Fun With Lightning and Bad Storms on the Water.

[Cooler O' Slabs]

My day always starts at Storm Prediction Centers website, looking at the convective outlook, which give's an in-depth look at the next three days likelihood of any organized severe weather. It will estimate times, and threats (hail, gusts, and tornados) as well as target areas. As a fisherman, that sometimes puts in the water at 6 a.m. and wont come off till after dark, this is your best friend. Especially fishing Oologah Lake in OK, which is recommended you stay off of in winds topping 15-20 mph. Also, there is literature on the site, for warning signs that you may want to leave the lake (Green skies generally imply that at least penny-sized hail is immenent) (Cummulus Clouds that appear to grow taller and taller means a severe thunderstorm is likely) (Any lowering in a storm, implies that tornadic rotation or at the very least large hail is likely.) Anyways, for those not that interested in weather, a 29.99 purchase of an NOAA weather radio is a great idea, you can set it to particular counties, and it will alarm for any watch or warning given which keeps you one step ahead. Sorry I get carried away with two things in life, Fishing and Weather.

[bowdenja]

Hey Bobcatz.......... Man...... I think I was down there that day myself. I was on the bank thinking it might just go around when it hit and you guys beat it out of there.

Me and Bubba got caught last year in that storm that dumped all the hail. We were on the lake above 43 and got off and got back just on Rice Road across Old Canton when it started hailing like all getout. We both looked at each other and knew we weren't going to wait the next time them type of clouds headed our way. By the time we got home there was hail all over my yard it looked like Christmas in Canada!

Once you been in one of those type situations it really does make you more weather aware. I bought me one of those portable weather radios and take it with me in the boat. Glad yours ended up ok like ours did.

john

[1morecast]

Thanks for the post Here's why I'm kind of paranoid about storms when I'm fishing now. An Army buddy and I were out on the Cumberland River in Tennessee doing some crappie fishing from the bank when what looked to be a 'small' storm suddenly rolled in. I like to take storm photos, but have never chased a storm, as they seem to come to me more often than I'd like . . . I snapped a few photos and we got in my truck to wait for the rain to pass. The rain reached us within a minute or two and was sideways, everything was white, and visibility was less than 20 feet I would guess. I turned on the radio and heard a tornado warning in effect for Cumberland City, which was less than a mile away from our location. There was nothing to do but wait it out; no ditch to dive into or anything, despite my buddy's hysterical pleas to 'just drive' (he was screaming and crying). I didn't drive, just set there and said a prayer. The rain and what I would guesstimate as 80-100 mph winds passed after a couple minutes, which felt like forever. There was no hail and hardly any lightning. When we emerged from the truck, big mature trees as far as the eye could see were broken and the heartwood flashing white made for an eerie sight. Soon the river was filled with whole treetops and large boughs floating along. About a week later the National Weather Service survey said there had been numerous F-0 tornadoes at the location. I noticed nothing unusual when I took the pictures; it was only later I noticed the funnels in my photos. I would put the photos here on the post but I'm not sure how . . . there are three funnels dropping in two pics and in one pic it just looks like heavy rain approaching, but the rain-wrapped twister that got us is back in there. Ever since then, I get the willies any time storms start popping around me when I'm on the water. The date was May 27 of 2000 . . . kind of hard to forget those times when you have to wonder if this is IT!

[lip ripper]

Memorial Day, 1967. My Family Was Fishing On A Small Oxbow In Ballard County, Ky. Just Off The Ohio River. All Was Well. Plenty Of Fish Caught By Noon For A Fish Fry. While They Were Eating, A Storm Cloud Moved In Across The River From The West. My Brother Took His Plate And Got Under A Big Tree For Cover From The Rain. Wrong!!! Lightening Hit The Tree And As It Traveled Down The Trunk, Jumped Over To My Brother And Hit Him In The Top Of The Head And Went To Ground Thru His Neck, Shoulders And Down His Arms. My Dad, Aunt And Brother's Wife Got Him Into A Car To Get Medical Help. My Aunt Drove, My Brother And His Wife Were In The Back Seat And My Dad In The Front Passenger Seat. My Brother Had Not Taken A Breath On His Own Since The Lightening Strike So My Sister In Law Started Mouth To Mouth Recessitation. Fortunatley For Him, He Had A Class In Life Saving While In The National Guard And Taught His Wife. They Drove About 20 Miles In A Blinding Rain Storm Before He Took A Breath On His Own. They Drove To Cairo, Il And The Doctor There Examined Him And Said He Would Be Ok Just Sore For A Few Days. My Dad Wanted To Have His Doctor In Sikeston, Mo Look At Him So They Started The 30 Mile Drive. Half Way There By Brother Went Into Convulsions And Was Admitted To The Hospital Where He Stayed For 6 Days. The Doctor Said His Shirt Being Wet Kept The Electricity To The Top Of His Skin Instead Of Going Inside.

[willfish4food]

Once a buddy and I were fishing a bass tournament. We had pre-fished and found some schooling bass, but you know how much you can count on schooling fish. The day of the tournament school must have been out for the day. So with our tails tucked between our legs we headed up the lake. We were cruising along and the graph mad a big jump. We had found where a big flat ran out to a point and then dropped off. We sat on the hole and were catching bass like crazy. We had other boats tha would pull up from a distance and watch us. I guess they thought we would be dumb enough to leave. As we were fishing we were watching a storm roll across the lake. we could see the lightning getting closer but we could also see the other boats just waiting for us to leave. As the lightning got closer we could hear the ceramic guides on our rods tick everytime we had them straight up. A couple of times hearing our rods go tick tick tick was enough for us, we were out of there and headed to the back. One of the other boats pulled up to our hole and stayed about 2 mins and he was gone headed to the back. After the storm finally blew over we got to fish our hole for a little longer before weight-in. My partner and I came in second place but the thing we seem to remember most is tick tick tick.

[siscoken]

I have had some close lightnig strikes when I have stayed to long on the lake when you see a storm coming.
The most uneasy feeling that I have ever had was about 20 years ago...My brother and I were casting from the boat up to a rocky shoreline as a storm was moving in. The walleyes were taking dragonfly larvi that were climbing up on the rocks to hatchout, the fishing was fantastic one after another. On one of my casts the jig hit the water about six inches from the shoreline and I watched in amazment when my line never settled to the water ..It hug in the same ark that you see when the hook first hits the water. I still remember the look on my brothers face when he said all right , all right thats it we got to get off the lake. I agreed.
I have no good explaination except other than the storm.
Ken

[Baditude]

The best crappie fishing i ever experienced was in NC at Falls Lake/Lake of The Neuse. Was a hot summer day and we were tied to some telephone poles in an aluminum boat and catchin' a few fish. We could see a storm moving towards us, but the closer it got , the faster and more intense the bite got - we were catchin' 'em like mad! We decided to stay even tho the storm got severe , whitecaps included, and wicked heavy rains. Soaked to the bone, even after the storm passed and in 90 degree temps, we literally sat there and shivered. I couldn't believe how cold i felt. I have since been caught on the water when storms pop , but i have sense to take cover and ride it out OFF the water.

[papasage]

my wife and i wer down the lake 15 minutes from the camper . i knew bad weather was going to move in at 12:00 noon . about 10:30 i herd the thunder so we atarted back .ondown the lake the lightning looked like a road map . the wife was shaking and praying . guess more than a preacher in a church with a bunch of sinners :D . when i got plained off real good the motor started nocking and slowed to about 1/2 throddle . i kept it running a while but it quit 1/2 way back . started trolling but the weather got worst so i pulled into a empty slip to wait it out . after it quit started troling and the battery started dying . a lady in a lake house invited us up out of the weather . she made us coffee and when her husban came home he took us to the camper .

[Barnacle Bill]

It was a dark and stormy night. Actually it was a fairly nice day. For those familiar with it, we were fishing Goose Creek off the Chowan River in NC. We had put the boat in at Gatesville. A storm came out of nowhere and the water started rising fast. I tied off to a stump in the middle of the creek and put the bimini top up to wait it out. You could watch the stump slowing disappearing under water it was rising so fast. Winds finally died down some and we decided to head for the ramp. It was slow going but we made it to find the ramp under water. I jumped out and waded to the truck. When I got there it dawned on me I didn't need to move it. So I went back to the boat and pulled it to the trailer and put it on without having to move the truck an inch. We finally got out of there and after many detours due to flooded roads and downed trees and made it home. We found out later that a tornado had come thru the area. Weather man was not predicting any storms that day. A day I would not like to repeat!