A Sad Day 2025

Mike L reply :

There was a boater struck and killed by lightening on Lake Okeechobee yesterday during a local club tournament.

From what I was told by 2 co anglers who were there, a thunderstorm moved in and he was trying to beat it to ramp, or was looking for some type of cover [which there isnt much]

The co angler was knocked out and when he came to, tryed to revive him but was too late. He had passed.

The co angler waved down a passing boat who picked up the co angler and called Fish and Wildlife officers who came and towed the boat with the boater back to the ramp.

[A strange note..All the fish in the livewell behind the boater were dead but those in the other were still alive.]

Here in Florida as it is in other states, those storms are nothing to mess with..

We all should remember to be continually aware of the weather and our surroundings while on the water, just not checking the forecast before we go.

May God Bless him, and may he Rest in Peace

Mike

fstr385 reply :

Yea we were right by there when it happened. The strike was so close it scared us into going in where shortly after we seen the ambulance coming and heard about the fwc leaving the tiki bar for the call. Didn't know lightning hit anyone till we got in there we heard a couple talking to the bartender about it. RIP brother.

LARGEMOUTH ANGLER reply :

this is why I don't fish when it rains I respect mother nature

BassinLou reply :

RIP. I was out in the Everglades yesterday when a big storm came through. We had to take refuge under a bridge. Very scary when lightening is cracking all around you.

The Commodore reply :

RIP. I love fishing in the rain but once I hear thunder it's time to pack up. Sounds like he tried this but it caught him.

Chris at Tech reply :

This is what scares me the most about fishing out of an electric-only boat -- when a storm is approaching, you can't get in or to cover very quickly at 4.5 MPH.

5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :

RIP

Prayers for his family. I will remember our fellow angler next time I fish by dedicating my next bass to him. Also major props to the co angler who tried to revive him when he came to. This is a tragedy and we need to lift up the families involved.

Joe

5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :

I will get this out to our church too.

5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :

The co angler needs to be remembered in prayer as well. That was very traumatic.

MrSwimJig reply :

RIP Lorenzo Magdaleno

SuthernProg reply :

I was fishing with my dad back in 94 on Swift Creek Rez when a lightning storm came up on us, We were fishing against a tree lined bank and never saw it coming. Of course, our trolling motor had died earlier and we were just drifit/paddling along back to the ramp. I've been shot at and was never so scared in all my life. It was like God was practicing archery except he kept missing. We ended up jumping out in 3 feet of water, picking up the jon boat and sliding it on to shore behind some dude's house whose parents were out of town. The whole time he was like..."Wow....that's AWESOME man!" Watching the bolts. Ever since then, no siree, I don't mess around.

RIP

Captain Shane Procell reply :

Very sad indeed.

ww2farmer reply :

Thoughts and prayers to the family of the man who passed away. I will fish in the rain all day, but I high tail it the minute thunder and lightning approach.

5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :

Very true ww2farmer

Dwight Hottle reply :

Very sad. It probably could have been many of us. Same thing happen to another angler fishing a tournament exactly one year ago on lake okeechobee.

GaBankFisher reply :

On 6/9/2013 at 11:58 PM, LARGEMOUTH ANGLER said:
this is why I don't fish when it rains I respect mother nature

That's kinda a bizarre way to express your feelings about a man who just passed away. I'm fairly certain he respected mother nature also.

Lucky Craft Man reply :

Wow...sad news there. I'm sure we have all be caught by surprise by the weather. My heart goes out to his family.

Here is another article about a 29 year old in Illinois who got struck by lightening. That lightening is a wicked thing.

http://www.muskyhunter.com/musky-matters/lightning-strike-kills-illinois-musky-fisherman/

gripnrip reply :

I hate to here this. RIP man! I probably don't have the greatest rep. in my club because even if I here there might be storms in the area where my family will be without me or the storms will be near where we are fishing I bail out of the tournament. There are many things in this world we can't control. I'm not going to chase a little green fish when it could cost me my life.

JT Bagwell reply :

Prayers for the family and friends.

Grizzn N Bassin reply :

Wow very sad ... thoughts and prayers to his family... I'll fish in the rain but when thunder rolls thru I'll wait 20 mins in my car then listen if it happens again I'm outta there

LARGEMOUTH ANGLER reply :

On 6/10/2013 at 8:48 AM, GaBankFisher said:
That's kinda a bizarre way to express your feelings about a man who just passed away. I'm fairly certain he respected mother nature also.

yea.. you wouldn't understand what I meant but its ok ill leave it at that.

Glenn reply :

Very tragic and sad. I've been guilty of both "running scared" at the first sign of bad weather, and staying out there when I shouldn't. This is a good reminder to all of us that it's ok to "run scared".

Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Bluebasser86 reply :

I probably push it further than I should a lot of times with lightning. Just a couple weeks ago we had a occasional lightning around but not terrible so we stayed out fishing (didn't help that we were killing them). I made a long cast and my line just hung in the air and even started to lift up towards the sky. We reeled in quickly and got off the water until it passed after that.

Very sad deal indeed.

Bankbeater reply :

Very sorry to hear this. A couple of weeks ago lightning hit a van parked out at a lake that I fish. A friend of mine said that the owner was burned pretty bad on his legs, but luckily he wasn't killed.

senile1 reply :

My heart goes out to anyone who has a loved one struck down by some unfortunate incident such as this. This could very easily happen to any of us. Like some have mentioned above, sometimes I am too careful, but at other times I am not careful enough. A lot of us fish in the rain when we don't hear thunder, but just because you don't hear thunder doesn't mean that the potential for lightning doesn't exist. I was fishing in Northwest Arkansas a couple of weeks ago and, in the local paper, I read about a lightning strike in the lot of an automobile dealer in Rogers, AR. Two men were struck as they carried on a conversation in the lot. There were storms in the surrounding area and dark clouds were nearby, but at the time, no one had heard thunder.

Felix77 reply :

Very sad to hear ... RIP

lmbfisherman reply :

Very sad to hear, condolences to his family and may he Rest In Peace. I don't usually push it, rain with no thunder and I will keep fishing, but once I see a flash and/or thunder I'm out.

airborne_angler reply :

Crazy thing about it is, some bodies of water are so remote that there's really nowhere to go in the event of lightning. You could huddle under a tree on the bank bu t trees get hit by lightning too...and as Chris at Tech said, trying to outrun a storm with only a TM just won't get you very far, very fast. I've tried to go in as a storm approached and clouds rolled in, things got very dark, its hard to avoid floating vegetation that can foul up the prop on your TM.That just puts a whole other isdue on the situation.

piscicidal reply :

Very sad to hear about it. My prayers go out to the family.

Does anyone know the name of the angler? I heard he was in a West Palm Beach bass club. The links posted earlier are from the 2012 BFL incident...

5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :

Very sad indeed.

Toshie Singleton Murrell reply :

Fellow Anglers,

I am one of the sisters of your fellow angler Aaron Singleton who lost his life Saturday while fishing a tournament. I want to thank Mike for posting the forum and to all who express prayers to our family. Aaron (Ed) Singleton is a member of the Royal Palm Bassmasters club. It's ok to say if you do or don't get off the water during a storm but we know he was trying to get off but the storm came quick. Our brother like all of you lived to fish and at home in Kentucky also lived to hunt when fishing season was over. Again thank you all...we aren't ready to let him...but he left doing what he loved. God Bless you all!

5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :

I am so sorry for your loss. Your family has been lifted up in prayer. I have put this out in our church and bass clubs as well. Please let us know if you all need anything. For now, we will miss our fellow angler. This sport has a high level of comrodery and anytime an angler is killed or otherwise injured, ill, etc, we take it seriously. We all share the common bond of bass fishing and this is something I hope and pray as many anglers as possible will remember in our fishing ventures dedicate the next bass to your brother.

My condolences,

Joe

"who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:4 NKJV)

piscicidal reply :

Toshie,

Sorry for your loss. You and Ed will be in my prayers.

fstr385 reply :

On 6/10/2013 at 10:52 PM, lmbfisherman said:
Very sad to hear, condolences to his family and may he Rest In Peace. I don't usually push it, rain with no thunder and I will keep fishing, but once I see a flash and/or thunder I'm out.

Know whats crazy, that was the only lightning that hit. There was no other sign. No thunder in the distance or anything. It began to sprinkle, then that one just slammed close by and scared the heck out of us at which point we decided to go in. I don't even recall any more lightning or thunder after that one either. There were worse storms up NE and some South heading toward us, but it didn't look to bad where we were at the time. I was even saying "why is it raining?" "Where is this coming from?" Then BAM!! Ok, lets go! We were right on the opposite side of the main canal from coot bay. AND when we loaded up, the whole parking lot was still full of trailers!! When we found out about 15 min after we left what had happened, my partner and I just looked at each other wide eyed and said "it was that one!!" I still cant believe it! Just... unreal!

Hooked_On_Bass reply :

Thoughts and prayers got out to the family.

CPBassFishing reply :

On 6/10/2013 at 1:42 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I probably push it further than I should a lot of times with lightning. Just a couple weeks ago we had a occasional lightning around but not terrible so we stayed out fishing (didn't help that we were killing them). I made a long cast and my line just hung in the air and even started to lift up towards the sky. We reeled in quickly and got off the water until it passed after that.

Very sad deal indeed.

just curious, why did your line do that, and what kind of line? Would be interesting to see if the line got charged by the current in the air and was attracted to a forming lightning strike. I think you lucked out big time.

BassAssassin726 reply :

This sucks big time. May he rest in peace. We've all been guilty of staying out when we should maybe go back in. Sucks that the reminder had to come in the form of a fellow angler losing his life. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

The Commodore reply :

I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you for telling us about him. I am sure he would have loved this site.

Tyfisher reply :

Ed will be in my thoughts. Wishing you and your family all the best.

Sam reply :

I have a weather radar app on my iPhone and always watch it if inclement weather is around or approaching.

Why we think we can stand in a boat in water holding a rod in our hands pointed at the sky during a thunderstorm and not place ourselves in peril is too much for me to comprehend.

Also check the wind as on many bodies of water a strong wind can cause white caps and rough water.

Did you know that lightning can strike around five miles from the storm? Yes, five miles from the storm.

So if you see a storm in the distance it would be wise to seek shelter until if passes, even if the storm is up to five miles away.

So sorry for the loss of a fellow fisherman. Tragic by all means. T&P to his family.

salmicropterus reply :

On 6/11/2013 at 5:51 AM, fstr385 said:
Know whats crazy, that was the only lightning that hit. There was no other sign. No thunder in the distance or anything. It began to sprinkle, then that one just slammed close by and scared the heck out of us at which point we decided to go in. I don't even recall any more lightning or thunder after that one either. There were worse storms up NE and some South heading toward us, but it didn't look to bad where we were at the time. I was even saying "why is it raining?" "Where is this coming from?" Then BAM!! Ok, lets go! We were right on the opposite side of the main canal from coot bay. AND when we loaded up, the whole parking lot was still full of trailers!! When we found out about 15 min after we left what had happened, my partner and I just looked at each other wide eyed and said "it was that one!!" I still cBareant believe it! Just... unreal!

That is my recollection also. I was just off East Wall and had foolishly decided to hang there because I thought the storm had weakened. Then flash and bang enough to shake my insides. I didn't see it hit the boat but it was very close. I ran east to Bare Beach and out to the Rim Ditch. Very sorry for this loss of a fellow angler.

greendragon reply :

Prayers sent to the fisherman who passed and also to his partner.

rabidsquirrel reply :

RIP... Very sad and unfortunate... My condolences to his family and the Co-Angler...

chobee reply :

I know Toshie and the family appreciate everything what has been said on the forum. On Tuesday

She read to me what fstr385 wrote and that's pretty much how it was. We were watching the weather

North and west of us when we saw one strike we both put down our rods and said that's it we decided

to head towards bear beach area where it looked like the weather had passed we cranked up and about

Less than a minute later it happened. I think I remember seeing a flash and the next thing I remember

Is seeing Ed lying between the seats. Buy that's all I want to say about this.

I would like you to know what type of person Ed was his only concern that day was the we go find

some bigger fish so I could win my club tournament. I could say a lot more but you guys will know

what I mean

I would like to thank the two guys who came over to help an called 911 I can't thank them enough

Please be safe on the water

10895

A Sad Day 2025

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