Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Fishing Rod or Lightning Rod?

Ever had one of those moments in a boat that made you wonder if you should get off of the water in a hurry?

A couple months ago when I was out fishing with some friends on a lake in the early morning. Several rainshowers had passed through the area, but towards mid-morning the rain stopped and the lake became relatively still. The fishing was decent, and we were only about 50-100 feet out from shore.

Then, the fishing line on one of the fishing rods began to arc towards the sky. Normally, when a line is cast into the water initially it tends to sink into a U-shaped pattern from rod tip to the lake surface. This line began to rise vertically in the air to the point that it curved into an upside-down U shape.

That's usually sign that lightning is about to strike nearby and it's time to hightail it off the water. I've read stories of fishing rods that started to buzz right before a lightning strike (or if the boat has electrical problems) but none of that appeared to be happening. In fact, it was simply overcast and a quick look at the radar loop on a mobile phone showed we were not in any imminent danger.

After five minutes, the line sank back down. I have yet to find an explanation for this.

Anybody else ever had this happen?

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