I admit I have been terrified of lightning since I was about 12 years old. I was sleeping on a screened in porch that summer when a terrible storm came through. It scared me so bad I have hated lightning every since then. Sitting inside a house watching the flashes and hearing the rolling thunder does not bother me, it is pretty. But I do not like being out in it.
Take Cover From Lighting
Loving to fish has put me in some bad storms that I will never forget. I always try to get to some kind of cover, and if caught out in a boat I will pull back in a ditch or small creek with trees overhanging from both sides. I try to keep the boat away from the trunks of big trees near the water. I hope that keeps me safe.
Many years ago Bob Pierce and I were fishing a night tournament at Bartletts Ferry. We had run way up the river to fish the daylight hours of the tournament, planning to get back on the main lake before dark. Almost as soon as we got up there and started fishing a huge storm broke right on top of us. We had no warning, suddenly lightning started flashing and thunder crashing all around us. And the rain came with it.
We eased out bass boat into a small creek not much wider than the boat and sat there. The water was about two feet deep and I had to keep bumping the trolling motor to hold us there since the wind was blowing so hard. I was up front and Bob was in the back, and I had my head lowered so my rainsuit hood kept the rain out of my face.
After a few minutes I noticed the boat was not moving any more. I looked in the floor and water was inching up inside the boat. The rain was so hard is put about six inches of water in the boat in just a few minutes and sank the boat down enough so the motor was on the bottom. I turned on the bilge pump and it ran steadily, just holding its own.
After almost two hours of rain, lightning and thunder it started getting real dark. By the time the storm let up enough for us to head back to the lake I thought we would never make it because it was so dark. It took five times as long going back as it did when we went up the river.
Another Way To Find Cover
Another night at Jackson Lake years later found me in a similar situation. I was there practicing for a night tournament and the air was so heavy it seemed hard to breathe. The clouds were hanging low but not moving, there was no wind and I had not heard any thunder all afternoon.
At about an hour before dark I pulled up near the dam to make some casts to it. Back then you could get right up to the dam, there was no buoy line keeping boats out. I was a few feet from the dam when a gust of wind came over the dam and it started pouring rain. At the same time, lightning started popping. It was the kind of lightning where there is a flash and a pop at the same time, then the thunder shakes you before you have time to blink your eyes.
I knew there was no way to run back to the ramp so I pulled right up beside the dam and tied the boat to a bolt sticking out of it. I felt safe with 20 feet of solid concrete over my head, and thought the iron railing at the top would act like a lightning rod. I guess it worked, I survived.
For two hours I sat in the drivers seat of my boat with my head resting on the steering wheel and my eyes closed. The lightning was so bright it left afterimages even with my eyes closed. My dog crawled up under the console and kept looking up at me like she was saying "Please take me home!"
Stay Safe
Stay safe with the lightning this summer. Head to cover if you hear thunder nearby. Get off the open water and don’t hold a fishing rod up like a lightning rod. Don’t take any chances with your life.
