Two Alabama fishing tournaments have been canceled due to the sudden enforcement of long-standing permit requirements. The cancellations follow a deadly crash on Smith Lake in April that killed three men and led to criminal charges, lawsuits, and increased safety scrutiny across the state.
The Guntersville Open, including its Black Friday and New Year’s Day tournaments, has been permanently shut down. Organizers cited growing liability concerns and responsibilities tied to hosting tournaments as reasons for ending the events.
Similarly, the Auburn University Bass Fishing Club canceled its final tournament of the season at Lake Jordan, citing marine event permit requirements and concerns about protecting the team.
The April crash, which occurred during a Major League Fishing tournament, resulted in the indictment of 22-year-old professional angler Flint Davis on multiple felony counts, including reckless manslaughter and assault. Several civil lawsuits are also tied to the incident. A Cullman County grand jury later issued safety recommendations aimed at fishing tournaments statewide.
Lipscomb noted the challenges smaller tournaments face with the permitting process, stating, “The larger tournaments know well ahead of time when they’re going to have an event, how many people they’re going to have, they’re very well structured. The difficulty is with the smaller tournaments. They’re not quite as structured, they may do a last-minute tournament, so the permitting process became more cumbersome for those people.”
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol is working to streamline the permitting process, according to Lipscomb. “They want to get this thing right, they’re working hard to get it right,” Lipscomb said. “They are currently working on a format to where the permit is online, it’s a fillable form, it’s going to be really quick and easy to do, as opposed to the paper that was typically in place.”
ALEA said in a statement to ABC 33/40 News,
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol Division has not changed or revised its operating procedures with regard to the permitting of marine events. Both the law and regulation covering the requirement for a permit and the application process have been in place since 1994.
Marine events, which include fishing tournaments, are required to be permitted in the interest of public safety as tournament fishermen share the access points and public waters with other recreational boaters. This also allows ALEA to have a point of contact with the organization or individual responsible and allows our resources to be deployed where the need exists.
The application process for the organizer of the event is simple and free, and is outlined on our public website at:
https://www.alea.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/MarineEventApplicationFY2018.pdf
In Fiscal Year 2025 (Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2025), ALEA’s Marine Patrol Division permitted 152 marine events of which 54 were fishing tournaments. Any denials were due to the organizer or host not submitting the application at least 15 days prior to the date of the event as stated on the application form.
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Neither the permit application nor the permit assigns liability to any individual or organization.
