Lightning while fishing?

[RPreeb]

11 hours ago, Sam said:

Lightning can strike 5 miles out from the storm.

 

If you are hit and survive, it will be like having a stroke.

 

Recovery is very slow and your sex life is over.

 

Of course, that is the good news. If no doctors or EMS around  you probably won't make it, anyway.

 

Actually lightning has been know to strike ground up to 10 miles from the storm itself.  A lot depends on the path of least resistance for a discharge.

[38 Super Fan]

I've been through many pop up thunderstorms in the summer, if you've got some empty docks with roofs around you've got it made. I've taken shelter under overhanging bluffs, and under bridges and dams too. Quite a few times though, there's been nothing like that around, getting to the back of a little creek under some trees was the best I could do.

 

Weather apps are great, but with most of the lakes I fish there's no cell service on them, so they don't help me one bit when I really need them.

[J Francho]

Here's a day out on Lake Ontario.  We literally ran through the outlet from the lake to the bay at around 75 mph to beat the storm.  Came out of nowhere.  I saw a speck of lightning many, many miles away, and five minutes later.  We beat it out just in time.  The last two videos are the wind just before the storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ratherbfishing]

6 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

 

So, being hit by lightening is just like getting married?

 

The latter is (or can be) a slow, protracted death.

[lo n slo]

2 hours ago, 38 Super Fan said:

I've been through many pop up thunderstorms in the summer, if you've got some empty docks with roofs around you've got it made. I

saved my butt a time or two. we've identified those safe havens in all of our creeks on our home lake. 

[WRB]

You are conductive and lightning attaches to anything that is conductive.

You are the highest object above the water and attract lightning like a lightning rod.

Indirect lightning strike can kill you, a direct lightning strike will burn the marrow out of your bones and fry you to a smoking mess.

lightning and fishing don't mix, don't hesitate and get off the water fast as you can!

Fishing in Canada I experienced my line lifting off the water and thought what the heck when a lightning bolt hit a tree a few 100 yards away splitting it down the middle. We ran the boat up onto the bank, jumped out and got under some low trees as the rain and hale came within a few minutes, weather can change fast if you are not watching.

Be safe not foolish.

Tom

 

[geo g]

In Florida we are in the lightning capital of America.  We have more lightning strikes then any other state.  Our canal systems have loads of bridges where I have taken cover from storms on many occasions.  I usually tie up to a piling and have a snack, or even fish while tied.  Over the years I have caught some nice bass under the bridges while waiting for a break in the weather.

If the weatherman predicts thunderstorms you must have a plan for your safety.  Don't stay out in the open under any circumstance.   Be smart!

[UPSmallie]

Right before lightning strikes I notice the fish seem to smash my lures a lot more.  Falling barometric pressure maybe?  If lightning is far away then I'll keep fishing, but if it is close by then I'll call it quits until it passes by.

[gim]

I'm a big fan of fishing in inclement conditions because it generally keeps recreational traffic off the lake and the fishing is often better, but there is a very fine line when it comes to being out there when the fishing is good and being out there when its potentially really dangerous.  Lightning often strikes the highest point so if your on a lake in a boat holding a rod, that's just bad news.  Oh, and by the way, fishing in hail is very dangerous too.  If a piece of big hail hits you, its gonna hurt.  If it hits you in the head, it might kill you.

[BuzzHudson19c]

Last week I got caught in a storm that rolled in quickly. I paddled to shore and took shelter in a broken wall of an old mill. I know better than to be out there in lightning.

[pondbassin101]

7 hours ago, J Francho said:

Here's a day out on Lake Ontario.  We literally ran through the outlet from the lake to the bay at around 75 mph to beat the storm.  Came out of nowhere.  I saw a speck of lightning many, many miles away, and five minutes later.  We beat it out just in time.  The last two videos are the wind just before the storm.

 

 

I don't know about other states, but Florida summer thunderstrorms are far from peaceful. 2 inches of rain in half an hour and enough thunder to make everything shake is common. Being caught out on the water in these conditions would be foolhardy and even deadly. 

 

they look something like this 

 

[lonnie g]

23 hours ago, scaleface said:

I was fishing at Bull Shoals and there was a storm in some far away hills . I wasnt too frightened by it . I was using a tube on  a quarter ounce jighead . I made a cast and my line would not lay on the water . The lure was in the water but the line was trying to stand straight up in the air . I connected the dots rather fast and got off the water .

had the same thing happen to me in bama. it's spooky when the line just floats in the air. I left rather quickly!

[Gundog]

15 hours ago, NHBull said:

 

In the Summer I borrow a lightning indicator that our athletic trainer has. ( It's awesome)

 

 

I just looked up lightning indicators and found one for only $20. Not sure how good it works but it sounds like something worth investing in. I've been caught in a few storms over the years but if I see lightning I head for land. 

[Catt]

Yes I've been in a thunderstorm big enough to beach a Champion 210 Elite & have been 150 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico in seas that made a 70' boat look little.

 

It's all fun & games until you pull a dead body out of the water...changes your perspective on boating safety!

 

I love my family more than bass fishing!

[pondbassin101]

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

Yes I've been in a thunderstorm big enough to beach a Champion 210 Elite & have been 150 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico in seas that made a 70' boat look little.

 

 

sheesh

[Mike L]

Last summer some time I posted what happened to a boater and co angler on Okeechobee during a tournament. To make a long and sad story short.....

 

They were fishing under blue sky's but kept watching a building thunderstorm that didn't seem like it was moving. After fishing hard for a while one of them happened to look back and  saw that it was bigger, darker and moving faster. 

 

They packed up and started to head back when a lightening bolt struck the co angler and knocked them both out. When the boater finally regained consciousness he tried to revive him but being disoriented himself he couldn't. He screamed and tryed to get the attention of other passing boat's.

When they got to weigh-in the co angler had died..

 

Weird fact...The fish in the co angler's live well were dead, but the fish in the boater's well were not. 

 

ALL prize money awarded that day was donated back to the co anglers family. 

 

Iv'e said before..Leave, it's just fishing

 

 

 

Mike

 

[MickD]

Comments on line not lying down and rod buzzing when lifted indicate you're close to a lightning situation, and as mentioned, it doesn't have to be clearly a thunderstorm environment.  It can happen miles from the storm .  I repeat to emphasize the danger which one can find himself in, even without a thunderstorm.  If you point your rod up and hear the buzz, get the heck out of there immediately.

[Ratherbfishing]

2 hours ago, Mike L said:

Last summer some time I posted what happened to a boater and co angler on Okeechobee during a tournament. To make a long and sad story short.....

 

They were fishing under blue sky's but kept watching a building thunderstorm that didn't seem like it was moving. After fishing hard for a while one of them happened to look back and  saw that it was bigger, darker and moving faster. 

 

They packed up and started to head back when a lightening bolt struck the co angler and knocked them both out. When the boater finally regained consciousness he tried to revive him but being disoriented himself he couldn't. He screamed and tryed to get the attention of other passing boat's.

When they got to weigh-in the co angler had died..

 

Weird fact...The fish in the co angler's live well were dead, but the fish in the boater's well were not. 

 

ALL prize money awarded that day was donated back to the co anglers family. 

 

Iv'e said before..Leave, it's just fishing

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

Not to make light of a tragic situation but there's something funny about "...when they got to weigh-in...".  I know tournament fishermen are fanatics but geesh!

[Mike L]

3 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

 

Not to make light of a tragic situation but there's something funny about "...when they got to weigh-in...".  I know tournament fishermen are fanatics but geesh!

 

There is no cover on Okeechobee. No docks, few marinas, and even less shorelines that they could have beached the boat and run. 

They were in open water.

 The ramp area they launched from was the closest place to seek shelter and get help for his unbeknownst to him, deceased partner that was laying across the seat's next to him. 

[Bucky205]

Friend and I were fishing the St Johns rive in Palatka, FL. with power lines overhead.  Started hearing the crackling. I made a long cast using mono, and the line just hung in mid air, floating. Then bright flash, and simultaneos BOOM. I though we had been hit. That's probably the closest I've come.  People tell me I'm exagerating when I tell them the line floated. Good to see it has happened to others.

[Ratherbfishing]

26 minutes ago, Mike L said:

 

There is no cover on Okeechobee. No docks, few marinas, and even less shorelines that they could have beached the boat and run. 

They were in open water.

 The ramp area they launched from was the closest place to seek shelter and get help for his unbeknownst to him, deceased partner that was laying across the seat's next to him. 

 

I was just being...facetious.  

[Catt]

The notion that lighting will strike the tallest object around is not completely true.

 

The photos I posted of an aluminum boat hit by lighting was not the tallest object around, both anglers died.

 

My nephew was stationed at Tinker Airforce Base. A crew was on flight line (wide open space) prepping  an E3-AWACS when they got a warning from the air traffic control of an approaching thunderstorm. They had just taken shelter under the wing when lightning struck & killed an airman. The tower said the storm was 5 miles out!

[Mike L]

7 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

 

I was just being...facetious.  

 

Don't take my response as anything but more information as it was told to me. 

 

Its been a rough morning 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

[ClackerBuzz]

[StinkyBass]

On 7/19/2017 at 1:53 AM, Sam said:

Recovery is very slow and your sex life is over.

Ahahaha Sam! I can always count on you for a straight NO BS answer!

 

IMO I don't just walk outside with a "lightning rod" **cough** a fishing rod in my hands hoping to "one up" mother nature by catching a bass before a t-storm.  According to Sam there's more at stake then getting struck by lightning!