24th Tennessee boating fatality in 2023 by Richard SimmsSun, October 29th 2023, 8:33 PM EDT The Caney Fork River can be very placid or there come be times and places when the current can quite swift, depending upon the water releases from Center Hill Dam. DEKALB COUNTY, Tenn. — Robert Lester, 69, from Cannon County, Tennessee drowned Saturday on the Caney Fork River. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officers responded to a call of an overturned kayak just after 11:00 a.m. (CDT). The man and his wife, from Cannon County left the Buffalo Valley Boat Ramp, just downstream from Center Hill Dam, by kayak. TWRA reports that Lester’s kayak struck a tree and flipped over. They said he was not wearing a life preserver. Rescuers searched the area and the body was spotted in about eight feet of water by a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter. He was less than 100 yards from where he overturned. Lester’s body was recovered. TWRA says the incident remains under investigation. This is the 24th boating fatality in Tennessee so far this year.