(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4327/35269254004_7f8401cbc2_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/VJC9sh)20229041_1428715767163598_5600593762049310958_n (https://flic.kr/p/VJC9sh) by Andy Smith (https://www.flickr.com/photos/120482089@N03/), on Flickr
Clipped from Facebook post...
Wow! Looks like a hairy mess. How bizarre
Should just need some new guilds ;D
Imagine what would happen if you were holding it :o
I knew a young woman who was killed while holding a rod at a lake in New Mexico. It's very dangerous to fish in the rain. I would like to hear more about this incident and if people were injured even though the rod was in a holder. That's just too close and you can just as easily be killed or injured from a close-proximity strike. At the very least you might need to change your drawers! I wonder if the reel required servicing?? I'm in the lightning protection industry and can tell you from experience that lightning damage is very unpredictable it what it destroys and what it spares. Notice how the adjacent rod with a senator appears to be unscathed. I would love to see inside that reel.
Mike
From what I read on Facebook, two passengers were not impacted, boats electronics etc were fried and had to be towed in...
Here is the link if you want to read more...
https://www.facebook.com/billy.alstrom?hc_ref=ARRi2E5CaiF6ctUReEcoSTGuDWUootszUEOiGwgDn2B6efYHfxbJM484jIqeMHHEsGs
Wow that is truly amazing. Makes me rethink about hanging out and waiting it out. joe
I have experienced static shocking holding a rod while fishing as T-storm was approaching. The rods started making crackling sounds and I though lightning would strike at any second. You've never seen a guy pack up and leave so fast in your life!!! I seriously considered leaving my precious gear behind!
I've heard of sparks between fishing rods and aluminum hulls. This means the field (potential) is way too high and you are in serous danger of participating in an event. Now days it's very easy to monitor lightning risk with all the smartphone weather apps. I use Weather Bug because I can know where and when the most recent lightning strikes were detected. The best precaution is always to avoid lightning but if you are caught in open water in a small boat make certain your rods are laying flat and lower your antennas, outriggers, etc. and get to shelter pronto! In a larger boat (cabin cruiser) you are better off but still at risk. Avoid contact with metal objects if possible. On a party boat your bunk or the galley is the place to be (avoid metal contact also). REMEMER THIS...you don't need to be struck directly to be injured. Close proximity can get you hurt also. There are a lot of variables but 'Electrostatic Potential' and conductivity is the key. A lightning event is a balancing act where the earth and atmosphere want to be balanced (equal potential) and they will but you (and anything you care about) do not want to become a link in the chain of events which transpire in microseconds. Even body chemistry (electrolytes) can play a role in the energy path.
STAY SAFE MY BROTHERS!
Mike
I got lightning struck at 14. Probably why I am this way today. It made me fly several feet and knocked me out for a few seconds. No exit wounds or otherwise. Quite painful like croquet mallet pounding all the major joints.
Wow!
Got rained on 3 times this AM. Before I went out there were some flashes way off south, to far away to even hear though. Get rained on alla time(tropics thing). Was the remnants a hurricane Gregg passen by, this time. Usually don't see lightning or hear thunder. My first namesake storm! Darn, one more thing to worry about; lightning.
Gfish
Quote from: Gfish on July 23, 2017, 11:12:32 PM
Wow!
Got rained on 3 times this AM. Before I went out there were some flashes way off south, to far away to even hear though. Get rained on alla time(tropics thing). Darn one more thing to worry about.
Gfish
put away the graphite & bring out the glass -- carbon fiber is a mighty fine conductor (some lightning rods are made from it), while fiberglass is an insulator... pretty sure all those post-lightning "black wig" internet photos are of graphite rods -- not, glass
even with glass, though, if fishing in the rain -- you don't want to be (or be near) the tallest thing around
That's wild. Looks like the epoxy was vaporized leaving just the carbon fiber behind.
-steve
At least the Shimano Tranx is still in 100% condition, bomb proof!
Quote from: Cor on July 24, 2017, 07:36:04 PM
At least the Shimano Tranx is still in 100% condition, bomb proof!
I dunno...heat may have fused things
Quote from: mizmo67 on July 26, 2017, 07:50:59 PM
Quote from: Cor on July 24, 2017, 07:36:04 PM
At least the Shimano Tranx is still in 100% condition, bomb proof!
I dunno...heat may have fused things
Fuzzed things
and fused things ;D ;D
I wonder if the conductivity of carbon fiber makes it more attractive to lightning.
Quote from: Decker on July 27, 2017, 12:24:12 PM
I wonder if the conductivity of carbon fiber makes it more attractive to lightning.
Absolutely; they act like a small lightning rod (no pun intended)
Most of my high-graphite rods have a sticker on them warning that they are conductive.
Fishing solo one time up at Huntington Lake in the Sierras -- mid spring at 7000' -- late afternoon.
Ice had been off the lake for a week or two
Clounds rolled in just like dense fog -- fish were biting, so I kept fishing.
Snowed 3" in about 30 minutes -- dead calm -- no wind.
Pretty soon, I heard close thunder.
Still kept fishing --
All of the sudden I could not see my line where it should have entered the water.
As my hair started to tingle with static electricity -- and I found my line arched up 20' above the water in a big arc -- I immediately tossed the rod and reel on the snow bank -- cut the line -- packed up and went home.
That was 37 years ago -- and possibly why I am still sucking air today.
Best,
Fred
Been there, done that. Fish going crazy just before a storm...make a long cast and find myself staring stupidly at my fishing line just hanging in the air like it was part of the movie The Matrix. Quickly called it quits.
Saw a video on line a while back that some bass fishermen took of sparks arching between the pile of rods they had on deck.
Wow, this is interesting. The floating fishing line is an indicator that the air is electrically charged? Makes me think of using a glass rod.
The floating line phenomenon is fascinating. I'm curious if it is because the line is attracted to the atmosphere (storm cloud) or if it is repelled by the earth? This is some very interesting stuff! This reminds me of that old science experiment where you bend running water with a static charged comb. I have access to an atmospheric physicist and I will discuss this at my first opportunity.
-Mike
I'd bet dollars to donuts that the static charge on the line is what drew it up into the air, just as one's hair stands on end in the same situation.... until the lightning discharge neutralizes the potential difference. They say the direction of lightning movement is from ground up anyway, even though it never looks like that. So I think that means that the electrons (negative charge) are attracted by an atmospheric positive charge and the difference in potential between the two peaks at the moment of lightning strike.
Yes, carbon fiber and graphite are very conductive. I've installed carbon fiber static drains on fiberglass oil storage tanks. The static drains were long 3/8" x 4" x 15' slats that were suspended vertically inside the tank to remove the static charge from the product.
When thinking of a lightning event (event = a single lightning strike), we need to consider absolutely everything to be conductive...some things are just more (or less) conductive than others. Everything will take on a charge during a storm. This happens at a slow rate as the storm intensifies and everything takes on a more-or-less equal charge on the front end of the event as this is a relatively slow rise. During a lightning event all these charged bodies are seeking balance or equilibrium very quickly. More conductive bodies will experience more current. (Remember it's just 'static electricity' or 'potential' until lightning strikes then the static build-up becomes current, a lot of current, for an instant during the discharge while things nullify or balance out). You do not want your body to be a current path. Understand that this current is on/in whatever you are standing on (or sitting or touching). If your body is more conductive than the soil that you are standing on you will become part of the current path, even without being struck directly.
Digressing back to the floating lines...this reminds me of Franklin's kite but with both ends at 'earth potential' and the floating line in the middle is a very good indicator of a very strong electrostatic field.
Stay safe guys. You don't need to get struck directly to be seriously injured. Think of a lightning event as a very random competition with a multitude of variables. If I can find a good link to some reliable lightning safety suggestions I'll share it here. Most of us now have cell phones and you can get weather apps with lightning data and alarms. Get one and use it! Also, don't forget to track flashes. Sound travels at about 5 seconds per mile. A good rule of thumb is to seek shelter when lightning is within 5 miles. A vehicle is about as good as it gets...and avoid contact with metal.
-Mike
Lightning is no joke, Worked a patient years ago in a Trauma Center in Florida who was struck by lightning while fishing, took him out and zapped the crap out of his partner/GF. She lived but was pretty messed up.
Time to change the skivvies :) :).
Joe