St Elmo's Fire?

I have enjoyed my experiences in my short time on the water, but the following was probably the most bazaar.   

A friend and I were 1/4 mile NNE of the yellow buoy out of SC harbor on Sat 8/4/12.  It was grey ominous sky that morning, and it actually rained on us for a bit.  At one point I heard a buzzing noise.  I thought it was the radio, turned it off.  Still there.  I thought it was the fish finder, turned it off, still there.  Thought my boat was leaking(i thought this first actually), checked inside the hatch- dry.  Some time passed I kept fishing and it seemed to stop.  As I approached my friend I heard it again.  I asked if he heard it and he said," yes, what is it? It sounds like its behind me"  I agreed with him.  At that moment he picked up his pole, touched his aluminum reel, and was shocked by three audible snaps of electricity.  At this point I think we both were a bit concerned.  Any way I picked up my pole, and I wasn't immediately shocked.   I did notice that as I raised my rod tip, the frequency of the buzzing seemed to change.  I held the pole low and parallel to the water - the buzz was inaudible or very low.  As I raised my outstretched arm up eventually holding it straight above my head like a "lighting rod" the buzz would increase in frequency or pitch(?).  After 10 to 20 seconds of holding it so, the electricity would discharge with a snap from my reel to my hand.  I did this multiple times with the same outcome.  One PB angler we spoke with said his hair was buzzing as he stood on the bow of his boat to cast.

It was not until later when I returned home that I learned of St. Elmo's Fire.  Has anyone else ever experienced this on the water?  I am interested to hear others experiences. 

I only know the song... bit very interesting. Yes i am in my 40s...

Peace & Blessings!

I googled it.  Very cool.  Pretty spooky though I'm sure. 


Eric Morgan
Trident Ultra 4.7
Not the guy selling the Outback
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Besides the song and movie i have heard of this weather phenomenon. We had thunderstorm this weekend in the Sac area was there any in SC? If so that might have caused this to occur. I'm glad i wasn't out there that might have fucked my pace maker.