. 
  
  	After meeting with Operator, I traveled to Lake Harding and searched the lake by vessel for any sign of the pontoon vessel. GW1 and I returned to the lake the next day to search by river boat, as the creeks were too shallow for patrol vessels.
  No other operator has come forward to report the crash, no sightings of the damaged pontoon vessel have been