Ever Get A "Sign"?

[titelines]

I decided to go out late Saturday afternoon. A storm had just passed, and they were expecting another one to come in, but I figured that by the time I got on the water I'd have a couple good hours.

So I'm out there and can see the weather building in the distance. Fish are biting, so I decide to hold on as long as I can, after all, it's only a 3 minute drive back to the launch.

About a 1/2 hour later, the weather is coming up on me. Being the expert weather-person that I am, I ignore the little voice in my head and figure I've got another 20 minutes or so, so I decide to keep going.

Within a minute my Lindy gets hung up and the line breaks off. No problem, I grab my next rod, which is all rigged up. I short cast it out and the line on the reel turns into an instant rats nest. No problem, I'll grab my next rod with a slip bobber all ready to go. I try to set the bobber stop to the correct depth and it is literallly frozen to the line, cannot be moved.

I took all this as a sign to get off the water. I was back at the launch and loaded up when the first thunder and lightning started. Next time I'll listen to the little voices.

[ocf1]

Jeez, thats creepy, glad to hear your ok.

[JimBuck]

I've never experienced anything like that. WOW. I have a bad habit of staying out on the water until the absolute last second too....It's hard to get off the water when the fish are biting, but easily justified sitting in an aluminum boat holding a graphite rod.

[Sandmannd]

That's insane man. I think I woulda left when the first line broke.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to lightning. I've seen to many stories on the news lately.

I prefer to fry my fish after I get them home, not on the end of the line

[Wanderer]

You mean a sign like your graphite rod buzzing as you lift to the 12 o'clock position? You really get worried when the buzzing turns into snapping!

The you cast out and your lure takes forever to "float" down into the water but your line won't fall from the air?

Yeah, PAST the time to go!

Good of you to heed the signs whatever they were!

[titelines]

I should add a note here, just to be clear. As the weather approached, there was no thunder or lightning. If there were, I would have been gone long before. As it approached, it just looked like a rain shower.

No fish is worth putting yourself in danger for the sake of "one more cast".

[Johnny_Namakan]

That was definitely a sign if there ever was one. Better thank your guardian angel. I don't mess with storms anymore. Several years ago we rented a boat up on Crane Lake to head up into Lac la Croix (we didn't want to run the I/O up the river). Anyway the boat we were renting had just came in the day before from the same trip. So we get to the boat to start loading up and notice this big blood stain on the floor that had tried to get scrubbed out. We talked to the owners and found out what happened. The people who rented it the day before were up on La Croix and out on the water when a storm was off in the distance. The storm was still a ways out, and they figured they had plenty of fishing time left. Well, one of the guys in the boat got struck by a bolt of lightning and his feet is where the lightning grounded to the boat and ended up blowing the guys feet off. I hate to be graphic, but it's what happened. Of course the guy didn't make it which obviously is a sad end to whole deal. But it just shows that even when lightning isn't present or the storm is still a ways out it can still be dangerous. It's hard to pack up when they're biting but it's just not worth it.

[Surreal Deal]

Anyway the boat we were renting had just came in the day before from the same trip. So we get to the boat to start loading up and notice this big blood stain on the floor that had tried to get scrubbed out.

Wait a minute... They turned this boat out again the next day with a human BLOOD STAIN still in it? Did you get the feeling you were being watched while you were fishing? Did the boat mysteriously swing on the anchor even when there was no wind?