Guys I will post more about the incident later. I am very tired, but thankful to be alive and very thankful my son is going to be ok. I thought some of you may see the news story and wonder "do we know him?". This is the link to the news story.

[www.kmbc.com]

So much for the Gloomis IMX MB843 (I think that's what it was I can't remember at this point)

Hope to talk more later.

Gabe

Glad to hear you guys are OK Gabe! What an experience that must have been. It's nice to know someone is watching over us.

I am very glad for you and your son, somebody was watching over you...

WOW!

You guys had an angel there fishing with ya. Glad all is well.

DR

Glad to know you guys survived. I have been caught in storms myself and I have just laid the rods down and got away from them.

Wow! So glad you guys are alright.

Thus the birth of Thunderbolt Custom Rods!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2009 10:08PM by kevin knox.

happy and thankful to know you are both alive and improving! best wishes to you and yours. remembering you all in prayer for complete recovery.

I am so glad you guys lived through it! Life is so short and precious. A good reminder to be very careful!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2009 11:10PM by Chuck Mills.

Did the rods start vibrating and humming before the strike? I know that's happeened to me a few times and I knew something wasn't right. Scary

Hopefully you guys are OK...becasue I'd really like to ask a few chop busting questions but dont' want to do so in bad taste. I'm glad you guys survived that.

So fortunate.
A couple of years ago, a fellow and a friend were out night fishing on Mille Lacs in central mn. the owner of the boat was a new boat owner who was somewhat inexperienced on the water.

The boat owner had wanted to do some night fishing with his friend, although he had not done a lot of it.

As they were out in the middle of a mid lake flat, anchored up for some good bobber fishing, a thunder storm blew up out of the southwest. The friend wanted to go in, but the owner of the boat thought it would be all right to stay where they were.

Suddenly without warning, a bold of lightning hit the boat owner in the middle of his back, instantly killing him. As the bolt of lighting continued to the water, it ignited the fuel tank setting the boat on fire.

Although burned from the lightning bolt, the friend, who was wearing a life jacket jumped out of the front of the boat - 7 miles out in the center of the lake.

The boat continued to burn to the water line. However, due to the fire, other boats came out to search for survivors. Fortunately the friend survived with no long lasting effects.

If you see the storm coming, get off the water, before it gets to you.

Stay safe.

Roger

Good to hear you guys had a good outcome.

Regarding rods humming-when the charge is building they do hum. My son and I had a close one and it was not yet even close to stormy. First indication of trouble was the line going into the water almost vertically instead of sagging into the water. When I raised my rod it hummed. We took off immediately and nothing happened. But it appears to me that the humming and the line not entering the water normally are warnings of impending lightning.

First off, glad you guys are ok

Regarding rod humming in the presence of extreme static electricity (lightnight) they DEFINITELY hum. I come into port all summer long in the middle of some NASTY thunderstorms, as soon as we see the storm building, the rods up in the T top come down, and generally will be laying on the deck taking a beating. Lightning is one of those things I just dont mess with.

I had two close calls. Many years ago my son and I were out in a "calm before the storm" period. There was no storm right over us, but a very weird feeling in the air, and then after a cast our line would hover over the water about three feet high. We zoomed to the access and then it started storming.

Another time I was with a buddy and we were deep jigging whitefish just for kicks. I got bit off by a northern. As I retied I was getting a buzz at each guide as I threaded the line through. We left in a hurry.

My son and I were fishing on Logan Martin today, and a nasty thunderstorrm blew up. I just heard on the radio yesterday about you getting hit with lightning (but didn't know it was anyone here), so we zoomed back to the ramp. Ended up sitting in the truck for about 90 minutes, till the lightning stopped. Better that than getting struck!

What people everywhere fail to realize lightning often strikes up to 12 miles distant from the point of origin. The storms leading edge does NOT have to be on top of you. Its this lack of knowledge that hurts and kills many hikers here in the Rockies climbing the 14'ers. I am happy that Gabe and his son lived to tell the story. As noted, many don't. Better safe than sorry. I learned of this after fishing some local lakes on the Arsenal Wildlife Refuge here in Denver. My rod started ticking and right away I knew what was happening. I was walking back to my truck to head for home when it occured. I dropped my 2 graphite rods and continued to put distance between myself and them. Storms can pass but its just not worth it.
Chuck

Hi Gabe,

I work for Field & Stream magazine. I'd love to talk to you for a story in the magazine. If you're interested, please email me at colin.kearns@bonniercorp.com. Glad to hear you're doing alright.