Superstitious?

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

Do you guys refuse to bring bananas in the boat?
Do you have any other superstitons or rituals for fishing?

My only thing is insisting that everyone I run into on the way to the water wishes me good luck. I told my nephews they have to kiss every fish they catch or they won't get another.

Speaking of superstitions, I change the lyrics to Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" to "Very stupid fishes, you'll be hanging on my wall," when I'm really nailing them. I get too many laughs from other anglers and passersby.

[bassintom]

i'm not superstitious..the only time i'll wish anybody good luck is in a tourney...that's because if they're relying on luck to win,they're done for.
IMO(here we go again)...luck has absolutely nothing to do with bass fishing.
i only carry the little blue horse and the little ship in a bottle in my rod locker because my kids think it helps.

[JB]

toms say - IMO(here we go again)...luck has absolutely nothing to do with bass fishing

I tend to agree, but have ya ever noticed when you start winning a few tournies back to back, the whole gang starts in on how lucky you are?
Seems to be the pattern of disgruntled last place finishers up here lol

[bassintom]

they used to say i was just lucky..now they know different..

[Wishing2BFishing]

Whenever I start nailing fish and my buddy says "this is going to be a good day" or something similar, I know that the luck has just ended. That is my fishing superstition.

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

My insisting on wishes of good luck stemmed from so many people saying "Goin' fishin'?"

My usual reply was "No, I'm participating in the big boating and fishing parade today, you goin'?" Then a guy yelled at me the next time I saw him 'cause he thought I was serious. So now I just say "Yup, wish me luck!"

[K-Driz]

Although many anglers believe in luck, luck isn't what my success is based upon. 2005 was my first year fishing in the American Bass Anglers CAST tour series and out of 10 events, 5 of them were 1st place finishes, 4 more were in the top 4, and 1 was top 15. I actually brought bananas with me to most of the tournaments and was surprised that the bananas did not cause "bad luck." In fact, days that I had bananas on the boat were some of my best days. I also had some of my worst days as well with bananas on the boat. If you happen to find some type of banana product on your boat and believe you're doomed for the day, then that shall be your fate because you believe it. Throwing that banana out won't make matters any better though. All that does is keep your lure out of the water for one cast, and that's really all the time/distance it might take for you to pass up a fish. Everyone knows you can't catch fish if you don't have a line in the water. I won and lost those tournaments due to varying degrees of preparation. Knowledge, preparation, and your ability to adapt/change with the conditions are my keys to catching fish. To me, there is no luck, only success.

[bassnman30]

I never and I mean never take a banana on my boat. Bad luck in the worst way. I've seen TV adds where the guys fishing won't take bananas due to the bad luck that they might face. If your gonna fish with me, leave your bananas at home. No BANANAS on my boat !

[bassenforcer]

Last tourny I fished, my partner failed to tell me he had Bananas in his snack bag. Until after lunch i made him get rid of them once I saw them. Then we ended up catching some nice keepers. Also skunked once when I had banana bread in the boat.

[bassdreamer]

the only superstition i have is to not say the word limit the day before i go fishing ,lol,if i say it ,i never catch anything,

[JB]

The story is that many, many years ago a sailing ship entered port with supplies bound for a fishing fleet. Among the supplies were bushels of bananas. After loading their supplies the fishing boats raised their sails and headed for the open ocean, unaware that the banana bushels were infested with black widow spider nests. Many aboard did not return alive!
Henceforth, bananas have been considered taboo on sailing and fishing boats, and became associated with bad luck. It is forbidden to have bananas on board!

[JB]

I think the only superstitious feeling I ever get is when on the very first cast you catch a fish!
Sometimes its like the 'kiss of death' ...you can't get any more bites the rest of the day..

[WTL]

I talk to the river or lake as if it were a person. When I have a good day on the water I thank it for surrenduring to my great skill...or stupidity. When I pass it say driving over a bridge I greet it familiarly. I also take care not to spit or relieve myself in a given body of water, unless I really, really have to go in which case I'm sure the river understands.

And next trip I vow to carry a bag of bananas on the boat. That superstition is just dumb.

[K-Driz]

WTL, good call on the bananas. It's always good to have them in the winter months of fishing, too. They've got tons of potassium, which helps prevent muscles from painful cramping when they get too cold. Anyone who doesn't believe this really should look it up and see for themselves.

[zooker]

heard about the nanner incident..but now that i think about it the tourny's i have won was the same days twisted sister cd's were in my changer-i may have to listen to them more often...

zooker

[JB]

zooker,
can't hurt eh? lol

[fishn'fool]

Why are bananas bad luck????

[rrw4258]

whenever i go fishing with my friends, whenever i say, if we catch em ya want to keep um, and we never catch anything! LOL

Ryan

[Rebbasser]

I can honestly say I don't have any superstitions when it comes to fishing. Got a couple when it comes to scuba diving, though. I take that back-I have one when it comes to scuba diving. Well, two if you count don't pee in your wetsuit

[Bendersbe16]

RR, u sometimes keep ur bass?

[DStu22]

Fishn'fool, here's a few stories about bananas:

While spending time in Hawaii fishing I spoke with some "native" Hawaiians who clued me in to the origins of Bananas and bad luck. Back before fiberglass and powered boats the Hawaiian men would go out in dugout canoes and fish for weeks at a time. They would always take Bananas. Well it happens that the Bananas would rot about the same time they would get to far out to really catch any fish. So they associated bananas as bad luck. I learned this the hard way when I took banana boat sun screen out fishing. We were not catching anything and I was baking in the hot sun. I was putting the sunscreen on when the 1st mate saw it was banana boat. He immediately grabbed it from my hands and threw it overboard. Not 5 min later we hooked into a 950# marlin. So I am a true believer in the banana superstition and will not allow anything to do with bananas on my boat at any time. I look forward to possibly fishing with you this year.

Thanks

Jim Coppage
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There are many stories why bananas have been thought of as bad luck on boats. This is only one of the nautical superstitions that I know of and is particularly prevalent amongst watermen. Many stories have banana oil rubbing off on ones hands and “spooking" the fish; therefore the fish don't bite. There is always the story of a crew member slipping on the banana peel left on the deck. Some say that bananas give you the runs so you are always in the marine head and can't catch fish because you are busy "draining the pipes". Many other stories are told about bad luck and bananas, however the one that I find most plausible is a historical one.

Back in the days of the transatlantic crossings by wooden sailing ships many hazards would befall the captains, crew and passengers. Disease, pirates, shipwrecks, storms, etc., claimed the lives of a good percentage of the captains, crew and passengers attempting the dangerous voyage. Needless to say, a transatlantic crossing in the 17th and 18th centuries was a very risky endeavor. Often the vessels would stop along the way in tropical islands to gather provisions such as food and water. There the passengers and crew would often purchase wooden crates of bananas from the locals and bring them aboard the ship. These crates would have all manner of critters in them such as bugs, spiders, vermin and snakes.

These critters would make their way into the bilges of the ships, multiply, and then find their way into the captain's quarters. The captains circulated the rumor that bananas were bad luck in an attempt to keep the critters off the ship and out of their cabin. The crew and
passengers were more than eager to follow suit because of the inherent risk of the crossing. So, if the captain announced prior to the voyage that bananas were bad luck and not allowed aboard the vessel, everyone complied. You must remember that these were the days of burning witches and the like, so superstitions were taken very seriously.
Watermen are a mysterious lot. While we are known for our simple pragmatism, we also have many odd quirks. Superstitions have been prevalent on almost every vessel I have worked on. I feel that this is due to the nature of a waterman in that he sees the randomness of the world around him juxtaposed with the rhythmic, seasonal flows of nature and then tries to reconcile these observations into some sort of personal and/or environmental order. As Stevie Wonder (a blind man) pointed out so eloquently: "When you believe in things you can't understand, that's superstition".


This was a funny story I ran across while surfing the web. I pilfered it from this site: http://www.striper-csba.com/story6.htm

The Case
Against Bananas

Bringing a banana aboard a fishing boat won't win you any friends among anglers-but it might score you a wedgie.

This article was taken from Boating World Magazine

The mere mention of a banana muffin on board was enough to send legendary south Florida fishing guide "Bouncer" Smith scrambling toward the cooler that held the offending item. With his face flushed and a vein bulging from his forehead, he hurled the hapless muffin overboard, much to the objection of its rightful owner. Was this the act of an isolated bananaphobe? Well you can forget about black cats crossing your path or broken mirrors, because to many fishermen around the world, there is nothing unluckier than a banana on board a boat.
Having been cultivated in the Indus Valley as far back as 2000 B.C. , the banana's nickname is "the fruit of the wise" Somewhat ironic when you consider that it is technically classified as an herb (although clearly a member of the "hand-fruit" genus) and is a favorite food of monkeys, whose major leisure activities include hurling bodily waste products and offending sexually uptight visitors at the zoo.
The origin of this superstition is uncertain, but many believe that it began in olden times, when bananas were transported by rickety, overcrowded, top-heavy boats plying the tropics (now known as cruise ships). These boats would frequently sink, leaving behind a residue of floating yellow commas, thus leading witnesses to deduce that hauling bananas was unlucky. A more scientific explanation is that since bananas give off ethylene gas when they ripen, it causes other perishable foodstuffs to spoil more quickly. This expended-gas theory could be why it's also considered unlucky to have a politician on board. Yet another theory suggests that crates of bananas would also contain unwanted pests, such as spiders, snakes, flies, mice and Beanie Babies.
Although the banana superstition is worldwide, nowhere is it taken more seriously than in Hawaii. Some believe the Aloha State's anti-banana sentiment has its roots in legend when the god Pele (apparently before his soccer career) brought his brother to the islands to be the deity in charge of sport fishing. Rumor has it that he was deficient in, how shall we say, the male hydraulics department, giving him a severe case of banana envy. A clue to how Hawaiians feel about the subject can be found on the Kona Fishing Charter website. Although fairly ambiguously written, it states "Absolutely positively, no ifs, ands ,or buts, do not bring bananas on board". Let's just say if questioned by a Large Samoan deckhand folding a filet knife, it might be better NOT to reveal the fact that you had a Bananas Foster for breakfast.
In Florida, charter boat crews have extended the prohibition beyond bananas and related food products to include objects that merely have the word banana on it, such as Banana Boat sunscreen, or items from Banana Republic, During fishing tournaments, anti-banana feelings run high. Not leaving any stone unturned, each person on board is quizzed as to what brand of underwear they are wearing. Should some clueless individual mention they are wearing Fruit of the Loom, a rather unpleasant operation is performed on them. First, they are seized by a couple of stout deckhands and given a punitive "wedgie" to prepare the surgical field. A razor-sharp filet knife is then used to excise the label, which curiously doesn't even have a banana on it. Experts recommend not struggling during this procedure, particularly if after a hard night of carousing the underwear is on backwards.
Some bold individuals spit in the eye of this superstition such as the Banana Lure Co., which features trolling lures that look like half a Chiquita. Attempts to inquire about how business is going have gone unanswered…..

Could Eric Whul have been right about the banana superstition??????

[zooker]

seaman are a superstitious lot as a whole red headed woman were once regaurded as bad luck also.-hey i can agree with this at times..


zooker

[1FASTLASER]

I AINT NEVAH had bad luck with a red heade women in the boat with me. LMAO!!! Aint that right ZOOK

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

I'm rascist against redheads, the real redheads with freckles all over their bodies. I consider them a different race than caucasian. I refer to them as frecks.

All frecks I've met must have A.D.D. or something. They freak out all the time. Freaky frecks! When I see frecks wearing brown clothing I can't help but picture them as little volcanos. You never know when they're gonna' blow!

From now on, I will consider fishing with frecks, seeing frecks, and mentioning freckles or red hair as bad luck on days I plan to fish.

[WTL]

In other words you hate Irish people? Great. Very nice.