A fisherman who was thrown from his boat during a fishing tournament on Lake Tawakoni was rescued after spending more than three hours in rough water Saturday, thanks to an extensive search effort and several key safety measures, Texas game wardens said. Texas Game Warden Dewayne Noble said crews responded just after 7 a.m. after receiving an emergency call from the fisherman, Steven Otto. According to Noble, Otto was ejected from his boat after it struck a tree stump in the middle of the lake. The emergency call came from Otto’s Apple Watch. “You have a general idea, but given the conditions that we were in — it’s a tough search,” Noble said. Noble said crews faced challenging conditions, with 3- to 4-foot rolling waves across the lake. For hours, local firefighters, a helicopter, neighboring departments, drones and game wardens searched for Otto, focusing on where the waves may have carried him. “We got off the shoreline about a quarter mile maybe, and Warden Bonnie was looking with his binoculars — ‘I think I see him,'” Noble said. Game wardens eventually located Otto and pulled him from the water. He had been afloat for about three and a half hours, wearing the life jacket that Noble said likely saved his life. “A credit to him wearing his life jacket, wearing the engine cut-off lanyard and realistically having an iWatch on,” Noble said. “It sounds funny his iWatch didn’t have service, but he was able to make an emergency call, and that’s potentially what saved his life.” Otto suffered a cut above his eye and muscle cramps, but was in good spirits after the rescue, Noble said. He was also surprised by the number of people involved in the search. “I remember Steven making the comment to us — ‘That’s a whole lot of resources for one person’ — and Josh and I kind of looked at each other — ‘Steven — you don’t put a price on life. You just don’t. We’re here for one goal and that mission was to find you,'” Noble said. Noble said the successful rescue highlights the importance of always wearing a life jacket and using an engine cut-off switch, which stops a boat if the operator is thrown overboard. “It’s a huge relief when you get to end the day with a story like that,” Noble said. “A lot of times when we do this, they don’t turn out the same way. It turns into a tragedy. This one, this was a success story.” Noble said Otto was relieved to be rescued and also relieved to learn his boat had drifted into a cove and was found intact. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less