My friend and I were rowing into the marina area yesterday just as the rain started coming down. We stopped at the boat docks to make a few casts and my friend laughed and told me to watch my line when I made a cast. I did and when my lure hit the water I noticed it took forever for the slack line to fall. He said this was caused by the static in the air. At one point it got so bad that my other rods behind me made the same sound you hear when standing next to power lines. At that same point if you left any slack in your line it would actually float up in the air. Needless to say we got off the water in a hurry at that point. Thank god there was no lightning. Have any of you ever expirenced this before?
Aurora Static Storm
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You were smart to get off the water asap. Graphite rods are a real good conductor. I have been out when I had sparks from the rod to the screws on the rod holder. Rods were placed on the floor of the boat and went straight for the ramp and shelter of my vehicle.
G
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·Yep, sure have. Immediately put the rods down and headed for the ramp. Lightning started shotyly after. I don't do lightning!roth2000 said:
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You were about as close as you can get to having lightning, though. I had a similar experience on a Minnesota lake as a storm front was approaching. My line floated in the air and my hair was starting to stand on end from the static electricity. Suddenly lightning struck the water about a city block from me.roth2000 said:
It occurred to me at that point, that I was sitting in an aluminum boat, and I was the highest thing on the whole lake.
I think only about the back 2 feet of the boat were touching the water as I opened up that outboard and high-tailed it for home.
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Interesting statistic:
There were 39 deaths from lightning in Colorado from 1990-2003 which makes Colorado the third highest in the USA. Florida is first and Texas is second.
The National Weather Service recommends observing the "30/30" rule. When lightning is seen, count the seconds until you hear thunder. If it's 30 seconds or less, head for shelter and stay there at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard.
There were 39 deaths from lightning in Colorado from 1990-2003 which makes Colorado the third highest in the USA. Florida is first and Texas is second.
The National Weather Service recommends observing the "30/30" rule. When lightning is seen, count the seconds until you hear thunder. If it's 30 seconds or less, head for shelter and stay there at least 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard.
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back in az at night when we were catfishing we would get heat lightning and heavy static. lol if the static was rising we used to touch the graphite part of the rods then touch the guy next to us man talk about a wake up call that went on for a yr os so till we walked away from the gear to releive ourselves get mor beer whatnot one night and BBBBBBOOOOOOOMMMM and bright light lol lightning hit the lantern that was hooked up to a 5 gallon propane tank vaporized all the gear and 11 catfish
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The exact same thing happened to me last November at Aurora. However, I was in the middle of the lake and just happened to forgot my life vest. My slack line was just floating in the air. The more line I let out, the more the line went up in the air. I probably had at least 60 ft. in the air.
My pole was also making noises. When I touched my pole, I could feel small electrical charges coming from my pole.
Since I did not have a life vest I quickly grabbed some rope and tied it around my arms to my pontoon boat in the event I got struck by lighting and fell in the water.
Fortunately, nothing happened but is scared the crap out of me.
Michael
My pole was also making noises. When I touched my pole, I could feel small electrical charges coming from my pole.
Since I did not have a life vest I quickly grabbed some rope and tied it around my arms to my pontoon boat in the event I got struck by lighting and fell in the water.
Fortunately, nothing happened but is scared the crap out of me.
Michael
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Wow, I have never experienced this before until last night. I was at my local fishing spot in Longmont and had the same thing with the line happen. Very wierd sensation to say the least. I put the rods down in the boat and motored back to the ramp following the contours of the dam so I wasn't the tallest thing in the middle of the lake.
Brett
Brett
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Cool-the static club! People used to think I was high or sumthin when I told that story. I've had that happen several times at various lakes. I have seen sparks arcing between my thumb and reel at times. I have noticed the fishing is usually pretty good at these moments.
well i havnt had that happen fishing fresh water but had a similar episode diving off southern cal. we had anchored up on this wreck many mile from shore and had strated suiting up when we started to hear lots of buzzing and crackling from the antennas we figured we would be just as safe on the bottom as we would be tring to out run it on the open sea and by the time we were ready to go over the side our hair was standing up pretty good. we ended up having a great dive and when we got back to the surface the conditons had change. it was kinda freeky
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If ya fish enough times it WILL happen again. It has happened to me at high alpine lakes when it is clear and sunny out.
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HAHA- Yeah thats me all right!
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Head to the top of Pikes Peak on a clear dry day. If you stand still to long it actually starts to sting your head as all of the static builds up in your hair.
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