TRAGEDY struck when a teenager drowned at an historic carp venue – and then well-known carper Gary Peet found the body with his state-of-the-art echo sounder.
Jack Morrisson from Fawkham in Kent, had gone fishing overnight on his own at his regular venue Dartford DAPS club water Sutton-at-Hone.
It is thought 16-year-old Jack had just caught a pike late in the evening and slipped in as he returned it.
The alarm was raised at 2pm on Saturday when other anglers noticed an empty bivvy with a mobile phone in it and no sign of the angler.
A search was started but it wasn’t until 5pm on Sunday that the body was located in 8 ft of water 30 ft from where he had been fishing.
Former carp record holder Lee Jackson who works at the Tackle Box in Dartford, explained: “My colleague Gary Peet had gone to help in the search with his high quality echo sounder that the police didn’t seem to have.
“On their second pass at this spot the boatman noticed something different on the sounder and the body was subsequently retrieved from there not far from his swim.
“Exactly how he got in the water and drowned is a mystery as nobody heard anything at the time, but one theory is that apparently a picture of a pike Jack had caught at 11.30pm was on his phone and he might have toppled in while returning the fish to the water.
“This time of the year the water is quite cold and being fully clothed he could have struggled to get out again.
“The lake is generally quite safe and the swims well-kept but it just goes to show how dangerous water is and how careful anglers need to be especially when fishing on their own.
“It is such a tragedy that a youngster who really loved his fishing should perish in such a fashion.”
Tributes to Jack, known as ‘Bubbles’ due to his other love West Ham, and who attended Longfield Academy, have poured in on the internet. A fund-raising page set up by Dartford ADAS in his name sought to raise £7,000 to pay for his funeral. It quickly exceeded that amount and anything extra will go to charity.
Police issued a statement saying there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and they will be preparing a report for the coroner. A post mortem is being arranged to establish the actual cause of death.
Donate at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jack-morrisson
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