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| the WMT delayed their start Saturday due to a storm.
the PMTT started on time in spite of reports of ground-strike lightning across the lake.
i fished through a mid-day storm that i probably shouldn't have, especially with a partner "hinting" that we should get to shore...
at what point will you make the wise move to live to fish another day?
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I try to get off the water if the lightning is within a mile or so. Sometimes I miis how fast the strom is moving, and have to head for shore, but NEVER tough it out. I don't like the odds presenting myself as an obvious and tempting target for Mother Nature's wrath. | |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | When I have clients on board I play it pretty safe, if you can see lightning in the area it is time to get out.
By myself I have been known to push the envelope a bit. Not saying that it is smart, just that I have done it. On a side note, very rarely has the envelope pushing resulted in a bonanza, and yet I still find myself dumb enough to do it once or twice a year. | |
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| Lightning, don't mess with it. We had to get off the Fox Chain yesterday after fishing all morning in rain some nasty lightning showed up right after lunch. We got in, covered the boat, and then it poured like mad  | |
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Location: Des Moines IA | Darrel and I fished in hail for about 45 seconds yesterday .... saw some lightning, kept fishing ,thought about waiting it out, a few minutes later , it was hail, that's when we bailed .... waited the hail out, then went back out to fish, still raining, but no lightning, after all was said and done, ended up being a rather nice sunset. It quit raining about half an hour before the sun went down. No fish to show for it after waiting out the rain though .....
Edited by MuskieMike 6/26/2006 11:14 PM
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Posts: 574
Location: Germantown, WI | better safe then sorry, i'm pretty conservative when it comes to bad weather approaching. i like to atleast be near boat ramp and safety of my vehicle. about 3yrs ago on flambeau chain a storm snuck up on me. wind/rain/lightning, and i was all by myself. it scared me to be more cautious in the future!!
Edited by dward 6/26/2006 11:16 PM
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Posts: 53
| I have been caught in a hail storm once and never again. Hail hitting your face at 25mph is not fun, any faster and it would look like you went hunting with Dick Cheney! | |
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Posts: 53
| Only you won't make the news..................but your buddies will have a good story to tell!
Edited by J-Bird 6/26/2006 11:27 PM
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Posts: 332
Location: Michigan | lambeau - 6/26/2006 11:35 PM
the WMT delayed their start Saturday due to a storm.
the PMTT started on time in spite of reports of ground-strike lightning across the lake.
i fished through a mid-day storm that i probably shouldn't have, especially with a partner "hinting" that we should get to shore...
at what point will you make the wise move to live to fish another day?
As soon as I hear thunder in the distance, i'm moving off the water as quickly as possible. Even if a lightning storm is 10 miles away and the skies are clear above you, you can be reached by a stroke of lightning. It's not a game of chance, you can get fried in the blink of an eye. Better to be safe in my opinion.
To the person/s who's decision it was to continue on with the PMTT event with lightning in the area. " Absolutely Idiotic".
Jason | |
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Posts: 40
| A few weeks back we were fishing ahead of a storm. My fishing partner told me he was getting a shock from the boat, going through his big toe. That was odd considering he was wearing rubber soled shoes. After the third one, we thought that with the storm approaching, let's get off the lake. He picked up two of his rods and the eyes were crackling like mad. That was the most eery thing I have seen. Nonetheless, we made a very quick exit from the lake. | |
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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | PB came in a pouring rain, wicked wind and waves. Thats what they make rainsuits for. Lightning is another thing you have to watch the strikes, if they get to close, get off.
Bruce | |
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| I have to share that some of the guys that i know that fish on Lake Winnebago down here have sat out in the boat and watched water spouts form over the lake. I know it sounds crazy but its the truth. I think it has something to do with the walleyes biting better prior to a storm. I have yet to meet a fish, muskie or otherwise that is worth dealing with the wrath of Ma nature. If i see lightning i head for the landing. | |
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | If there is lightning in the area I am gone...........That was not always the case. Had a bad experience once. I could hear a low pitch buzzing and my friends hair started to stand up off of his head.....thats when we noticed some arcing between the rod tips on our trolling spread. Not good!!!!!!
MR | |
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Edited by Sponge 8/23/2006 9:32 AM
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | I remember being out on Lake Michigan in a freinds Sail Boat when we saw St Elmos Fire, Wierdest thing I ever saw and perhaps the spookiest, there was this bluish / white glow between the masts it looked like an Aurora Borealis, we stayed in the cabin until
the storm passed
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Posts: 1080
| I keep my eyes and ears peeled at all times with approaching storms. Once the thunder is in the immediate area, within 5 - 10 miles...I'll be packing it up asap and be gone. I don't even need to SEE the lightning. I know it's there. If I see it...I'm GONE RIGHT NOW.
No fish on planet Earth is worth risking life and limb for. I don't care how big the potential of the fish could be. It'll be there still when teh storm is gone.
I've had a personal run-in with Lightning once before. Never, ever again for me....please. I don't wish that upon anyone...
Be smart. Use some common sense. Get off the lake. Give yourself the opportunity to fish again. | |
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Posts: 734
Location: Watertown, MN | Like Steve said, it all depends on how fast the storm is moving, but soon as I see direct bolt to ground and I am in the path of the storm, I am out of there. When your line starts floating in the air, or your rods starts humming, pay close attention. Also I will stay on the water if the storm appears it is going to miss you, but if any lightning get glose take cover. Saturday, my partners saw the light running through the channel, we took cover till 7:45 with most of the judges. It is alway better to fish tomorrow, than making your last cast.
Troyz | |
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Posts: 194
| A couple weeks ago I was out with a friend on Monona. We knew a T-storm was on the way, but it was supposed to be a hard, quick dumper and gone in a half hour. There were dark skies to the west as we were trolling the south end near the channels and boat launch. All of a sudden I looked towards downtown and I couldn't see it anywhere. The rain was that thick. We burned our lures in and headed full speed ahead for a small bridge in the channels. We made it under the bridge just in time as the rain pummeled the lake around us for about a half hour. The weirdest part of all of it was the tides we witnessed. While we were under the bridge and as the rain had just quit, the water rushed through the neckdown arear under this bridge. It dropped 6 inches, changed directions, and rose 4inches. Then it changed directions and dropped 3 inches only to come back up another 2 inches etc. It was like being in a bathtub while you slid your but from front to back in the tub. I guess my answer is that I tend to push the envelope a little. I always get off the lake when the thunder and lightning approaches, but I like to wait out the storm and get back at it if possible. | |
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| Lightning & Lightning protection is one of my electrical engineering fields. If the storm is within a mile of you and you're on the water- you're taking a terrible risk. This is not a "roll of the dice" you want to win. Even 5-10 miles away is very risky. The 30/30 rule is conservative for a reason, i.e., people have been killed by lightning even though they were 10-20 miles away from the storm cell.
http://skydiary.com/kids/lightning.html
Al | |
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Posts: 381
| When your hair starts to stand up.
LOL
When I seeLightning I head to shore!
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Posts: 4266
| I'd rather error on the cautious side.
I keep a NOAA radio in the boat. Wish I could get a GPS with radar.
There are more lightning strikes miles in front of and behind the front that directly in it.
Aftre seeing a guy get knocked off of his dock when the sun was shining, I'll go too early rather than too late.
Like when you cast and your line goes up instead of laying on the water.
Adios! | |
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Posts: 389
Location: Presque Isle Wisconsin | I cant even imagine that someone has to ask this question.Lightning often precedes thunder and can zap your a#* well in front of those black clouds.There is nothing smart,brave,or productive about standing in a boat with a graphite lightning rod in your hand with an approaching storm-Its called STUPIDITY- period!
Lightning killed a man shore fishing in Wakefield Mich last week when he decided to stand under a tree and "tough it out". | |
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Location: Lake Tomahawk, WI | Had lightning hit the water 100yds from our boat one time, and since then I head for shore when thunder is approaching (lightning can jump/strike 7 miles ahead of a storm). This has sparked many arguments with my partners while filming. They will sit out and fish with lightning hitting shore all around. As someone else already stated, no fish is worth it.
J.Sloan
The BFO | |
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| Another link for those interested.
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/ltg/
Al | |
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Posts: 355
Location: Wausau, Wisconsin | You guys are making me feel stupid.  | |
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| thanks for the good link, World Traveler.
i found this stuff particularly enlightening (pun intended).
- the 30/30 rule is amazing to me: i've always figured something like 5 seconds was plenty safe.
- being in a boat on the water is obviously one of the worst possible places to be.
- the number of people who report "level 5" experiences while fishing is downright scary.
Call to Action!
Bill Roeder recently shared these levels of safety with the National Weather Association.
http://www.nwas.org
The most important statement for everyone to understand, memorize and to act on is:
NO PLACE OUTSIDE IS SAFE from lightning NEAR THUNDERSTORMS!
Level-1: Plan your activities around the weather to avoid the lightning strike hazard. If you are going to be outside, know the weather forecast beforehand. Know the local weather patterns.
Level-2: While outside, use the "30-30 Rule" to know when to seek a safer location.
When you see lightning, count the time until you hear thunder. If this time is 30 seconds or less, go to a safer place. If you can't see the lightning, just hearing the thunder is a good back up rule to use to take cover.
Wait 30 minutes or more after hearing the last thunder before leaving the safer location.
The "30-30 Rule" will not work well for "first-strike" lightning from locally developing thunderstorms. Watch for brewing convection and seek shelter before the first lightning is produced.
Level-3: Go to a safer location when required. Don't hesitate; go to a safer place immediately! The safest place commonly available is a large fully enclosed substantially constructed building, e.g. a typical house. Once inside, stay away from any electrical conducting path from the outside, e.g., corded telephones, electrical appliances, and plumbing. If you can't get to a substantial building, a vehicle with a solid metal roof and metal sides is a reasonable second choice. Avoid contact with conducting paths going outside. Convertibles and open-framed vehicles do not count as lightning shelters.
Level-4: If you can't get to a safer location, avoid the most dangerous locations and activities. Avoid higher elevations, wide-open areas, tall isolated objects, water-related activities, and open vehicles. Avoid unprotected open structures like picnic pavilions, rain shelters, and bus stops. DO NOT GO UNDER TREES TO KEEP DRY DURING THUNDERSTORMS!
Level-5: USE THIS ONLY AS A DESPERATE LAST RESORT! If you are outside and far away from a safer place, proceed to the safest location.
If lightning is imminent, it will often give a few seconds of warning: hair standing up, tingling skin, light metal objects vibrating, seeing corona discharge, and/or hearing a crackling or "kee-kee" sound.
If you are in a group, spread out so there are several body lengths between each person. Once spread out, use the lightning crouch - put your feet together, squat down, tuck your head, and cover your ears.
When the immediate threat of lightning has passed, continue heading to the safest place possible. Remember, this is a desperate last resort; you are much safer following the previous guidance and avoiding this high-risk situation.
Level-6: The first step in lightning first aid is to call 911. All deaths from lightning are from cardiac arrest or stopped breathing at the time of the strike. CPR or mouth-to-mouth-resuscitation is the recommended first aid.
No lightning safety guidelines will give 100% guaranteed total safety, but these steps will help you avoid the vast majority of lightning casualties.
Lightning is THE underrated weather hazard. Fortunately, the vast majority of these casualties can be easily avoided. | |
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Posts: 8781
| The ideal thing is to be off the water and out of the boat before you're actually in any real danger, but let's say you couldn't or didn't make it back in time...
What do you do?
Obviously you put the rods down get down, but what else can you do?
Are you any less of a target at 40 MPH than you are sitting still? Or is it best to crouch down in the boat and hope?
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Posts: 4266
| Lambeau, did you skip the part about being a tall object, you 6'6" lightning rod?
Put Jason Smith in the boat with you, and he's OK. Your a$$ is toast.
No fish is worth it.
Not just the lightning, but the pace at which a squall line can move can produce 6' seas from glass calm in minutes.
I remember being in the SE corner of Cass Lake, but was staying in Allens Bay at the NW end, when I saw a storm approaching. It was sunny where I was, but by the time I rounded Star Island, I was running straight into 4-5 foot waves, which calls for reduced throttle and more time bouncing around where I didn't want to be. The trip from the SE corner of the island to the narrows....usually less than 10 minutes with my 75 tiller, turned into a half hour from hell or more as the wind switched form NNW to NW to W...a natural counter-clockwise rotation, but the gusts grew in velocity, so I ran the boat up on the beach south of the narrows, donned my raingear and laid flat in the bottom of the boat for 45 minutes while the squall line passed over.
The NOAA radio stays with me, but some times it ticks me off when they warn by county instead of city, because I don't know what county I'm in.
I'd love to see a GPS with doppler capabilities, or at least a link to current satallite images.
I'd rather be a live, cautious person. Than have my feet welded to the trolling motor pedal of my boat.
Like I said before. I saw one guy get knocked off of his dock when there was no wind and you could see the storm approaching. I'm not going to be that guy.
Beav | |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Head to shelter? Hmmm. That would be when my wife calls complaining the kids are driving her crazy. Thats when its time to get off the water before I'm in the dog house too....
Theres also that bad weather thing, but that doesn't scare me as much unless if there is thunder or lightning and then I'm heading for the landing. I always have rain coats for the rain and I ain't going to melt.
Edited by Herb_b 6/27/2006 1:03 PM
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Location: Ames, Iowa | 3:00 pm, August 6th, 2001. Weather hot and humid. Some popcorn type clouds coming in during the day signaling approaching cold front and possible storm. My 14 yr old nephew and 10 yr old son and I are having a cool dip at the Whipoldt access in SE corner of Leech, after striking out in the Pipe Island area. I told the boys if they see lightning we'll get outta there and head for the cabin, which was 5 miles away. Lightning seen west of Bear Island, we get ready to go. Then from over the trees SW of us comes the fastest moving black clouds. The boys wanted to outrun it home, but I put the boat on the beach, anchor in the brush (rental boat with a 25 hp motor- 20 mph tops). We found a low area away from the trees just off the beach, and hunkered down, then witnessed stinging hail, biting flies, 70 mph winds and rain, lightning hitting the trees just behind us, (I still have one of the blown out and burnt logs as a reminder), 5 foot breakers that pounded the boat and broke rods. Doing the math, my students and I have figured that even if we'd headed for the cabin when the storm was 15 miles away in Walker, at that speed it would have hit us about a mile/ 3 minutes offshore of the cabin, not to mention the risk of lightning strike being the tallest object out in front of the storm. Now the weather radio goes everywhere I go on that lake.
Don
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Posts: 189
Location: Hoboken, NJ / North Webster, IN | Then....
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| Absolutely no reason to "push the envelope". Like others said, you can't catch many fish pushing up daisies. If you can hear thunder, you are in danger, plain and simple. Get off the water! If your hair stands up, your rod tips start "ticking", the line you just cast out is "levating" off the water.... not good.
Was caught in a helluva a storm while on a fishing trip in Ontario, back in '91. Damm thing rolled up on us so fast, we didn't have a chance. You could see the front and 'lines' of clouds get blacker and blacker. That was my "Scared Straight" experience.
Now a nice misting rain, or just a good ole' rain shower is another thing. Have had great action in those conditions. But if I can hear thunder, I'll enjoy my beer and dry seat at the bar, thank you very much. | |
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| 8inchcrank - 6/27/2006 9:56 AM
You guys are making me feel stupid. :-)
If you are fishing in electrical storms, young, or married with kids, it is certainly something to think about. You want your wife and kids living a few decades without you because you were horny to get a FISH?????
Regardless though it does come down to acceptable risk. From what I have read, lightning does not even decide to strike until it is within 50 feet of the ground so it is somewhat questionable whether being the tallest thing increases your risk appreciably or not.
But anybody within 50 feet of a lightning strike can take a heck of a jolt. I have been knocked pretty good a couple different times on land INSIDE buildings and it is no fun, couldn't imagine taking a direct hit.
And in spite of everyone being afraid of being KILLED by lightning only 1/10 are killed outright, but think about this, a much greater percentage of lightning targets are done permanent damage in their sensory capability or even partial to full paralysis. That is even more sobering to me. Life is a terminal condition and you aren't going to get out alive, but how would you like to spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair, thinking about how stupid you were, or spend it without sight, or a sense of taste or hearing? Lots of things are worse than death, imo. | |
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| That's why I avoid lightning
I could handle being killed that way -- not a bad way to go when you think about it -- dead before you hit the ground beats 6 months of wasting away in a hospital with tubes coming out every hole...
But lightning turns people into vegetables 90% of the time and only kills the lucky ones... | |
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| I agree that if you hear thunder you are in danger. I have three friends who did everything right to get off the water and stay away from tall trees and still got hit by lightning and lived to tell about it. There is an interesting device out that has literally saved my behind. Go to StrikeAlert.com. I have thanked the client who introduced me to it many times and will not fish without it. | |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | we start heading in when we hear thunder. we always play it safe with lightning. | |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | This happened just last week, guy is still in intensive care:
An Ohio University police officer remained hospitalized at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus on Sunday, three days after a lightning strike in Hocking County injured him and five others.
Nathan Van Oort, 44, and a group of law enforcement personnel were running from Athens to Columbus Thursday while participating in the Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit the Special Olympics. At about 1:55 p.m., the group stopped to eat in a picnic shelter at Sprouts Pre-School near U.S. Rt. 33 and Chieftain Drive several miles west of Logan.
The lightning splintered one corner post of the shelter, and Van Oort, fellow Ohio University Police Officer Steve Noftz, Athens Police Officer Rick Crossen, State Highway Patrol Troopers Ira Walker and Steve Daugherty and Lancaster businessman Charles Murray were hurt.
"It was kind of like an animation, like slow motion," said Crossen on Sunday. "It was the most unreal thing I've ever heard."
Ohio University police officers Don Combs, Cathy Hart and Tim Woodyard did not suffer injuries despite being at the site, reported Woodyard's wife, Tiffany, on Sunday.
Further information on Van Oort's condition was unavailable at his family's request, said OSU Medical Center media relations coordinator Betsy Samuels on Friday.
Tai Shamshar of the OSU hospital said Sunday that there was no update. Shamshar confirmed, however, that Van Oort was still hospitalized at the facility.
The Columbus Dispatch reported Friday that Van Oort had been in the intensive care unit on Thursday night, and the NBC4 television station in Columbus reported Friday that he was in critical condition.
OU officer Woodyard was at OSU Medical Center visiting Van Oort on Sunday, said Tiffany Woodyard.
Van Oort was the most severly injured, and officers performed CPR on him and Murray at the scene. Crossen and Noftz were released from the OSU Medical Center Friday morning, and Daugherty and Walker were treated and released at a Logan hospital.
Crossen said he was just a few feet away from Van Oort when the strike occurred, but the main effect he endured was tingling in his lower extremities.
"It blew me back," recalled Crossen. "It never knocked me out as far as I know."
The Athens Police officer comforted Murray's son in the aftermath while others worked on the two unconscious men.
"Once everything came back into real time, so to speak ... that's the first thing I heard was him screaming for his daddy," he said.
Crossen took Murray's son into the school, where he noticed that a number of kids in the gymnasium were crying due to the noise made by the lightning. Murray was revived at the scene.
Van Oort had returned in January from military duty in Iraq as a member of the Ohio Army National Guard, and he has worked at OU since 2000.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 55 and the local chapter of the Ohio Patrolman's Benevolent Association announced Saturday that the groups have set up a fund to assist Van Oort's family. Donations will be accepted at the Athens Police Department headquarters or at any Hocking Valley Bank location.
"The darkest clouds were, like, way away from us," said Crossen. "It was sunny. It never did rain there."
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Posts: 128
Location: ontario canada - Well Anderson Indiana now | Many years ago while on vacation in northern ontario we had a huge storm roll through almost unannounced, pretty typical for those "northern storms". The cottage we rented had a small piece of carpet for the "living room" and it was held down by a metal border which was screwed into the floor. As the storm passed over us my brother was standing on one of those screws as lightning hit the cottage and he was sent clear across the room and his toe was black. Needless to say I learned that we must be very careful even when indoors as a storm passes through.
And as I mentioned before, if you are new to being in northern climates, be very careful as these storms can really sneak up on you quickly and are usually extremely violent.
Be careful out there.
Doug M | |
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Location: Holly, MI | I'm not too fond of the lightning/water/graphite attractors combo.
I did fish this one out however.. (see below) Caught 2 very nice fish on the front.
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Location: Rhinelander. | I know this I was surprised they sent us out on sat of the P.M.T.T tournament. I would have bet that they were going to hold us up. I headed to the river where I figured the higher banks and trees would get it first. Was I right! a bolt took a tree out about 200 feet from us and scared me to a full head of gray hair.
Now I'll get the hell off the water 100% for sure............
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