A Blacksburg man apparently drowned in Pulaski County, according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Clayton Bartlett, 67, died following a Saturday fishing trip on the New River, according to Officer Rolland Cox.

Bartlett was fishing with his nephew, Richard Bartlett, 42, of Yorktown who told officers that they were traveling in a 12-foot aluminum johnboat down the river.

Clayton Bartlett stood up and fell overboard about 8 p.m. near Pepper's Ferry Bridge on Virginia 114, his nephew told DGIF officials. He got back in the boat but his tackle box fell out. He went to retrieve it but never returned to the boat, his nephew said.

"We don't really know how exactly he ended up drowning," Cox said.

Richard Bartlett got to shore and called another uncle who called the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office. Regional Emergency Medical Services Inc. and the DGIF were called to lead rescue efforts.

Upon arrival, though, it was too dark, and they postponed efforts until Sunday morning. Crews returned at 6 a.m. and discovered Clayton Bartlett's body on a rock near Pepper's Ferry Bridge.

He had floated downstream to a section of the river where water ranged between 4 and 10 feet, Cox said.

The recovery was made by REMSI and scuba divers with the Virginia Tech Police Department.

"They were fairly lucky," Cox said. "During the first part of the trip up the river, they observed the body."

Cox said the investigation is nearly finished "unless something else comes up."

He emphasized that Clayton Bartlett was not wearing a life jacket.

"If the man had been wearing a life jacket, it could have been prevented," Cox said.