Thunderstorms

[GloryDaze]

With spring in full force I thought I would bring this topic up for discussion. I've read that if you get caught in a t storm while on the river, one should get off the water but not under trees or a tree canopy to avoid being struck by lightning. Also, be sure and be 5 foot from another person .....

In theory that sounds easy, if you were floating or had camp set up on a gravel bar, what would you do?

My experience has been to stay on the gravel bar (between the water and forest), not under the canopy and I try to get under a tarp or in my tent. I try and have all my stuff already moved to higher ground should I need to scramble off the gravel bar because of flash flooding.

What do you think?

[Jerry Rapp]

all I know is that when I fished tournaments is that my partner and me would keep picking up the shortest rod in the boat when a t-storm approached. LOL! Seriously, just head to an unoccupied dock or get in a cove and hunker down. The odds of a lightning strike are pretty bad. Better odds buying a million dollar scratch off lottery ticket.

[fishinwrench]

Yeah I try NOT to get caught out in one, but when it happens I just play the odds and hope for the best.

[Feathers and Fins]

I run for the nearest doc or ramp. But with technology what it is keeping an eye on the cell phone will give you enough warning to get to shelter before it hits now.

[Al Agnew]

Guys, no docks on rivers, and the ramp might be a long way of paddling away.

It's always a crap shoot, because lightning doesn't always follow the rules. What I do is look for a place where I can get off the water onto a gravel bar with SMALL trees on the back side of the gravel bar. Go to the back edge of the bar up against the small trees. Stay as far away as possible from any tree that's significantly taller than surrounding trees. Stay away from isolated trees or small clumps of trees on the bar. I also figure that my plastic canoe isn't going to transmit lightning like an aluminum canoe would, so if it's raining really hard or hailing, I try to find a piece of driftwood I can flip the canoe and lean it against, and get under it.

I've been caught in some bad ones in the past, had lightning strike trees on the bluff directly across from where I was hunkered down, windstorms that blew limbs as thick as my forearms off the trees around me, and hailstorms that made me glad I was able to get under the canoe. It's all part of the experience, but I generally avoid fishing on days when heavy thunderstorms are forecast.

One other thing...shelter caves in the bluffs look inviting, but I've read that lightning can shoot the gap from floor to ceiling of a shelter cave, with you in the middle. If I'm going to use a shelter cave, I want it to be deep enough that I can get well back from the entrance.

[GloryDaze]

Ironically enough my biggest fear during a sever storm is the wind causing a branch to come crashing down on my tent!

Although, like most people there isn't a whole lot I can do about it if it happens, but just this weird thought I have in the back of my mind.

A few years ago on the 11 point me and my buddy rode out a really severe storm on a gravel bar. By far the strongest winds I've encountered while camping. When we got back to the outfitter his car was damaged from a canoe that was blown off the outfitters canoe rack and torpedoed through the air. The above mentioned outfitter also lost most of his Busch beer road sign he said had been there for years.

Any guesses on the outfitter?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I think the gravel bar is the best bet. I haven't been caught often, but when I did I tried to get on a gravel bar and sit down and stay low. Lightening is going to the best ground and that's the water. The rocks give you some insulation if you're in the path, at least in theory and that's all you got. Lighting often kills cows and horses that have taken shelter under trees and are 10' from the tree.

[Guest]

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