Do you treat thunder like lightning or do you continue to fish with caution and a plan for nearby cover? I don�t want to launch tomorrow acting like I know exactly what it�s like to fish in thunder. Ya never know what ya don�t know...ya know?

Yes I treat thunder like lightening.
I look at my weather app before deciding whether or not to fish a particular day. I plan on fishing tomorrow so I will review the latest weather radar and forecast before heading to the lake so that I know roughly when bad weather is scheduled. Once on the water I check the weather radar for approaching storms and pre-plan where I am going to go in the event of heavy rain or thunderstorms. At the first sound of thunder I usually head for my safe spot (preferably a marina with some empty stalls) and ride out the storm then its back to fishing.

I quit fishing if I hear thunder or see lightning, which are two components of every lightning strike. A lot of people take their chances, good luck to them. I go to my truck if it's safe to run back or I hunker down somewhere, but the rod goes on the floor and I get low. Lightning is extremely unpredictable and it will change your life if it hits you.

The odds of getting hit in a typical storm are low but the odds of getting screwed up if you do get hit are very high.

I really have to feel the thunder. Lightning and then the thunder

First sign of lightening...........

I had a very close call once, not doing that again.

I�ve been tied up to a bridge on Ray Roberts when a hurricane hit. We were right by the boat ramp! No chance of storms that day. That�s how fast they hit us.

I�ve been in Pensacola bay to watch the blue angels do their annual July 4 show. It got cut short because of storms. The intercostal had 4-5 rollers. I have a 20 ft boat. We drove 15 miles to get there. Lightning like you wouldn�t imagine. We anchored near a housing development and road it out in a half finished home.

As long as you have a plan if there is a chance of rain go fishing

Try this if you are brave enough. I want 3 of these areas to have a safe cove out of the wind to hunker down in until it passes.

A STORM IS COMING

Over 50 years of fishing I have not had many 10 time repeats on catching a huge stringer of Bass doing the same thing in such strategic spots. I thought this may help those that are not afraid to weather the storm. We all have been caught in an upper level disturbance while fishing. Most fishermen will either stay home or get off the water because it is going to be a miserable day and the bite seems to just shut down. Actually the exact opposite is happening. The huge bass are grouping together and being just absolutely aggressive in some very small spots.

During upper level disturbances like:
Lighting
Thunder
Fog and Thunder
Sleet and Snow

It takes a hard hitting weather change for this to produce one of the largest stringers of your life. Here is the kind of area you want to look for; and this is the first thing I do on each lake. I find the heaviest cover in the back third of creeks on the inside bend. This needs to be heavy stumps and any added cover like grass is a plus. This cover provides the big fish with the most secure area they can find. They will group up on this spot coming from both directions and they will all be huge Bass.

Finding the Spots:

If you do not know where these places are already then you are to a disadvantage. On each lake make sure you know where to go to hunker down and it may as well be where the fish are doing the same thing. You can locate as many as possible by using a paper map. I have found that the old, old maps did a much better job marking the backs of the creeks. Saver these spots. Never go there to fish except under stormy conditions. You will have a repeat every time at the same place year after year.
The water will be as shallow as 3 to 5 feet deep on top and 8 to 10 in the channel or toward the ditch. when I say inside bend, that's the point formed on the inside radius of the bend of the creek channel? This would be an under water flat that the creek channel wraps around. It can also be the flat between a fork in the creek. Again it must have cover for them to weather the storm.

Inside turns and channel swings are staging spots where bass will congregate and hold for a number of days or weeks before they move up to spawn, and then afterward when they are done. So having quick access to the shallows is important. This season is covering a long period of time to allow storms during this time of year to take place. The key feature of inside bends is the cover provides a safe place to weather the storm and they want to be connected to it. They seem to move into it as fast as they can get there. I have driven past one of my best spots side scanning and nothing was there. Went a short distance toward the back and turn around to come out headed to my next spot and there they were. All within 5 minutes it happened.
After you gain some experience in locating such places you may find that the map does not show everything. The visuals you learn from the shore line protrusions and any trees that are above water on the creek channels will begin to make you a good reader of your surroundings. I have so much confidence in this pattern; the first thing I do is ride into every cove and find the bends. Use your map, side scan, visuals and find heavy cover. In your spare time go to satellite views working back in history to low water levels and take a look at the cover on the inside bends. Having 3 or 4 spots up and down the lake really helps in taking cover fast and being in a great spot to catch fish at the same time.



The Technique and Spinner Bait:

The larges stringer of your life could come using these techniques. Tie up, hunker down and weather out the worst part of the storm. The wind will do a number on your boat and the Bass if you let it blow your boat around and start bouncing off trees. Fan fish the area quickly. Once you get bit, fish every piece of cover there. Then move forward a cast length and tie up again.
My Orange Spinner Bait is one that I spent years tweaking so it will catch the big Bass that are so active during inclement weather. For years I could not fish a bait that the big Bass would literally kill under stormy conditions. I finely got it right and it is my best go to bait in the box in bad weather. The stranger the conditions the bigger the Bass it catches. There want be any question about it when you find this spot. Bass are so aggressive to Orange Spinner Baits you will have 5 big Bass in 30 minutes.

I use 25 lb. XPS Floro. Line for this application. Make short cast, so there is no chance of a 8 to 10 lb. Bass taking you around something. Again keep moving until you catch one, tie up and fan fish the area for no more than 10 min., then take off on the move again until you catch another and keep repeating until you hit the mother load.

We all have memories of those one or two great stringers of fish; but to have a consistent pattern like this at least 10 times during my life was worth mentioning.

Just a young gun, with a quick fuse
I was uptight, wanna let loose.

That seems like a lot of work for ten minutes of fishing

For a fish over 8 pounds I�d do 10 minutes of work that�s for sure

Safety first.

I recommend the free WeatherBug app with their lightning strike indicator (Spark)
I follow the recommendations of the app--If there is a lightning strike detected within 20 miles of my location, I seek shelter immediately

I do not like fishing when I hear thunder. I seek shelter then, plain and simple.

I'm lucky, I can fish 7 days a week if I want to but I only want to on the days it's not thundering and lightning. I don't care if they're jumping in the boat I will wait and ya'll can fish all my spots.

Many people don't know (or don't believe me) but as a pilot I can tell you that lighting can frequently be 5. 10 or even 20 miles from the visible storm! Anvil lightning can be as far as 100 miles away!! True, that is rare, but the "wait until you hear the thunder" can get you in a world or hurt.

When I lived in Pensacola in the late 80s there was a fatal lightning strike and the nearest storm was 40+ miles away. I don�t mess with lightning.