Stormy on Starvation

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Normally I would have slept in today. Weather forecast was "iffy" and Starvation is a long drive to go to watch whitecaps. But it looked doable for a few hours in the morning and I wanted to meet up with TopH2O to discuss details of our upcoming trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Also wanted to do some more testing on my "No Name Lures".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I launched to calm conditions, after a loverly sunrise. Air temp 60 and water temp 67. Water level about the highest I remember seeing it on Starvation and the lake is still spilling.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Us kids from Salty City were just settling in to a perch search when we were joined by TopH20 in his boat. His wife was supposed to be with him and we were gonna do a shore lunch later, but she had something come up that kept her home. But Mike was up yesterday afternoon and camped there. You woulda thunk he would have the fish all tied down for us...but NOOOOOOO. We were all in search mode.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The light breeze at daybreak increased to a stronger breeze and some clouds moved over and started spittin on us about 9:30. I figured our day was over already but it layed down then and we had a few hours of fairly calm fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe stayed pretty much on the south side of the lake...to make a quick run if another storm moved in. She had some sparkin' on her rods during the first little cell and it was good she was already sitting in the water. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Mike and I worked in and out and up and down the channel. We eventually found an area in about 15 to 25 feet of water that held a lot of fish. Too bad most of them were dink perch. But my little no name lures started producing for both of us and we each got a few larger than 8 or 9 inches. No toads.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also brought in a half dozen or so small wallies...a couple of underfooters, a couple of footlongs and a couple of teen-inchers. Better than dink perch. I also scored 3 "Starvation steelhead"...feisty rainbows from 15" to 19". Two came on the no name in pale perch. The other came on a silver spinner with red spots. So did a couple of nasty chubs. One was 15" and UUUUUUUUGHLY.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe went through a lot of worms, just like Mike and I did. But she only caught a bunch of dink perch and a couple of underfooter wallies. No trout for her today. She usually hits them if they are around.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We had one serious looking storm cell that passed us to the west and turned around to the north. It looked ugly but we dodged it. However, about 1 pm I heard thunder and looked directly south...the direction from which the weather was coming. There were some DARK clouds and some flashes in the middle...followed by thunder that got louder in a hurry. Mike observed "That storm has us right in the crosshairs". I agreed and we parted...he heading back to the state park ramp and me motoring across the lake to our launch spot. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe didn't need much of a hint. She got up and walked on water back to the vehicle before the storm got very close. I wasn't so lucky. I was still a hundred yards off shore when I got caught in a downpour...interspersed with flashes and thunder that were downright scary. I was not holding onto my rods. I don't like electric fishing poles.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I hit the beach and we ducked inside the car to wait out the hissy fit being thrown by Mama Nature. But she was cagy. She would let up enough to give us false hope and we would get out of the car and start packing up again. Then down would come the rain again. She had really been storing it up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Eventually we got all our soggy gear stuffed in the car and headed down the road. [/#0000ff]
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[idahopanfish]

Wet but there supper in the basket. Thanks for the report.[fishin]
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[peter805]

For some sick reason I like that rain ending to your
story. Maybe its because I live in SoCal now and
rain is so welcome here. (you know).
But anyways, thank you for sharing.

Peter
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]It is always a matter of perspective. I like rain too, but it helps if the timing is right.[/#0000ff]
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[peter805]

LOL yeah, that helps for sure []
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[albinotrout]

I love buny gulch. Not a fan of the rain though. Gotta try to get back there again this next week.[cool] Nice repot!
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[flygoddess]

I remember fishing a lake a few years ago. I had the usual couple of rods in the rod holder on the back of my boat. I was rowing at the time instead of using my motor. It was raining so we were heading in for breakfast. I could feel the hair on my arms standing up. Thought it was interesting. But there was this clicking sound. Sounded like line coming off a reel with a clicker on it. I looked back, Nope. Hooks were in rock keep where they belong. But I still hear the clicking. I turn off the two way, still there. Finally, I reached back to grab one of the rods and YOWWWWW! I got shocked bad!
No Lightening or Thunder that day either. Weird.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Sounds like there was a lot of static electricity in the air and your rods acted as a Van de Graff accelerator to pick up and store it. I made one of those in high school physics. You could really zap something when you set off the discharge.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No wonder you have such a shocking personality.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have had several trips where the hair on my arms stood up. And on one trip my line actually floated in the air...with no wind.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One before dawn trip out of the south marina at Willard...back in the late 70's...a fierce little storm cell came rushing in. It was windy and spitting lightning so I got off the water to wait it out. Just as I was getting out of the water a lightning bolt zipped right over me...not very far up...and hit the side of the mountains to the NE. I saw the bright light and the puff of dust. The clap of thunder at the same time just about knocked me down. The storm passed and the wind waves died down and I went back out and had a great session with some nice walleyes and crappies...and catfish. No wipers in those days.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I was down in New Orleans my fishing buddy had his metal boat hit by lightning as he was racing back in to get out of a storm. A lightning bolt actually skipped across the water and punched a hole in both sides of his high beamed boat. That's too close.[/#0000ff]
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