Early morning fishing on Badin Lake turned deadly for a New London angler.

Ronald Murphy Jr., 57, was killed when the bass boat he was piloting collided with a pontoon boat just after midnight Saturday morning, according to Darby Enoch, the investigating officer with the N.C. Wildlife Commission.

Denise Marie Sweeney, 62, of Greensboro, the driver of the pontoon boat with nine aboard the vessel, was cited with boating while impaired, Enoch said.

Several passengers on the pontoon boat suffered minor injuries.

A passenger on the bass boat escaped serious injury.

Murphy and his passenger were participating in a fishing tournament at the time of the collision, which occurred in the main channel of the lake toward Montgomery County.

The incident remains under investigation with fault in the crash yet to be determined, Enoch said.

Contact Ritchie Starnes at 704-754-5076 or ritchie@stanlynewspress.com.