A Sad Day

[Mike L]

There was a boater struck and killed by lightening on Lake Okeechobee yesterday during a local club tournament.

From what I was told by 2 co anglers who were there, a thunderstorm moved in and he was trying to beat it to ramp, or was looking for some type of cover [which there isnt much]

 The co angler was knocked out and when he came to, tryed to revive him but was too late. He had passed.

 

The co angler waved down a passing boat who picked up the co angler and called Fish and Wildlife officers who came and towed the boat with the boater back to the ramp. 

 

[A strange note..All the fish in the livewell behind the boater were dead but those in the other were still alive.]

 

Here in Florida as it is in other states, those storms are nothing to mess with..

We all should remember to be continually aware of the weather and our surroundings while on the water, just not checking the forecast before we go.

 

May God Bless him, and may he Rest in Peace

 

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

[fstr385]

Yea we were right by there when it happened. The strike was so close it scared us into going in where shortly after we seen the ambulance coming and heard about the fwc leaving the tiki bar for the call. Didn't know lightning hit anyone till we got in there we heard a couple talking to the bartender about it.  RIP brother.

[LARGEMOUTH ANGLER]

this is why I don't fish when it rains I respect mother nature

[BassinLou]

RIP. I was out in the Everglades yesterday when a big storm came through. We had to take refuge under a bridge. Very scary when lightening is cracking all around you.

[The Commodore]

RIP.  I love fishing in the rain but once I hear thunder it's time to pack up.  Sounds like he tried this but it caught him.

[Chris at Tech]

This is what scares me the most about fishing out of an electric-only boat -- when a storm is approaching, you can't get in or to cover very quickly at 4.5 MPH.

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

RIP

Prayers for his family. I will remember our fellow angler next time I fish by dedicating my next bass to him. Also major props to the co angler who tried to revive him when he came to. This is a tragedy and we need to lift up the families involved.

Joe

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

I will get this out to our church too.

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

The co angler needs to be remembered in prayer as well. That was very traumatic.

[MrSwimJig]

RIP Lorenzo Magdaleno

[SuthernProg]

I was fishing with my dad back in 94 on Swift Creek Rez when a lightning storm came up on us, We were fishing against a tree lined bank and never saw it coming. Of course, our trolling motor had died earlier and we were just drifit/paddling along back to the ramp. I've been shot at and was never so scared in all my life. It was like God was practicing archery except he kept missing. We ended up jumping out in 3 feet of water, picking up the jon boat and sliding it on to shore behind some dude's house whose parents were out of town. The whole time he was like..."Wow....that's AWESOME man!" Watching the bolts. Ever since then, no siree, I don't mess around.

 

 

RIP

[Shane Procell]

Very sad indeed.

[ww2farmer]

Thoughts and prayers to the family of the man who passed away. I will fish in the rain all day, but I high tail it the minute thunder and lightning approach.

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

Very true ww2farmer

[Dwight Hottle]

Very sad. It probably could have been many of us. Same thing happen to another angler fishing a tournament exactly one year ago on lake okeechobee.

[GaBankFisher]

this is why I don't fish when it rains I respect mother nature

That's kinda a bizarre way to express your feelings about a man who just passed away. I'm fairly certain he respected mother nature also.

[Lucky Craft Man]

Wow...sad news there.  I'm sure we have all be caught by surprise by the weather.  My heart goes out to his family.

 

Here is another article about a 29 year old in Illinois who got struck by lightening.  That lightening is a wicked thing.

 

http://www.muskyhunter.com/musky-matters/lightning-strike-kills-illinois-musky-fisherman/

[gripnrip]

I hate to here this.  RIP man!  I probably don't have the greatest rep. in my club because even if I here there might be storms in the area where my family will be without me or the storms will be near where we are fishing I bail out of the tournament.  There are many things in this world we can't control.  I'm not going to chase a little green fish when it could cost me my life.

[JT Bagwell]

Prayers for the family and friends.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Wow very sad ... thoughts and prayers to his family... I'll fish in the rain but when thunder rolls thru I'll wait 20 mins in my car then listen if it happens again I'm outta there

[LARGEMOUTH ANGLER]

That's kinda a bizarre way to express your feelings about a man who just passed away. I'm fairly certain he respected mother nature also.

yea.. you wouldn't understand what I meant but its ok ill leave it at that. 

[Glenn]

Very tragic and sad.  I've been guilty of both "running scared" at the first sign of bad weather, and staying out there when I shouldn't.  This is a good reminder to all of us that it's ok to "run scared". 

 

Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

[Bluebasser86]

I probably push it further than I should a lot of times with lightning. Just a couple weeks ago we had a occasional lightning around but not terrible so we stayed out fishing (didn't help that we were killing them). I made a long cast and my line just hung in the air and even started to lift up towards the sky. We reeled in quickly and got off the water until it passed after that. 

Very sad deal indeed. 

[Bankbeater]

Very sorry to hear this.  A couple of weeks ago lightning hit a van parked out at a lake that I fish.  A friend of mine said that the owner was burned pretty bad on his legs, but luckily he wasn't killed.

[senile1]

My heart goes out to anyone who has a loved one struck down by some unfortunate incident such as this.  This could very easily happen to any of us.  Like some have mentioned above, sometimes I am too careful, but at other times I am not careful enough.  A lot of us fish in the rain when we don't hear thunder, but just because you don't hear thunder doesn't mean that the potential for lightning doesn't exist.  I was fishing in Northwest Arkansas a couple of weeks ago and, in the local paper, I read about a lightning strike in the lot of an automobile dealer in Rogers, AR.  Two men were struck as they carried on a conversation in the lot.  There were storms in the surrounding area and dark clouds were nearby, but at the time, no one had heard thunder.