Bass Fishing and Thunderstorms
Lets face it, we hard-nosed bass anglers don't want to leave the water, especially when the bass are eating! I have found that bass sometimes tend to get really frisky just prior to a thunderstorm. Pressure changes prompt a change in bass behavior, and sometimes this means they wake up and feed voraciously!
We're all tought that thunderstorms are not child's play. They are deadly. On our recent Backwoods Angler TV shoot in Vermont, we were on Lake Memphremagog and I had finally located some smallies on an off-shore reef. I casted my jerkbait and watched as the clouds built and moved over the mountain. Thunderheads usually build very high into the sky. This one was, and shortly thereafter the clouds were accompanied by several rumbles of thunder. I said to Chris, my cameraman, "Doesn't look good. We probably should head back to the ramp." Of course, I had to milk it for everything it was worth.......and on the very next cast, my jerkbait landed in the lake, but my line did not. It arched upward and never reached the water! I had heard stories of this before, but spending lots of time on rivers (more narrow bodies of water), I had only experienced the static electricity associated with a storm in that capacity once. I showed Chris, then we scrambled to get off the water. I touched another rod to put it away and got a pretty harsh shock from the rod! This stuff really got my attention!
We got to the ramp and tied the boat off on a tree. The storm raged for about 20 minutes. The moral to the story........don't be a dummy! Developing cumulonimbus clouds, or thunderheads, usually mean business. Learn to identify clouds. With the phone technology of today, most of us can access internet, so weather radar is at our fingertips. Use it! And NOAA weather radios are a good tool for the boat. Don't wait. Get off the water. The fish will still be there after the storm. And so will you if you heed the early warning signals of developing thunderstorms.
Good fishin!
Blaine
We're all tought that thunderstorms are not child's play. They are deadly. On our recent Backwoods Angler TV shoot in Vermont, we were on Lake Memphremagog and I had finally located some smallies on an off-shore reef. I casted my jerkbait and watched as the clouds built and moved over the mountain. Thunderheads usually build very high into the sky. This one was, and shortly thereafter the clouds were accompanied by several rumbles of thunder. I said to Chris, my cameraman, "Doesn't look good. We probably should head back to the ramp." Of course, I had to milk it for everything it was worth.......and on the very next cast, my jerkbait landed in the lake, but my line did not. It arched upward and never reached the water! I had heard stories of this before, but spending lots of time on rivers (more narrow bodies of water), I had only experienced the static electricity associated with a storm in that capacity once. I showed Chris, then we scrambled to get off the water. I touched another rod to put it away and got a pretty harsh shock from the rod! This stuff really got my attention!
We got to the ramp and tied the boat off on a tree. The storm raged for about 20 minutes. The moral to the story........don't be a dummy! Developing cumulonimbus clouds, or thunderheads, usually mean business. Learn to identify clouds. With the phone technology of today, most of us can access internet, so weather radar is at our fingertips. Use it! And NOAA weather radios are a good tool for the boat. Don't wait. Get off the water. The fish will still be there after the storm. And so will you if you heed the early warning signals of developing thunderstorms.
Good fishin!
Blaine
Posted by Blaine Mengel at 5/31/2011 10:39 AM 
Categories: Bass fishing
Tags: bass fishing Lake Memphremagog Magog Backwoods Angler TV thunderstorms cumulonimbus clouds
Categories: Bass fishing
Tags: bass fishing Lake Memphremagog Magog Backwoods Angler TV thunderstorms cumulonimbus clouds
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