Storm Survival Question

johnnie crain outdoors · Fri Mar 21, 2003 12:54 am

Pro Staff, here's one we all have to face from time to time. How do we handle getting caught out, during a tournament, by a severe thunderstorm. Seek cover, continue to fish, load up and quit, find protective area if possible??? Quitting is seldom really an option I know. What is your best advice to newbies on the trail?? Johnnie Crain

BASSGUIDEPA · Post by **BASSGUIDEPA** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 1:58 am

Johnnie,

What a question. I do not know how to answer it. The only thing that I can say is safety comes first. No matter of the potential winngs, ones life is more important. As long as my life (and my partners) are not in danger, I will continue to fish hard and efficient...

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 4:18 am

Find cover, dont sit out on open water. Try and get to shore and sit tight, dont be the highest point and dont try and run back to the launch, you CANT OUTRUN LIGHTNING!
If you are fishing from an aluminun boat, I suggest you get out onto shore and lay flat on the ground or in a ditch. Glass boats arent much safer, but will not conduct electricity ( for the most part ). Please dont continue to fish if there is lightning in the area, your rod is a target.
I have heard of guys ( in very bad situations ) actually crawling into the rod locker! But I'm sure that extreme.

johnnie crain outdoors · Mon Mar 24, 2003 7:01 am

Eric and Mark, Thanks for the replys. I have been caugh out in tornadoes, lightning storms, blizzards and high winds and guess I have been extremely lucky so far. Of course, as you guys said, common sense goes a long ways too. Tornadoes are a real hazard, there just isn't anywhere safe to go in the boat, so I abandon ship. I tie the boat to a tree or whatever and take my chances on finding a gully or any low spot to hunker down. I stay away from large trees that could fall on me and try to stay as flat as possible to the ground to avoid flying objects. The only good thing is, tornadoes don't last long, but can sure rattle your cage. Lightening is my greatest fear, you don't really see it coming and being on the water is bad. I try to locate a sheltered bay with some small trees in it. I place the boat right against the bank and use the short trees for protection from hail and rain. I always make sure there are much taller trees a good distance away from me. Hopefully the lightening will strike those, and it has happened twice. I absolutely quit fishing in lightening storms, no matter how long it takes. Here in the flat land of the U.S. we sometimes encounter sheer winds, no storms, just winds maybe in excess of ninety miles an hour. There is no chance of driving a boat through that. Find a secure area and hang on, usually by dark the winds will lay to manageable speeds. In high waves I always drive into them from a two o'clock or ten o'clock position, never head on. BY quartering waves you should be able to eventually get to safety. For really huge waves, I will power to the top of them, gradually back off of the trottle and try to slide down the back of the wave as gently as possible, and repeat the whole process.
If given a choice, I won't venture out into extreme weather, but as most of you know, the really bad storms usually occur during the heat of the afternnoon while we're already out there and some fronts move very fast. Be safe everyone and lets have a great summer of fishing. Johnnie

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 7:49 pm

Johnnie,

That brings up another big topic... "Boat Handling" under tuff conditions. I have been out there on some really bad days and had to make the choice to make the run back to the weigh-in or dump my limit and wait for the wind and waves to die off. Lake Ontario, Champlain, Hudson River & Potomac get all get really nasty and 10' plus waves are not uncommon under certain conditions. How do you guys approach BIG WAVES?

Looking forward to some responses on this one...

BC

johnnie crain outdoors · Mon Mar 24, 2003 9:10 pm

Brendan, luckily we hardly ever have to face the giant swells of the great lakes, but we do encounter some very tricky waves on the Mississippi river, when the wind is strong from the south. Something about the wind blowing against the current really riles things up. As stated earlier, I try to power over the wave at a slight angler, back off power slightly to ride the backside of the wave down and repower quickly to the next wave. First thing I do is secure everything in the boat that could possible blow out or hit someone, and turn on the bilge pump, even BEFORE taking on water. The real scary part is when you have to cross the waves at some point. Getting in the bottom of a trough can be bad news, very easy to flip over or take on massive amounts of water over the side. Again, I try to quarter the waves back and forth, sometimes it makes for a long scary ride zigzagging back and forth, but it can be done. Final points. Secure everything in advance. Tell your fishing partner to not try to catch anything that may blow or be knocked out of the boat, secure your kill switch, turn on bilge. Never lose power to the outboard, keep it revved up and ready. Use your power to your advantage, but don't over do it. Keep as calm as possible, today's boats can take a beating, even if they flood, it's likely they will stay afloat. Should the boat stall or fill with water, stay with the boat, hang on to something. Boats bobbing in the water are easier to see than a human. Hope I don't have to mention this; WEAR life jackets. Johnnie.

midwest · Post by **midwest** » Wed Mar 26, 2003 4:21 am

Guys those are some great tips for the many weather conditions we face. There are a couple of other things to remember. When dealing with a tornado in the area, the hail can at times be very dangerous. I have seen hail near tornados reach the size of base*****, and I know they can be larger than that. This size hail can do considerable damage to you and your boat.

This is a must to remember!! Just before lightning is about to strike you or within the surrounding area, you will have strange feeling. Your hair on your arms and head will feel like or will be standing up. You may have a tingling sensation in the skin at the same time. You will only have a split second to react. Hit the deck or ground as fast as possible and drop anything you are holding. This has happened to me and it is something that you will never forget. The lightning hit a power pole 20 feet away and I got a little shock. That feeling I had before the strike is something I will never forget. Hope all of you never experience it but you must know to possibly save your life.

Don House · Post by **Don House** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 1:35 am

Well, this is a good one. I'm had some very bad run-ins with Tornados and Lighting both just over the past 5 years. Just keep this in mind don't go nuts. Think over what you can do and get to a safe place.

In Lighting get to the lowest part in your boat and lay down. Put the rods down it is not worth it. I've heard of guys tell stories of the butt seats up front with them start shaking. Hair standing up on your arm or there fishing poles humming just before the strike. Not really worth it in my mind..

Next my good friends the Tornado's.. It seems like these guys allways follow me every where.. One time in a Pro/Am Tournament on Truman Lake in Missouri we had spotted three tornado's in a short time frame. We were at least 25 miles up one of the rivers with nothing in sight. My Am was about to go nuts. We just beached the boat on took off for a large ditch, two of those guys went right over are head.

Most Fishermen will attempt to out run them, but fall short with very large waves that the wind is creating as Johnnie was talking about. Unless you have a really big boat it is very hard to go fast at all..

And do not to forget the hail stones we even went as far to climb in the rod lockers to stop from getting beatup real bad.

And the most wildest thing I have ever been close to was when I was on a guided trip on Sam Rayburn in East Texas, Are guide was nice enought to know were he was going and to keep us out of danger but we were able to watch a very large water spout go right by about 400 yards away.

So just use your head and carry a good radio...

Good Fishing

EAT SLEEP FISH

johnnie crain outdoors · Thu Mar 27, 2003 4:09 am

Great stuff guys, I knew you'd come through. Can you imagine being out in the open with baseball size hail (OUCH)! Well, at least I've never seen a waterspout, that would be cool from a distance of say five miles or so. Thanks for the imput, may help save someone's life. Johnnie Crain

JoeM · Post by **JoeM** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:17 pm

Johnnie- Another great thread you've started here. Thanks to you and to all the great answers from the Pro Staffers above.

The two things I fear the most are lightning and extremely high winds. When either of these rears its ugly head, you will find me heading for shore.

Lightning is just as nasty on a 3 acre pond as it is on the bigger waters. Also the high winds might not be evident at the launch area or in coves, but when you clear that last point and enter the main body of water, it'll give you a definite wake-up call.

Much obliged. JoeM