That's what we did on Lake Okeechobee many years ago in the Spring/Summer. We were fishing out of Taylor Creek and out in the main lake toward Buckhead Ridge. The storm was on the horizon and it was wicked looking with the dark cloud edge against the blue sky above us but it looked to be going more south. So we continued to fish in the hot sweltering Florida sun and we kept watching that storm but we got turned around fishing in the acres and acres of reeds and trails and didn't realize until it was to late that we were in trouble. The storm hit like a hammer! Major wind followed by rain and lightning that made you pucker up tight!! The lightning would hit so close that the thunder seemed to pop at the same time as the flash....just scared the heck out of us!Originally Posted by sweetwater
I tossed the anchor off the bow and we both jumped in the bottom of my 18ft Skeeter I had and hoped for the best. It lasted 20 minutes and when it was over we got up looked around and we were lost. The boat had been pushed around enough because of the HUGE waves and into some nasty muck that would choke a motor in seconds. I wasn't jumping in 3ft-4ft of water (with gators and maybe snakes) and 18" of muck to try and free my boat so we cleared a lane with the paddle and would go in reverse to clear it even more and got a little cleared spot, she went on the bow and we jumped on plane to the first trail and shut down waiting to hear a boat running so we knew which direction to go. Of course a GPS would have been nice but they were just coming on the market then and I couldn't afford one!!
It was a lesson learned but I have been caught many times since. I'm getting less foolish about it as I will leave the water but not soon enough.
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