Thread: What is the most rain you ever fished through?

One day many a year ago Butch Herndon and I were fishing stockton, he had an old stick stear boat, the kind you sit up front and move the big stick forward and back to steer the thing, well big ole black clouds unloaded on us, rained so hard the can we had to dip water was not big enough, so we headed to the bank up by chicken rock, rained so hard we could not see from one end of the boat to the other,,,, when it let up we took off still raining and hard, Butch said Michael pull the plug, I did,, he got it sorta up on dangerous plane and towards the ramp we headed, got to the bridge and I replugged the ole cream colored boat and he said heck let fish the piers, so we did, raining hard on either side of the road and pretty nice under the bridge,,,, tossed out the ole stream sweaper jig and caught crappie for couple hours.... No rain suits. what a day.

I wasn't fishing, but when I was 8 until 20 years old my grandparents owned a fishing boat rental. Every day during the summer I would go out there with them and help them out. Once I hit 12 years old grandpa put me in a boat saftey course so I could operate the commercial pontoons and take people out trolling. This specific day he rented out the pontoon to a family and they ran into something and knocked the lower unit off. The rental was on the south shore and the pontoon on the north, 11 miles away. He sent me out in a 16' Lund with a 15hp motor and some rope looking for it. It took me about an hour and a half to locate it. It was in the back of the bay tied up on some rocks. The family walked up to the road and got a ride back. I tied it up and started around the first point and looked up and big black clouds and wind had rolled in. It took me 6 1/2 hours to get back to the marina. We got so much rain I was using my shoes to bail out the boat. I couldn't get enough speed to pull the drain plug. The waves were 4' and the lake has a 6' average depth. I could see the bottom at the back of my boat. Now a days a fellar would get locked up for sending a 12 & 1/2 year old out in that stuff!!!

Two storms come to mind.

Ox bow lake in Scott, AR, I knew that a light rain brought them to the surface. I traditionally rigged on that lake. I'd reel them up to 2-3' under the surface and enjoy the entertainment. Problem was, the entertainment took my attention off the black clouds and not until the wind got up did I realize I was in deep doo doo. It was a good decision to tie off to a dock, hunker down and wait it out. By the time I untied the boat it has 6" of water in the stern.

The other was a private pond of about 12 acres. I always caught loads of crappie off the bank. It had drizzled off and on all day so yard work was out. It was about a 1/2 mile walk from where I parked to the pond down an old clay dirt road. Going in it was not bad, then the storm popped up over those Arkansas hills and pounded that valley. Trees were snapping, rain was coming from under my hood on my rain jacket. I started for the house with about 20 nice fat black crappie, but that clay road was a soupy mess. I slipped, slid, fell, cussed, and repeated the process for that 1/2 mile. Looked at the gauge on the fence by the house, it rained 3.5" in that two hours I was gone.

We had just got into crappie fishing & was on Pomme just down by the dam & was a slight drizzle & I told Sue look to the west its clearing up..Next thing I new it was a wall of rain.. Looked for cover & there was a big willow tree on the bank & we pulled boat up on the bank & stood under the tree for a while...Rain let up load boat went home..We still laugh about it..No fish that day but memories will last forever..

Not a lot of rain but I still got wet ....
At least ten years ago a buddy of mine had heard about Avery and had been told how to get there.... he wanted me to go with him to check out the spring bass fishing. It was a little cloudy and we didn't think much about it. We were surprised that when we put in we had to weave through the trees to get out into the bigger water. He turns right and off we go for quite a ways. He reaches the place he thought he had been told about and we don't do to well so it was easy to decide to head back when the ugly clouds and wind suddenly came up.... He had the old V-bottom with the 40 horse making as good a time as he could but in no time at all the lightening starting getting fierce and way too close for comfort, even though the rain was just sprinkling. I just knew we were going to get hit by a lightening bolt any second and was wondering what the headlines would say about our charred bodies .... Boom Boom KaBang ..... CRRRRACK ... Pow. Oh Man, you could feel the vibrations going through you.... and now I'm sweating bullets and thinking Lord if you get me out of this then I'll ......When he suddenly lets out with an "OH #@!@#$* !!!!! We've passed up the launch area!." ....... So we turn around and back we go while the lightening is still going crazy..... By this time I'm thinking about picking out my casket color when he finally spots where we put in. We got loaded up and out of there before the rain really got us too wet... well, except for that big wet spot on my pants .... Just about as scared as I have ever been on the water.

Worst storm I have endured I wasn't fishing, but bow hunting. I was hunting a piece of public ground in southern missouri, that had many hills and ravines, and I like to get away from the crowds so I usually walk a couple miles in and to get to one of my favorite areas, I have to cross a really steep and deep dry wash. well I knew rain was in the forecast so I packed the blind in with me, got to my spot and set up shop for the afternoon. well the rain set in and dang did it rain. of course I didn't see a thing that day so I thought maybe this rain would let up right before dark and the woods would come alive. it never quit raining, as a matter of fact, it started raining harder. so I pack up my stuff and start walking back to the truck, in the dark, and as I am walking back, I am thinking "man it the rain seems really loud tonight." well when when I got to the top edge of that "dry" wash, I knew where that noise was coming from! the valley was about 6ft deep with raging white water rapids! well I isn't 'tupid nuff to try to cross it, so I thought I would just walk up stream to find a place where I could cross it. I walked a LONG way that night, had to hike all the way to the head of that wash. no clue how far I walked that night. didnt get back to the truck untill early the next morning. to make things worse, my phone got wet and died on me, and I had no way to let my wife know I was OK.
now I have been out in a lot of storms when I should have stayed home, and some I will never forget. but my legs, back, and feet hurt for over a week after that particular outing. I won't forget it, and I'll never do that again!

Spring of 09..... Right before a Larry the cable guy show in columbia for my birthday..... Millcreek cove Gravois Arm of LOZ. Rained so hard we couldn't hardly see the dock from the boat that was about 10 feet away. Decided to ease over to mill creek and shoot some docks. Pulled up on one in particular and found the biggest specks i've ever caught on loz. Still to this day the very best day of fishing and catching huge black crappie i ever had. Wish i had pictures to prove it. Won't ever forget it. Hell of a good time.....

The worst two were both on Grenada, MS.
The first one was the spring of 08. Panhandlin and I were fishing at Greysport South. The wind came up fast out of the west. That boat ramp is stupid dangerous in a strong west wind. A bunch of boats headed to the ramp. Watch 5-6 boats get swamped while trying to pull out. We fished under the bridge for a while. A bit later, the sky turned black. I say, " it's time to go". As we were about to leave, an older guy in a 16 foot Jon boat came idling past. A 40 mph gust of straight line wind hit us. The rain came with it blowing sideways. The old mans little Jon boat stood up on end, and he swamped. We raced over to him and helped get him to the bank. It was raining so hard, we couldn't see the bank from 30 yards away. The waves were 4 feet and pounding us. We got both boats to the bank as the old fella's sunk. Panhandlin ran up the hill to get my truck. He was gone a long time. Finally, he came walking back down and said, "you're going to kill me, but I locked your keys in the truck and the engine is running.". Crap!!! Helped the old man load out and he put a lot of gone between him and the lake. I called a lock smith in Grenada. We sat out in the hurricane for an hour waiting for him to arrive. $80 and half drowned later, we were finally able to load the boat and get on the road!!!!