Lightning: Never To Be Taken Lightly

Read today about a bass angler who, when he was in his 20s, believed that, as long as he wasn't the tallest thing in an area, was safe from a lightning strike. That, however, was before he was fishing a club tournament some years later on a lake, with cypress trees standing all around him.

"As a storm blew through the area," he said, "I simply nestled my bass boat up next to a group of these trees and kept fishing. Lightning was getting closer, and the wind was picking up. In a split second, the rain was falling so hard that I couldn't see the chartreuse spinnerbait hanging on the end of my rod.

"In a flash, literally, I was blinded," he continued. "The hair on my arms was tingling, and I couldn't hear. As I was coming out of this tingling disorientation, my partner asked, 'Are you OK?' Not knowing what to say, I simply stated, 'Well, the batteries should be fully charged now.'"

As it turned out, the duo hadn't been struck by lightning, although for a second, they thought they had been. A tree right next to them took a direct hit. As the angler on the front of the boat was coming back to reality, he noticed there were ripples coming from the boat like a bobber that had just been bounced in the water. The thunder clap was so loud that the boat transferred the noise vibration into the water.

That storm blew out of the area as fast as it had moved in. However, it was the last storm the angler failed to treat with respect.

"I probably have missed out on a fish or two," he said, "and I know I've missed out on a complete day on the water because of similar threats. You won't ever find me without cover during a thunderstorm again.

"My No. 1 option for when storms come up while on the water," he explained, "is to spend the time and gas to get back to the truck. Once there, I've been known to wait out the storm and then go back out. I always put the boat on the trailer, though, 'cause you don't want to have it beating against a dock in a bad storm. If getting back to the truck is not an option, I'll borrow a covered boat dock. Most dock owners understand. If you have to duck into their dock, please be courteous and don't get out of the boat. An owner probably will see you there, and if you remain in your boat, they'll be a lot more comfortable that you're not in their dock to steal something.

"Staying in your boat also allows you to maintain control of it and prevent any damage from the dock. Last but not least, and I had to do this once, is to beach your boat and head for shelter up on the bank somewhere...not the best option, but it's safer than trying to ride out a storm on the water."

The fact of the matter is that lightning strikes, to the best of our knowledge, are random. Without extreme controlled conditions, we cannot predict how, when or where lightning will strike. For the angler, that means if you can see the storm, you already should be under shelter. No one's life is worth risking for a bass...even a trophy-sized one.