It's that time of year again...

 

Every day at work I look forward to finishing up and heading out to fish for an hour or so. In the spring everything goes as planned. But this time of year on just about every single day the thunderstorms roll in between 4:30 and 5:30 pm. Today was no different. At 4:15 my phone alerted me to a line of storms moving in. At 4:30 I started getting lightning alerts. Now closing in on 4:45 I hear the constant rumble of thunder.

 

The same thing happened yesterday and thunderstorms are forecast pretty much every day for the next 10 days.

 

I may as well stay at work. ?

Yes, thunderstorms in the afternoon can ruin a good fishing trip.

 

But you have to think safety first.

 

If you can wet a line as the storm gets closer you may clobber them.

 

You have to quit when you hear the thunder as lighting can strike 5 or more miles from the storm. And you have to watch for lightning in the distance.

 

Some of the best fishing I have enjoyed was when a storm was approaching, just before the thunder, lighting and rain arrived.

 

Just be aware of thunder and lightning when you hear and see it you go.

I went camping at edisto beach last year in early June and it stormed on us every day 

5 hours ago, Sam said:

Yes, thunderstorms in the afternoon can ruin a good fishing trip.

 

But you have to think safety first.

 

If you can wet a line as the storm gets closer you may clobber them.

 

You have to quit when you hear the thunder as lighting can strike 5 or more miles from the storm. And you have to watch for lightning in the distance.

 

Some of the best fishing I have enjoyed was when a storm was approaching, just before the thunder, lighting and rain arrived.

 

Just be aware of thunder and lightning when you hear and see it you go.

 

I bank fish in a lot of open area so I don't mess around waving a graphite rod when storms are near. I also keep my phone on me so I get immediate weather app alerts when a storm is approaching or there are lightning strikes in teh area.

 

No need to be a hero. Live to fish another day.

I can't catch a break this week.

 

 

We are under a flood watch here until Monday. The water levels will be so up and muddy it won't be worth fishing for several days.

I will head out in most everything EXCEPT lightening.  That is no bueno, no way, no day.  If we are on big water it's an immediate run for cover.  

 

 

I actually decided to go out for an hour this morning before work and before than storms set in. While the fishing wasn't great and the 80% humidity made it sticky out there, a few interesting things happened.

 

The first was that I bought a new slashbait the other day and on my third cast with it landed a bass. It was a dink, but it's always great when a new bait pays off right away.

 

The bass were moving along teh surface way off the bank this morning, so I tied on a buzzbait. As it so happens, when I was ready to cast I saw a bass break the surface 80 feet out or so. I made my cast and it landed in the exact center of where that bass had surfaced - bullseye! And as soon as it hit the water I got the reaction strike. It was only a pound or so, but it was pretty cool to hit the bullseye and have that immediate reaction.

I don’t mess around with storms. When there are storms around I probably spend as much time watching the sky as I do fishing.