Was out on Green Lake in Chisago county tonight with my buddy and the air was so charged with electricity our fishing rods were making weird noises. My buddy got shocked by his twice and if you casted out with slack in your line the line would go straight up in the air. This ever happen to anyone else?
Time to get off the lake. That’s a sign lightening is in the air..
Yep, had it happen on Mille Lacs a couple times, time to go!!! 
Happened tonight matter of fact on Mille Lacs. Blue sky above us and a storm about 15 miles to the south. We stayed out and it did finally subside. Man were the fish biting!
Did you not notice the thunderheads around you?? I have seen this before. It is a good time to pack up and head out fast! There was a electrical storm near by. I was on Mille Lacs one night and my graphite rod was crackling and sparking. There was no lightning in sight but it came fast and we high tailed it out of there. The line is the same thing. There is so much electricity in the air the line acts like your hair when rubbed with a ballon. Your hair stands straight up because of the static electricity, and your line does the same thing on the lake. I hope this answered your question.
I did have this exact same thing happen to me a few years back. I was on Lake Rathbun in southern Iowa. It was a very muggy day, very clear except for a big cloud bank in the west. I noticed I was getting a slight shock when I would touch my leg against the side of the boat. As it got worse you could spool line of the spinning reels and it would go straight up in the air. I could have emptied the reel and it would have all went to the sky. At this phenoms worst, my buddy who has very straight thin hair looked like he stuck his finger in a light socket. It was standing on end. I wouldn’t have believed any of this had I not been there. Strangest thing I have ever witnessed on the water.
We didn’t feel any need to leave as the only storm clouds were far in the distance.
Before anyone asks, no booze involved. At least not until later.
Bad mojo! Actually had that happen on Miller Dam Flowage. Dang line wouldn’t come back down after throwing it out. A nasty lightning storm was out about 12 miles and coming in fast. Dang it if the fish weren’t just a killing everything you threw out.
Definitely time to leave when that happens. Weather guy said it’s a sign of impending lightning strike and he said lightning can travel up to 10 miles from the main storm.
There was a small storm nearby but no thunder or lightning. We went to the other side of the lake and it quit happening only to start again. Funny thing is as soon as it happened fish were surfacing everywhere around us.
kinda funny, I have hairy arms and when I was low in the boat no problem, but when I put my arms up they looked like a chia pet. Rods were snappin’, rear light was humming (bee gees I think) and the fish were on fire! As soon as the first rain drops hit it was over. Waited about an hour or so and the storm finally was out on the flats. When there was lightning, the thunder was at LEAST a minute away. Got a little nervous, but with a clear sky above us we didnt’ get too worried.
The scene in CADDYSHACK come to mind, the priest on the golf course
Wow, it was WAY TOO LATE when you experienced that. As others have said, it was time to run for shore. Anywhere on shore, get to cover. Years ago a company I worked for sposored a softball team. They were in the field, and they figure the lighting bolt that hit the left fielder traveled at least 15 miles. There were blue skies overhead and it still killed him. A mile or two means NOTHING to a lightning bolt. My advice: Run, run like the wind!
Rootski
Quote:
A mile or two means NOTHING to a lightning bolt. My advice: Run, run like the wind!
Better by a lottery ticket bub!
If you recall a few years back a fella was struck and killed on Lake Independance. The two fisherman went to shore before the store…went back out after the storm passed..blue skys.
I’ll never forget the quote from the the surviving fisherman that just had burns “we waited until there was blue sky’s, we’re not idiots”.
You my friend were the grounding rod. Hug you’re wife and kids today. 
I think NASA recorded a hit to a tower from a storm 35 or 50 miles away, but thats a natural lightning magnet. Any way,
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_info/thunder2.html
for any one interested.
Very interesting Warren!
Quote:
If you see lightning and hear thunder in 30 seconds or less, the threat is imminent and the next strike may be at your location. Take safety measures immediately. Outdoor activities should not be resumed until 30 minutes after the last thunder is heard or lightning seen. Many individuals struck by lightning are struck before or after the heaviest rain from a thunderstorm, not during the strongest part. It appears that people pay more attention to the rain than to the danger from lightning injury.
What you are experiencing is Saint Elmo’s Fire
I have had this happen shortly before and after a strong thunderstorm front moves through. Best bet is to get off the water ASAP when this happens.
And I always thought St Elmos was just a movie with the Brat Pack.
Here’s the science teachers explanation. The reason the line, hair etc. is standing up is because the objects are becoming positively charged. Like forces repel….
The bottom layer of the nearby thunderstorm is negatively charged! As soon as the positive charges (That are attracted to..) meet the negative charges….you have a lightning strike! Opposites attract! Whenever you experience this phenominon….get off the water, off the golf course, out of the field…whatever. Inside a car is a safe place to hide out till the storm passes…..
Look Out!
Yes, I have had it happen before.. dead calm wind and slip bobber fishing.. the line would go into the air at the speed of a cast while ripping the line off your spool if the bail was open. The electricity was actually pulling my hair up hard enough to lift the cap off my head.
Its time to PANIC and get off the water/out of the open when that happens. My boat was started and WOT once we realized what was happening and we got to shore. The storm was over lake Minnetonka and I was on christmas lake a few miles away.
When I was studying physics there was a chapter in a book that covered this pretty well.. I cant remember the book or author. There were pictures of people(hikers if i recall correctly) with their hair standing on end, sometimes under a blue sky at higher elevations, other times near storms… Of the few people with the pictures(including ones under the blue sky).. Some of them are not with us today because they were struck by lightning seconds after the photo! Lightning can strike 20 MILES from a storm easily, and there is a strange phenominon that can happen to produce lightning from a clear sky(generally in high elevations like mountains).
If your experiencing high levels of static electricity.. get the heck out of there.
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