Yesterday I took a half a day off work and ran up to Willard Bay for some evening fishing with my buddy Tom. Around 7:00 it started raining a bit and a big storm was moving in slowly from the south but it looked like it might just cross the east side of the lake so we headed west. We had neither seen lightning nor heard any thunder. There was no real sign that the storm was electrical…but I guess it did kind of have that look.
I started casting on the west side of the lake and suddenly found I kept getting a static shock from my rod. I don’t remember if it happened every time I cast or just when I touched the rod or the reel but it started getting pretty intense.
About then Tom said he was getting shocked by his rod and he thought maybe it was the new carpet in my boat. That’s when I started getting kind of spooked. We had been fishing for hours and not experienced that. I said “maybe we should get out of here…” but then I looked at the graph and saw we were over tons of fish and convinced myself I was just being paranoid. Tom’s hair looked like it was standing up on top but I thought it was probably just because he had his sunglasses on his head.
I stepped of the deck and sat down in the pilot seat, trying to decide what to do. About then I started realizing that all the hair on my arms and neck was feeling, kind of “staticky”.
Just as I was about to call it, Tom made another cast and I saw that his line was floating in the air in a big ‘U’ and then I heard a snap and he jumped and said “Oww!” He said he actually saw a blue shock discharge from his rod to his hand!
That was it. We ducked down, kicked on the big motor and headed back to the marina as fast as possible.
Thinking about it, we were probably really lucky. I’d never heard of that happening before so I wasn’t thinking lightning as much as I was thinking batteries, trolling motor, electrical system short…
When we got back to the marina we made a few more casts around the shore and sure enough, no shock. Nothing…Except that brightest rainbow I think I’ve ever seen. What a crazy evening on the water…
Oh bull… Heh heh, just kidding that is a neat story. Did you catch any fish? If you saw lots of fish on the graph I wonder if the static electricity was attracting fish to the boat?
Graphite rods are great conductors of electricity !! The static electricity that builds up in an electrical storm will use a graphite rod like a lighting rod, and you are the ground. What you experienced is not all that uncommon, especially in the late summer when these storms start coming in. Kind of fun until you get a BIG discharge that blows your rod apart, scorches your shoes, etc. Glad neither of you got hurt !!!
I’ve had fly line just suspend above the water on a cast. Just hold up in the air, defying gravity!
I’ve had it happen on my boat at the Gorge. Static, little sparks, and reels making a “humming” sound. Not anytime in recent years though. Now, if there’s T-storms anywhere nearby where I’m near or on the water, I RUN!
I remember as a kid about 25 years ago, my dad, a buddy and i were fishing near the old dam at Strawberry, and had the same experience with the arc in our fishing line. it just hung in the air long after the bait had hit the water. lightning all around us, we went for the car. I’m sure we made the best decision.
i dont remember being shocked by static, but our poles weren’t graphite back then either. graphite fishing poles would probably make a very good lightning rod.
Oh, yes…the fishing. Apparently the fish were not turned on by the electricity in the air. We managed just 1 largemouth & 1 smallmouth - Both just over 1 lb.
This is old school stuff. It’s called St Elmo’s fire. On sailing ships (wooden) it would light up blue as the continuos discharge of electricity arcs. I have had it happen once on strawberry reservoir. It actually warped an old fishing rod. has to do with humidity and static electricity build up. Fun stuff.
Yep. Had it happen twice. Once at Flaming Gorge. My line hung in the air for several seconds after I had cast. I reeled up and quit fishing immediately.
Had it happen at Fish Lake on the ice. My rod was making the loudest buzz that changed pitch when it was moved either up or down. When I touched it, I got a vicious zap. Beautiful weather that day. Not a hint of a storm. That was the end of that fishin’ trip too.
happened to me on american falls last year. i could feel the little static shocks and my hair was standing on end but it wasnt untill i saw blue electricity running up and down my rod that i put everything together and dove on my dad sending us both to the bottom of the boat. he still doesnt beleive me. i will have to show him this post. felt good taking the old man down and showing him who was boss anyways.
Thanks for all the replies. After doing a bunch of Googling I’m convinced that this phenomenon is very strongly associated with lightning. I’d really like to get some more technical explanation from an authority…maybe a meteorologist…if anybody knows one. If I get more info I’ll post it. For now I think if line starts floating or rods start buzzing, clicking or shocking its time to duck down and get out of there.
St Elmo's Fire. There is the Wikipedia article. The electrical phenomenon may not act the same from freshwater to salt water, but still the same theory in most cases.
I’ve heard of electro-shock fishing - where the shock-pole actually forces the fish towards it. One side gets shocked, and the fish bend, so the other side gets shocked - and they literally fish TO the pole.
Bit different than the Elmo’s Fire - Biologists use if for sampling fish.
But - now if that blue-tickle runs down your line to your lure . . . I’ve read about Black Boxes being used to tune a downrigger and a boat’s own charge.
As for the aerial effect - haven’t experiences the floating line (as cool as that sounds) but have had experiences on a lake - like Bear Lake where all the ladies long hair was standing on end. Yuuuuup - Time to get out of the water. Having been a lifeguard - that was the one-shore killer of a day at the pool. Everybody out!
Graphic Rods, Metal boats, Charged Batteries - I’d say - not a good time to be in the middle of a lightning strike! What you’ve seen described may be a mini version of the Northern Lights!
Stay Safe! Fried Fish is one thing, Fried Fisherman quite another!!!
The static charge you experience is associated with lightning, and it is a good signal that it is past time to get down and out. Basically the lightning in the clouds or sky (can be a clear day) is one charge while the earth is the opposite charge. Lightning can travels either direction up and down.
You were in an area with a very high static charge being attracted to the opposite charge above the Earth …prelightning. If it builds just a little bit more charge, then you have a discharge of lightning.
I always remember the picture of the teenage hikers with their hair standing up. Tragically taking the picture was the last thing they did.
Couple of years ago a guy was riding his bike, no clouds, rain or lightning to be seen. He was hit and killed by lightning from a storm in the next valley.
Leave immediately when the conditions you experienced exist, or your fishing days may be over.
7 years ago today, we were standing on our back porch watching the Fiesta Days fireworks in spanish fork. There was a storm in the Payson canyon area, at least 6 miles away , which we thought was OK… Next thing we know, our antenna is hit by a lightning strike and we all jump. Not from being scared, but every one of us on that deck got shocked. I was very, very sore for days.
I’ve been much more careful about thunderstorms since then. One of the coolest things I’ve seen related to that is thundersnow.
One of the coolest things I’ve seen related to that is thundersnow.
I was grooming one of the access roads at the resort during a major storm and almost got hit by lightning. Well I think that I almost got hit. I never did see the actual bolt but everything lit up so bright that I was seeing spots for a few seconds. For some strange reason it didn’t seem to cool at the time.
