The wife of one of the anglers killed in a boat wreck during a professional bass fishing tournament this spring has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Major League Fishing.
During an April tournament on Alabama’s Smith Lake, pro angler Flint Davis was involved in a boat wreck that killed three people: Joey M. Broom, 58, of Altoona, Alabama; John K. Clark, 44, of Cullman, Alabama; and Jeffrey C. Little, 62, of Brandon, Mississippi.
Little’s Widow, Lisa Little, has named four defendants in her suit, including Major League Fishing, MLF’s president Boyd Duckett, Flint Davis, and Gary Holcombe of Smith Lake Striper Guide Service.
Jeffrey Little was on a guided fishing trip with Holcombe’s guiding service when Little was killed in the crash. Upon impact, he was thrown overboard and subsequently drowned, according to ABC3340 News.
According to the lawsuit: “Defendant MLF, including its president, Defendant Boyd Duckett, knowingly created a culture in its fishing tournaments that encouraged, incentivized, and caused participants to negligently, recklessly and wantonly operate their fishing vessels in a manner that endangers … public safety, and MLF did in fact encourage, incentivize, and cause Defendant Flint Davis to negligently, recklessly and wantonly operate his fishing vessel in a manner which resulted in Jeffrey Clayton Little’s death.”
Davis was fishing in the three-day event, which was the third stop on the Tackle Warehouse Invitational circuit.
This invitation includes six events with top prizes of up to $115,000. Participants in the Smith Lake event included approximately 115 anglers with the top 30 advancing to the final championship round. After the first day of the tournament, Davis was in 15th place, according to lawsuit documents.
The suit further alleges that “MLF and Defendant Duckett had no boating safety plan in place for this tournament that would have provided rules and regulations for safe travel on the lake that would protect the public in general and the anglers in the competition. Upon information and belief, MLF failed to consult with local law enforcement officials, marine police and/or boating experts to develop a safe boating plan for this tournament.”
Lawsuit documents also state that the tournament should have implemented speed limits for competitors and it alleges that Davis did not have a valid boating license in his home state of Georgia nor did he have a Non-Resident Alabama Boater Safety Certification.
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In a video posted to TikTok on the day of the crash, Alabama Bass Council president Allen Johnson shared unconfirmed details around the incident stating that a center console vessel was being operated by a striped-bass guide who had multiple anglers onboard. According to Johnson, the tournament bass boat came around a corner and collided with the center console vessel, running over the vessel and then going airborne.
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