A spooky day on the water

[snapcrackpop]

Quote:

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With this happening to all of you, and none of you died, it must be safe

. I didnt know this was that comon.

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The ones that died... can't post !

Striking Statistics

Americans are twice as likely to die from lightning than from a hurricane, tornado or flood.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates there are 200 deaths and 750 severe injuries from lightning each year in the U.S.

20% of all lightning victims die from the strike.

70% of survivors will suffer serious long-term effects.

Annually, there are more than 10,000 forest fires caused by lightning.

Who's at Risk?

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85% of lightning victims are children and young men aged 10-35 engaged in outdoor recreation and work activities outside.

70% of all lightning injuries and fatalities occur in the afternoon.

Most lightning deaths involve people working outdoors and outdoor recreationists

Lightning in remote terrain creates dangerous conditions. Hikers, campers, backpackers, skiers, fishermen, and hunters are especially vulnerable when they're participating in these activities.

Many survivors of lightning strikes report that immediately before being struck their hair was standing on end and they had a metallic taste in their mouth.

Long-term injuries from a lightning strike can include memory & attention loss, chronic numbness, muscle spasms & stiffness, depression, hearing loss, and sleep disturbance.

[SDbowhunter]

I wonder what the odds of being struck by lightening when putting yourself in that situation. I mean with only 950 being struck out of 300 million people your odds seem pretty good. Calculating your number out farther that 85% would roughtly be 25% of the population so more like 1/100,000. I guess no fish is worth being struck by lightning but "knowing" you could really hook into them would make me think about risking it with in reason. I always look for days were it is bright and sun shiney knowing a storm is coming. The incoming cold front can really turn on the bite.

On a side note I'm kinda proud of starting a flaming thread on only my 8th post or so since joining. Looking forward to contributing more.

[tunrevir]

I'd say more "striking post" rather then flaming!

Good for us all to think about though, especially with the storm season upon us! Look foreward to the deer photoes this fall!

Tunrevir~

[SDbowhunter]

Yeah the deer photos havn't been very good for me beside my first trophy a spikebuck. I usally see lots of deer but not much luck, usually a last minute bambi. Been trying my best to get a wall hanger but the big ones slip by me. My younger brother on the other hand has three of them on the wall. Lucky punk.

[fishinJohn]

I have never had a buzzing line, sounds like enough to get me off any lake. I once worked at a fruit and veggie farm and we were laying aluminum irrigation pipes on a normal, sunny day. Some clouds came in but nothing major until a bolt of lightning struck the pipe about ten feet from where we were standing. Sparks flew and so did we but that was the only bolt we saw before the clouds really came in.

[waxworm]

me and my brother had our lines come up out of the water a couple years ago. perfect arch from the tip of the pole to the bobber. I suppose it only happened for about 15 seconds but then we finally took our eyes off our lines and looked at eachother, and it was then we realized that our hair was standing straight up too! pretty interesting stuff.

[troutman]

I always play it safe when it comes to lightning.However,I've decided that if I live to be 90,I intend to frequently fish during thunderstorms. The theory being,now that I'm 90,what could possibly await me other than say a stroke or some other debilitating illness that would send me to a nursing home to die an awful death.I can see it now...Me,90 years old on some remote lake,storm rolling in,graphite rod in hand...in midcast when suddenly ZAP!You're out of here!What a way to go.

[UdeLakeTom]

Same lake....Listening to the good neighbor broadcasting from the State Fair on Labor day weekend about 10 years ago, the son-in-law and I broke the shear pin on the ob when we hit the beach a running after the first crack. It poured for about 5 mins, lots of thunder and lightening, but

really no warning. Just one dark cloud.

The weather report on the 8's....clear and sunny, during the cloudburst. And they were sitting only 5 miles away doing a live broadcast.

[so haaad]

I had it happen to me when I was flyfishing on a stream in Colorado at 10,000 ft above sea level. I would get a shock everytime that I made a false cast. I immediately hit the ground as soon as I figured out that it was electricity from the overhead storm.