"The Perfect Storm" ....and a close call

[Ketchn]

I remember that movie to some degree and i would like to say there may be such a thing . What makes a fish lose its mind right before a storm comes thru is up to you to decide . Some say its the falling barometer and others say its this and that . I do know way back when the Stripers seemed get crazy before a storm would come thru .
I think i have noticed crappie doing the same from time to time . Maybe its the baitfish balling up for protection ?
So here we go ....i need to ketch fish ...specifically crappie fish and i was going to go get a few tuesday afternoon in a spot i dont really know . Well all 3 folks i called couldnt make it so i ended up hitting a lake closer to my house that i know well . got there about 5:30 pm and it was super windy . I thought well at least 3 spots have good south wind shelter and i best get after it .Never did a weather check because i was low on time ...MY BAD for sure . Spot one NADA ....and i dont know why , they always seem to be in there to some degree ....spot 2 a few but no size to them . Spot 3 .....KABOOM ......!
and they are stacked up like Alaskan fire wood in the fall .
Anyway i smacked them fast and hard and they were as aggressive as crappie get . There were huge balls of shad all over the entire cove. The crappie were all over em up on the surface and thru out the water column . One crappie even smacked my jig when i was pulling it out of the water to check it after i missed one . I noticed some turbulent skies and worried a storm might be coming and about the time it got crazy with fish my phone starts to get crazy as well. Folks are like Ketchn you best get off the water NOW ....its a bad one a coming to town .
A deep rumble in the distance made me pack it up and when i hit open water it was obvious it was a race between me and this here storm . My rig runs about 30 and the reports i was getting said it was running 60 to 70 plus ......
the good news is i made it and got my rig out about a minute or 2 ahead of the monster ....
you know you are cutting it close when you are backing in to pick up the boat on one end of the bridge and the storm is on the other end of the bridge.
hope you enjoy the read and photo and have a great day
ans all the fish were released btw ....

[Erin Brewer]

Nice catch! Glad you made it out before the storm! When I was younger my dad and I got caught in a thunder storm on grenada lake and all we could do was get to shore and wait it out.

[Ketchn]

Nice catch! Glad you made it out before the storm! When I was younger my dad and I got caught in a thunder storm on grenada lake and all we could do was get to shore and wait it out.

it was a race i almost didnt win brother and many moons ago i was in the same scenario as yours on lake Ray Roberts.
here is a photo of me running and wishing i had more go power ....just to the left (not it in the photo) it was a BLACK sky

[Cane Pole]

From the screen shot, looks like blue gills.

[Snubby]

Nice job Ketchn, your right the fish bite before major storms move in and tempting fate as well. I remember years ago me and buddy got caught out on Sardis lake. The pre dawn skies started out blue then the grey started rolling in, next thing we knew the heavy fog had set in, we couldn't see 10' feet in any direction (talk about being disoriented). This was back before I had a fish finder with a map or any kind of GPS. Google maps on cell phones we're not common place then. So here we were stuck in the middle of Sardis in a 16' boat right in the middle of all the trees and you couldn't see a thing. The wind was picking up and it was a very eerie feeling to say the least. I don't even remember fishing we were so spooked, not a good a feeling to be trapped and at the mercy of mother nature. This was also in early March and water temp was in the high 40's so going overboard could have been very bad, not another boat on the lake. On a lighter note, I have had great luck before storms off the bank and in a boat, just got to be careful and know when it's time to get out. I ain't seen a crappie yet worth losing a life over

[riptide]

Ray Roberts can be a bear when the storm's decide roll on in! But, those fish seem to put on the feed bag just prior. That lake can be deadly on the best of days though.

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[Ketchn]

From the screen shot, looks like blue gills.

ya know brother I don't know much about these here fancy fish finders and the DI says its just a bunch a tree limbs on the bottom to me ...
so I let the 2d computer thingee figure it out and go with one fish 2 fish ...blue fish ....program......LOL

[Ketchn]

Ray Roberts can be a bear when the storm's decide roll on in! But, those fish seem to put on the feed bag just prior. That lake can be deadly on the best of days though.

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that old boy bout kilt me 2 different times in a boat and I don't go out with him anymore ....
the Ray Roberts episode really frightened me ....it was black as night and raining so hard we couldn't see and we was running wide open in buck creek timber for where we thought the bank was .....the storm was coming from behind us and swamped the boat as we hit the shore at a very high speed ....
found out later it had a tornado in it .....and it came out of nowhere on a bluebird day....
AND that was my last trip with him ....

[nccater]

I've been caught on Santee twice because we didn't get out in time. First time the pontoon was rocking and rolling back to the boat ramp down near Monk's Corner-thought we were gonna go belly-up for sure. Second time was up near I-95 and we had just tied the boat to someone's dock before the hurricane force winds came through. Had to take cover under some apartments. The wind and waves pounded the boat so hard into the dock that it beat the $1,200 top down into the floor. Scary to say the least!

[Cane Pole]

Few things I know about lightning. I can't out run it. It kills more folks than tornados yearly. Graphite is a pretty good conductor. Don't pee during a lightning storm. Florida has more lightning strikes than any place in the world. The 30/30 rule is not always true.