Boating and lightning.... you should read this!

[Fishtails]

It may save a life! I got caught in a storm last month same as Bill, Rich & Eric did, fighting a fish on copper fishing out in Wilson. While clearing rods...my buddy got several jolts while reeling in a graphite rod, so.... like an idiot I picked it up and got a couple shocks myself :shock:

I did a little investigating when I got home to understand what happened a little better. Glad I did.....I found this article that really clarified the correlation between boating and lighning....and what you need to know.

http://www.foremostboaters.com/safety/lightning.htm

[Billy V]

I'm glad we all made it in safely on Saturday. It was pretty scary. Man, that storm sure lit the fish up for a while for us though!

[Penn yan 88]

got caught in the storm yesterday out in front of fairhaven, the weather changed real quick. I have never seen 3 guys bring in 2 wires, leadcore, 4 downriggers and a planer board so fast in my life. Well I got to see how good the new penn yan did opened up. Used about 10 gallons of gas on the way back.

Fishtails, thanks for the info good to know

[T_barb]

It seems like the lignting turns the big fish on... I can recall a time off of Shipbuilders when a buddy and I got caught in a nasty storm...

We were hammering some huge browns one after another... We kept saying we were going to pull them and go and the rods kept firing... We weren't resetting, but what ever was in the water got hit...

After all rods were clear, my buddy told me to look over and the hair on his arms was standing up... Needless to say we made a bee line for the bay..

Felt lucky to get in safe and sound...

[Legacy]

billy,

just another reason to have rick fight the fish on copper.

[spun out]

i got caught in an electrical storm last year brown trout fishing in spring. we doubled up and me and my buddy got shocked the whole time we were reeling in. it gives you feeling of about to be struck by lightning not a good feeling on the water. we pulled everything as soon as we landed the fish by the time we made it to port everything cleared but better safe then sorry

[Guest ReelDiel]

proof is in the pudding for all the naysayers of the black box!!!!!

[Yankee Troller]

billy,

just another reason to have rick fight the fish on copper.

All day long! I wont pass up a copper fish.

[skipper19]

I had the expierience once on a small lake in otsego county called Canadarago. There was a black cloud moving in and there was no lightning at the time but there was definite static draw on the graphite rods standing up on the console rod holders. I was standing up casting and kept hearing this buzz...snap...buzz...snap behind me, I finally had to see what the heck was the noise and found sparks arching from the GRAPHITE rods to the metal railing around the console about an inch or more away :shock: ...I grabbed the rods and got a shock from them and laid em down on the deck and had the family on board sit low in the boat....needless to say I hauled butt to shore after that....also when ya cast, and yer in an aluminum boat if yer line does the watusie above the water and it is the plastic kind not braid, and yer lure goes in the water, but yer line won't.....look up in the sky and see a black cloud movin' over get the heck outta th water....CAUSE THE STATIC IS TRYIN' TA ZOOM IN ON YA

[waterlogged]

Rod,

You had/have a PM.

[Fishtails]

You have one as well.

There's a time and a place Clarke.....this board isn't the place !!!

[chinook]

Guys, I cut my teeth on the Great lakes in an open bow 16'. That was 30 years ago. Having done that, has really instilled the utmost respect for these bodies of water. I absolutely positively take no chances with approachng weather in the least with myself but more importantly my crew. Need to tell a story of not to many years ago. One of my major customers' main office manager has a permentant reminder of what can happen due to severe weather. Her son and her brother were out golfing on a supposedly sunny day. Off in the distance which was later guesitmated was a thunderstorm of app. 10 miles out. A stray lightning bolt hit both of these individuals and killing them. I know some will say that their time was simply up. My point is that even though the thunder head is not that close, what can actually happen to exposed individuals. Having said that, I don't care if all rods just took a shot with majors on them. If I had lightning striking close by, those lines would be cut in a heart beat. Those can be replaced. I hope no one takes wrong. But in fact takes it the way it is intended. Safety first.

[Rob]

OK besides the rods and high objects being removed or lowered,

in certain cases wouldn't it be better to leave your rigger cables in the water for a path to ground if you couldn't out run the storm or had engine troubles.

[Fishtails]

That's an interesting thought Rob....I'd like to know the answer myself. Could it increase the risk of a strike?

Lucky for us, we have Ray K who kindly pm'd me offering his services as The official LOU experimental lightning protection deployment technician!! He also offered Musky Bob's services as the "on-site" water technician. As Ray K coordinates the latitude and longitude positions of the lightning strikes using Doppler radar from his home base (he was concerned the risk of spilling his beer was just to high if he were out in the storm), he will relay the info from his recliner to Bob via cell phone. Bob (wearing Ray's company uniform consisting of nothing but a cape w/thunderbolt logo and a thong) will courageously head strait into the storm seeking out the elusive lightning bolts and deploy various experimental protection systems. I'd personally like to thank these guys for their unselfish offer and wish them the best of luck out there!!

Sorry.....I probably shouldn't make light of such a serious situation but I just couldn't help myself

[skipper19]

Ray is the man for the task, however he would probably forgo the thong and cape and use his tried and proven buffy mode thereby being able to more effectively deploy the lightning rod equipment and get cooked lamb chops as a bonus from the storm Yes this IS a serious topic now

[ray koziatek]

Buffy could put a new meaning to "lightning rod".And dont be picking on me too much or Musky will come to my rescue.

[skipper19]

You mean he will come to watch the carnage

[dieselhp]

Thanks for the link Rod