Semi-dumb Question - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

dsafety · 09-30-2010, 03:53 PM

I went fishing off Oceanside today with my buddy Wayne, (Flatfish1). We were a little concerned about the potential for thunder storms but I convinced Wayne that we would be fine. (Oops!). So we are a couple miles off shore and just starting to figure out how to get the fish to bite when the sky darkens, the wind picks up and lightning starts to flash in the distance.

Rather than becoming candidates for this year's Darwin awards, we decided to head in. Just then the rain started to fall and the lightning strikes seemed to be getting very close. After one strike, Wayne said that he got a shock after touching one of his rods.

We made it in fine but the incident got me thinking about the wisdom of sitting on a little piece of plastic, miles from shore with a bunch of fiberglass rods pointing toward the clouds during a thunderstorm.

My question to anyone who really knows, is just how dangerous is this kind of behavior? I don't think that fiberglass rods would attract a lightning strike the way a metal rod would but if a guy in a kayak is the tallest thing around maybe the lightning would find him anyway.

If anyone has some insight, please share.

Bob

09-30-2010, 03:53 PM	#1
dsafety Olivenhain Bob Join Date: May 2008 Location: Olivenhain, CA Posts: 1,121	Semi-dumb Question I went fishing off Oceanside today with my buddy Wayne, (Flatfish1). We were a little concerned about the potential for thunder storms but I convinced Wayne that we would be fine. (Oops!). So we are a couple miles off shore and just starting to figure out how to get the fish to bite when the sky darkens, the wind picks up and lightning starts to flash in the distance. Rather than becoming candidates for this year's Darwin awards, we decided to head in. Just then the rain started to fall and the lightning strikes seemed to be getting very close. After one strike, Wayne said that he got a shock after touching one of his rods. We made it in fine but the incident got me thinking about the wisdom of sitting on a little piece of plastic, miles from shore with a bunch of fiberglass rods pointing toward the clouds during a thunderstorm. My question to anyone who really knows, is just how dangerous is this kind of behavior? I don't think that fiberglass rods would attract a lightning strike the way a metal rod would but if a guy in a kayak is the tallest thing around maybe the lightning would find him anyway. If anyone has some insight, please share. Bob