check this out!!

[Betty Hiner]

graphite rod + lightening =

Fishermen Survive Lightning Strike - Kansas City News Story - KMBC Kansas City

http://www.kmbc.com/news/19730665/detail.html


Incredible!!!

[jimsnarocks]

Pretty wild. I have a fear of lightning and graphite rods. Graphite=spark plug wire conductor. HMMM. Anyone have a 'boo they want to loan me for my next trip? Jim

[lastchance]

I guess I should maintain my fear of lightning. It scares me when I'm caught outdoors.

[EdD]

Pretty wild. I have a fear of lightning and graphite rods. Graphite=spark plug wire conductor. HMMM. Anyone have a 'boo they want to loan me for my next trip? Jim

Now let's think this thing thru. Holding a bamboo rod, with the wet line stretching out into the water and going back, through your fingers, to that big lump of metal next to your hand. And you would feel safer why?

(Jimsnarocks, I'm sure that you are aware of this. I wanted to make sure that everybody else was, also. Thanks.)

Last time I got caught out in a lightning storm, I reeled in, broke the rod down, and put it on the ground while I squatted under a 4-lane, steel girder bridge. The show was far more exciting than TV.

Ed

[JohnScott]

My "personal best" time returning to the truck from a favorite fishing spot on the South Fork was motivated by lightning while carrying a graphite rod with its tip as close to the ground as possible.

John

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

A good rule of thumb regarding lightning is when you first see any lightning or hear any thunder no matter how far away, quit right then. Don't wait till the count gets nearer.

If its in the forcast, don't go fishing period.

[TyroneFly]

A good rule of thumb regarding lightning is when you first see any lightning or hear any thunder no matter how far away, quit right then. Don't wait till the count gets nearer.

If its in the forcast, don't go fishing period.

GBF,

Great advice. Thanks for posting that.

[sagefisher]

Lightning can travel for ten miles and hit you.

Lightning hits trees all the time, trees are made of wood. Bamboo is a grass/wood type product.

Any object can get hit by lightning; especially if it is being waved around with a wet line on one end and a hot and sweaty person on the other end either standing in water or in a boat that is in water, it is all a matter of where it decides to ground itself.

In an electrical storm, get out of the boat, leave your rods on the ground and get under cover, not a tree by the way.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[8wt]

This thread really hit home. I went to my local stream (central OH) which runs through a deep gorge. Had been storm warnings, but things didn't look too bad so I hiked the 3/4 mile to the dam and started fishing downstream at a slow pace . After maybe 45 minutes, a storm could be heard gathering force in the distance and coming closer. I kept an eye to the sky which was really pretty well hidden, being at the bottom of the gorge. As the storm got closer, I thought I better start getting out of here, but the urge to catch a trout was strong and I changed to a black bugger and continued on. About the time I got a nice fish, and got it released, a strike hit nearby, one of those that you see the flash and hear the boom almost at the same time. It didn't take me long to realize I had made a stupid mistake, and quickly got out of the stream, hit the trail at a fast clip. The strikes continued, although not quite as close, and I made it back to the vehicle with just a drenching in the deluge that came. Made a believer out of me, and I learned my lesson with only a wet _ss. I won't test fate again, a fish ain't worth it!!!!

[ELKHUNTER]

The very first graphite rod I bought years ago came with a warning about fishing when lightning was in the area as well as a warning about fishing under high voltage power lines.

Rocky