Superstitions

[papajoe222]

Okay, I know I'm not the only one, but I need a little reassurance.  I have NEVER broken a rod tip in my 50+ years of fishing.  Yesterday it happened on a rod that I custom built over last winter. It happens, right? Well until I mentioned the fact that I'd never done it, I was safe.

Same goes for launching the boat with the plug out,  getting hooked deep enough to need medical assistance, running out of gas while on the water, loosing the winning fish at boatside, the list is almost endless.  I keep telling myself, it's just the odds catching up to me, but it always happens after I've vocalized my good fortune on the matter.   It even goes back to my baseball playing days in high school.  I never fouled one off my foot, lost my grip on the bat, came up short sliding into second (yea, that was embarassing) etc. until some team mate coaxed me into saying it had never happened to me.

So, what is your most recent or funniest episode of jinxing youself that's fishing related? 

[Paul Roberts]

Oh man...how about this one... "I GUARANTEE we'll catch em there!" I know I wimped out on this one. But ... I still am apt to say that somehow not learning that lesson. I chalk it up to as much good ol' enthusiasm as ego -or maybe they're close to the same thing.

 

I finally dipped a camera (an expensive SLR) in the river after YEARS of wearing one. I think I was getting smug about it.

 

Your broken rod ... yeah, it hurts. A buddy closed the car door on one of mine (and I looooved that rod) at 5am on the opener of trout season a long ways from home.

[geo g]

Probably one of the biggest superstitions in fishing is the banana in the boat. I don't believe in superstitions but I never have a banana in the boat, and if I take someone with me they better not have a banana in the boat, and I love bananas. How this one got started, I don't know. It has been around for a long time, and I have seen pros stick to this one. Anyone know how it all started?

[aavery2]

Not quite the same thing but along the same lines.  I have a pair of line clippers that I have had for a good long time, they are probably worn out truth be known.   I have convinced myself that if I do not have those clippers with me while I am fishing that I will not have a good day.   I recently purchased a new pair of superline clippers, but I could not leave the others at home so they are clipped to my tackle bag so I won't forget them.

[Nelson Wormefeller]

Never get on boat left foot first. Might as well go home.

[Missourifishin]

Back in March I was catching some really nice bass. But as soon as I took a pic of one and bragged and showed it off to my friends I began a long drought of nothing but dinks.

[SirSnookalot]

No superstitions. I either catch fish or I don't, that gives me a 50/50 chance on any cast.

[Hattrick7]

Getting plastics that I know the bass will be lining up to bite. Start fishing them and not even getting bit or rarely getting bit. Maybe I should start sacrificing one to get the mojo working.

["BRB"]

My fishing buddy been trying to talk me in to getting a bigger boat. Don't get me wrong I would loved to have one. But I started bragging on mine. In the almost 5 years of owning it. It has never let me down and had never had to take it to the shop for anything more than regular maintenance. On the same day of bragging on it an alarm went off. Taking it to the shop on Wednesday and hope its just something simple.

[Mike L]

As we pull up to an area really stealthly like, my boater says to me..."Ok, Ive been saving this place all day, for 2 days in practice I just killed them in here"

I say, "Yeah, I can see why, If I was a bass I'd live here!!

We stay there for 2 hrs because he "killed" them for 2 days, barely making it back in time for weigh in.

He gets 2 dinks, I get 1 and he both finish out if the money.

Mike

[Violinguy]

"This is THE lure.  It's the only one that I catch fish with at this lake, and the stores don't carry it anymore."

 

SNAG

[VAHunter]

Probably one of the biggest superstitions in fishing is the banana in the boat. I don't believe in superstitions but I never have a banana in the boat, and if I take someone with me they better not have a banana in the boat, and I love bananas. How this one got started, I don't know. It has been around for a long time, and I have seen pros stick to this one. Anyone know how it all started?

 

I read one time that the banana superstition dates back to the days of sailing the seas.  Crews would carry bunches of green bananas for their journeys and eat them as they ripened.  Well, bananas got a bad name with boats when the deadly banana spiders started appearing aboard the ships.  Not sure how true it is, but it seems plausible.

[MIbassin]

I read one time that the banana superstition dates back to the days of sailing the seas.  Crews would carry bunches of green bananas for their journeys and eat them as they ripened.  Well, bananas got a bad name with boats when the deadly banana spiders started appearing aboard the ships.  Not sure how true it is, but it seems plausible.

Theres many theories about the origin of the banana boat superstition. The one i hear the most is that when people on ships were done eating the bananas, they would throw them overboard and since the peels float it would allow pirates to track the ship. They would then proceed to loot it of all its valuables.

 

 

I was deep sea fishing in aruba once and we had gone 3 hours without a bite. My dad takes out a banana and the guide grabs it out of his hands mid bite and throws it overboard. Ten minutes later we had a 40lb wahoo in the boat. Go figure….

[Violinguy]

OK, so back in college when my roommates and I would pile into a souped up XR4TI and head out at 4am for NW Connecticut we had a routine that we followed to a "T," including where to stop for gas, what donuts to buy at Dunkin', and exactly what music (and in what order) to play on the way up there.  I recently burned a CD with that exact music for my modern trips.  Wish I could say it worked better than it has.  I guess it needs to be 1991 for it to work again.

[ClackerBuzz]

i never caught a 7lb'r  

[Sam]

My maternal grandmother was a Cajun lady from south Louisiana and she taught me many things about being superstitious since she was extremely superstitious:

 

Always put on your sports uniform the same way and take it off the same way all the time.

If your favorite sports team is doing something good don't change your position or get up. If you do your team will do something dumb or lose.

Always step on first base on the way to the dugout and when heading onto the field.

Never cross after a black cat has crossed in front of you.

Never walk under a ladder.

Keep wearing the same clothes if you are winning and don't wash them unless it is necessary. You will wash off the good luck they carry.

Don't go into any body of water where they can see you and you can't see them. It is their home field advantage so be very respectful of the water.

Don't let anyone put the "gris-gris" on you. It is Voodoo curse and hard to get rid of. But it is OK for you to put the "gris-gris" on others. (Pronounced gree-gree).

Always put the plug in the boat when you leave home.

Always start the motor and the trolling motor before leaving home.

 

And she was a fantastic cook, too.

[blackmax135]

Around here if your on the way to the river and you see a pasture full of cows and if they are laying down you better just go back to the house cause the fish arent wanting to bite. If you see them all standing up you better put the pedal to the metal and get fishing.

[NEjitterbugger]

One thing I ALWAYS do is buckle by straps on my life jacket then zip it up... One day I forgot to zip it before buckling so I just zipped it after I had buckled it and I had a killer day... Haven't changed it since...

[Mike L]

Theres many theories about the origin of the banana boat superstition. The one i hear the most is that when people on ships were done eating the bananas, they would throw them overboard and since the peels float it would allow pirates to track the ship. They would then proceed to loot it of all its valuables.

 

 

I was deep sea fishing in aruba once and we had gone 3 hours without a bite. My dad takes out a banana and the guide grabs it out of his hands mid bite and throws it overboard. Ten minutes later we had a 40lb wahoo in the boat. Go figure….

About 5 yrs ago Me, Mrs Mike and another couple decided to charter a boat for some deep sea fishing out of Islamorada in the Florida Keys. After introduction's the Captain asked if anyone of us had a banana.

We all answered that we did not, then he asked if anyone had eaten one yet that morning, again we all answered that we had not.

Our friend then asked very politely what if we had eaten one for breakfast?

He said "If anyone had, you'd have to get another charter"...This man was serious

True Story

Mike

[macmichael]

I'm not superstitious at all. Actually just the opposite. I believe in good old fashion luck and I feel as if I'm the luckiest man on earth.

[RB 77]

I have none, thank God. when I was younger I was very supersitous in general but that has greatly dissipated over the years. I have seen some guys take the bad luck bananas to heart! The most common "tale" I have heard has been spiders hiding in the bananas on the banana boats and bitting sailors at sea.

[PondHopper96]

I think it's bad luck to only bring one rod! Every time I do I seem to at least back lash once so bad I want to throw my rod in the water or the line snaps on a throw! Just a superstition though...