On Aug. 19, 2023, about 10:30 a.m., Collin Tweten (25) was competing in a 2023 Phoenix Bass Fishing League tournament (Great Lake Division) on pool 9 of the Mississippi River, which runs between Wisconsin and Iowa.

Tweten is no stranger to fishing this part of the river, so his experience should serve as a good reminder of the dangers involved when boating on moving water. As explained in the 8-minute YouTube video below, Tweten decided to run his Legend bass boat through a shallow part of the river to access a new spot; he's boated through this area at least a hundred times.

While driving his boat at approximately 60 mph, Tweten hit a floating log, which was impossible to see above the water due to the wind creating a ripple effect on the water’s surface. The lower unit of Tweten’s new Mercury four-stroke 225hp hit the submerged log with such force that the entire outboard was ripped off the boat. The motor mounts were snapped clean through (below), and the massive 511-pound motor immediately sunk to the bottom — crazy!

After impact, the boat did a half spin before coming to rest backwards. Thankfully, Tweten and his co-angler were not harmed in the accident.

In a recent Facebook comment, Tweten explained more about the boat’s condition: “The transom is fine, but there is some fiberglass damage from the motor hitting the boat I assume.” The price of Tweten’s outboard is about $25k, and fixing the damage on his Legend bass boat won’t be cheap, either.

Be careful out there!