Pickup swallowed by lake after angler hits ‘huge drop off’ below Tennessee boat ramp

A Tennessee man and his pickup truck had to be rescued from an East Tennessee lake after a hidden “drop off” sucked them into the murky water.

The angler survived without injury, but his Dodge pickup ended up completely submerged, along with most of his boat and his trailer. The man’s identity was not released.

It happened at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, in the Soddy-Daisy community of Hamilton County, officials said. The nearly 59-mile-long reservoir is north of Chattanooga with an average depth of more than 670 feet.

“The fisherman was backing his boat and trailer down the boat ramp into the water. ... He did not realize the boat ramp had a huge drop off and accidentally submerged his back tire into the water,” Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management said in a release.

“Unfortunately, the fisherman could not stop the truck from entering the lake.”

Photos show only the back of his boat could be seen in the water, bobbing like a cork.

A towing company eventually pulled the boat and trailer out, with a hazmat team standing by in case gas or oil leaked into the lake.

It will likely count as the man’s single most expensive day of fishing.

“The boat and trailer are salvageable,” officials said. “However the Dodge truck is a total loss.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 6:39 AM with the headline "Pickup swallowed by lake after angler hits ‘huge drop off’ below Tennessee boat ramp."