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A fisherman can draw from a seemingly bottomless well of self-styled logic, to justify fishing at times when others might question the wisdom, even the sanity, of doing so. The recent monsoon-like rains in central and northern Minnesota brought into focus the way some anglers' minds work when considering whether conditions are favorable enough to embark on a fishing outing; or not.

For example, let's say it's raining at the time a decision is being made, and the weather forecast calls for more of the same. Do you go fishing anyway? Here's how some of the fishermen I know would think it through: if it's raining "here," then it might not be raining "there," where the fishing will actually be done, and you won't know the answer to that question unless you actually are there. So you go!

Or, even if you have reliable information that it IS raining at your fishing destination, it may not STILL be raining when you get there. After all, rain doesn't fall uniformly, weather systems move from place to place, and rain certainly doesn't last forever. There may be a window of fishing opportunity. Here again, you won't know unless you actually are there. So you go.

This logic also comes into play when assessing how HARD it's raining. Is it a drizzle? A steady rain? A gully-washer? After all, there CAN BE such a thing as too much rain, even for fishing. Let's say that when you are making a "go-or-no-go" fishing decision, it's raining very hard. If you and I were considering planting a shrub, or spreading mulch on the garden, we might very well postpone the activity. But since the decision is whether to fish or not, there's a whole different threshold for "too much." Just don't make the mistake of saying "It's raining too hard to work in the yard; I think I'll go fishing."[[In-content Ad]]

There's also what we might call a "decision tree" for whether to CONTINUE fishing if you're already on the water and it starts to rain; this presumes that you have reasonably good rain gear, of course. Some anglers use the tried-and-true three-question test: Are you dry? Are you warm? Are you fishing? If you can answer "yes" to any one of these three questions, then some feel you might as well keep on fishing!

But, if fate fails to smile, and it DOES rain beyond all reasonable efforts to fish - and the "reasonable" threshold is very high - you can always fall back on sitting in the car, sipping coffee, and munching on the partially-crumbled granola bar that has been riding around in a pocket of your raincoat for a season or two. This, while you wait for it to clear enough to resume fishing.

But, all kidding and fishing macho aside, it really isn't a good idea to tempt Mother Nature under certain weather conditions. There are circumstances in which your health, or life, may actually be in danger if you attempt to fish through threatening weather conditions. Lightning is one vector of injury or death for an angler who insists on not giving up; not unlike the golfer who insists on playing even after he's been warned to get off the course. Wind can be an enemy, too, especially on big water.

One of my angling friends tells the tale of being on a lake just before a storm struck, casting for bass, and having his line actually suspend momentarily in mid-air, above the water's surface, due to the electrical charge in the air. This charged air is a condition that often precedes a lightning strike.

I've actually seen pre-storm conditions in which random human hairs stood straight out from a person's head, as billowing, dark thunderheads were rolling in, and lightning flashed in the distance. My son happened to be that person, as we waited to see if a soccer match would be called off, or played. Needless to say, MY call was an easy one, and we headed for shelter.

If you're in a boat on a lake, you and your craft are likely to be the highest point on the waterscape, making you an inviting target for the next lightning bolt to discharge between the clouds above and the earth below. That graphite or boron fishing rod you're holding is an excellent lightning rod, conducting the electrical charge right to you.

You're probably safer if you're fishing from shore, or, perhaps in an entirely different environment, wading a trout stream. You're much less likely to be the highest feature, and most inviting target for lightning. But I wouldn't count on that as an excuse to go on fishing under threatening conditions.

During the week preceding the Memorial Day holiday I fished in a steady rain one evening, on a favorite trout stream. The fishing was pretty good, and in an hour I had caught four fish. In the already-rising water, they were "on the feed,' as we say, and the raindrops falling on the stream's surface made a stealthy, undetected approach much easier.

More than once, I've been guilty of the "one more cast" syndrome. But when the thunder that had been far in the distance began to rumble directly overhead, and the clouds brightened with a flash of lightning, I lowered my rod, waded out of the stream, and marched at double-time back to the car. This was no time for fishing heroics, or to trade a future of safe fishing for "just one more."

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