Father, two children fine after boat sinks

A man and his two children escaped unscathed when their boat sank while they were fishing on Flathead Lake late Tuesday morning.

Shortly after 11:30 a.m., the call came in that the trio’s 16-foot outboard had capsized and sunk while they were on the northeast portion of the lake between the mouth of the Flathead River and Bigfork.

They had made it safely to shore.

“It appears that a wave capsized the boat and it sank fairly quickly out from under them,” Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said. “They were able to get out and were picked up by a close-by fishing boat. They were not injured.”

Curry said they had appropriate safety equipment.

Tuesday afternoon, deputies and members of the dive team were able to attach a lift bag to the boat and bring it back to the surface and tow it to shore. Curry said the boat did not appear to be damaged.