Do I dare take my welded aluminum boat out in random thunderstorm weather? I want to go and fish Elliot Bay. How dangerous is it to be caught in a Thunderstorm in an aluminum boat? I know that fiberglass boats are relativly safe in Thunderstorms, but what about welded boats?

Just to be clear, I'm not going to go out in this weather, it scares the crap outta me to just think about getting stuck out in a storm in my boat, but I'm just curious as to the real danger of it. Anyone have any experience with it?

i would not go out in any boat in a lighting storm.

...and you probably also have graphite "lightning"rods in your rod holders....

I'd skip fishing in a thunderstorm and if caught out, I'd be pulling all my gear until it went by.

I think there are ways to ground a boat, but I'd still be hesitant to be out.

I won't do it. I cancelled my fishing plans for this morning. I didn't feel like rowing with a bunch of rods laying next to me and lighting going off.
Not a fish worth taking the chance in my opinion.

Some interesting reading on lightning and vessels. While it is best to not be on the water, a metal hull appears to be better than glass.

http://www.bayacht.com/aaa/nl-artic/lightng/lightart.htm

No way.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Got caught in a wicked lighting storm in 1988 off Jeff Head, we encountered 2 strikes that hit the water about 50-100 yards away. Being that we were young and dumb we stayed because the fishing was off the hook good, hooking Kings one after another. Would I do that again...HELL NO!!!!

I'll pass... The lightning shows and I go.....

Keith

I saw a show on lightning and the golfer who survived, only because, he carried a putter that touched the ground and the current went down his arm to the putter. Otherwise, brautworst golfer.

Some of my best days were with thunder storms. Then again I wasn't out on open water. I was on small rivers and it was about this time of year.

I have been on the mighty Mo in Montanna fly fishing and had some of those BIG Boomers blow over. We did take cover while it was close but most of the time we stayed on the water and kept catching fish like crazy.



Kris

When I was a little kid I was playing with another kid named Eric, when he was struck by lightning. It knocked him out cold and he peed his pants. The Ambulance took him to the hospital where it took him a full day to remember who he was. He has a mild speech impediment to this day.

I fish Eagle Lake in Ontario each fall with my dad. Muskies for the trophy shots and walleye for shore lunch. Pretty desolate remote place. The lodge's boats are aluminum 18' Lunds.

Our guide each year is Marty, native Ojibway Indian who is a bit of a wild man. Funny thing tho - if thunderstorms are on the horizon, it's off to the nearest shelter. We were bummed the first two years, as the Muskie bite always picks up right before a good thunderstorm. Like Steelhead you fish a long time for each Muskie, and we wanted every shot we could get.

One day he relayed why he was did this. His third year guiding (@ only 22 years old), there was a good thunderstorm brewing. He let his sports fish a bit long, and they had to run to a nearby island to take shelter as the rain started to fall.

He'd gotten the boat docked and the first guy on land. The second was digging in his gear for something as Marty urged him to hurry. Finally, the guy turned and reached out his hand just as he was struck by a bolt of lightning. Marty was thrown a good 10' up the bank and knocked out cold. The sport was killed. He quit guiding for 5 years after that.

Not something you want to mess with IMO.

Brian

I spent two years trucking around the the ocean on a 210' boat. We were hit with lightning directly once, otherwise nothing happened. Lightning struck all around us all the time, and nothing happened. That does not mean that I am saying it is safe. Just my story. Yeah the fishing is always off the hook when a storm is passing through. The barometric pressure change seems to have an affect on the fish and their feeding. What it is exactly I dont know. Maybe the fear of not getting a bite to eat for a while due to storms. But that has held true in any place I have been. Florida, Idaho, Washington, California, Panama, Peru, doesnt matter. The intial barometric change for the first couple of hours, on the up and the down but mostly on the way down, has always produced good numbers. And that seems to pertain to almost all species too.

I was out by eatonville last night when they issued the Emergency Broadcast warning for the storm. First one I have ever heard. There was a ton of lightening just north of where I was, and while not much was happening overhead I still was a little freaked out by the tons of flashes going by. There was almost noone out and I was starting to wonder if it really was that smart driving around in it, when a guy passed me heading into the myown situation.

f@#k it u only live once why not fish. I've fished thru thunder and lighting storms many a time. If ur times up its up. If u do happen to get struck by lighting go by a lotto ticket cause ur odds of winning r way better.

Actually your odds of being hit TWICE by lightning in the SAME location are FAR better than the odds of winning Lotto.

Lotto's a tax on people who aren't good at math....And haven't figured out that it's a mathematical impossibility to generate a profit through gambling unless you're the guy who owns the casino or scratch ticket factory.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." --Jonathan Swift