Fishing Superstitions

[vatech]

Share your bizarre/wacky/unique fishing superstition!

[vatech]

Collected from ESPN's 20 Questions

The question asked was: Do you have any fishing superstitions?

Denny Brauer

No, I really don't. But there is one thing I like to do before I hit the road. I have to have my rig washed, have all my tackle organized, my rods re-spooled and hooks replaced. I need to be ready to go when I get where I'm going.

Rick Clunn

No, you have to believe in luck to have superstitions.

Boyd Duckett

Red shoes. I've always worn red shoes and have gotten a lot of flak for it in the past, but now I think everyone is more accepting of them. I've made a conscious effort to make them part of my ensemble to keep my self confidence up. Superstitions are an artificial way of creating self confidence, and there are so many variables out there you may not be able to keep up with your superstitions. For example, some guys take it really far and have to launch their boat on the left side of the ramp, or have special cookies before an event, but what if you lose the cookies or can't launch your boat on the left side? Then what? Your tournament is toast. I've taken my superstitions and put them into one thing, the shoes. I've done this for two reasons First, at any time I can look down and they're there, and secondly, I don't have to worry about other things like putting in on the left side, I can always control my superstition. I usually keep about a dozen pairs with me in several places when I'm on the road, that way no one can steal them all.

Jami Fralick

I have a stinky shirt. If I do well in a tournament on Day 1, I won't change it the next day and so forth. If there's a funky smell around the weigh-in, it's probably my shirt.

Greg Hackney

I don't fish with a banana in the boat. I heard once that that was bad.

Davy Hite

My most famous one is my lucky underwear. I had a pair I was wearing when I won my first Angler of the Year title a certain pair I wore a lot. I eventually wore the elastic out of them, "rebuilt" them with more elastic, then when the second elastic wore out, I had a piece of them on me when I won my second title in 2002.

Alton Jones

I'm not superstitious. I love eating bananas before tournaments and tossing the peels around for fun.

Bobby Lane

I like to see a bird flying in the morning while we're listening to the national anthem. It can be any old bird. Hearing that song gets me fired up to go out and have a good day. I also like to think of my wife and kids before we head out. That always puts me in a good mood.

Roland Martin

Not really, but I used to kid with my partners in tournaments. I'd say what bad luck it is if you catch a fish on the first cast. This one time, I just kept pounding it into his head.

After an hour run down the lake, we get to a cove, and I pull out a white spinnerbait I had to beg from my wife because she'd been killing them with it, and sure enough, I get a 2-pounder on my first cast. I get it in, and start saying how I'm not going to catch another fish the rest of the tournament; then on my second cast I get another one.

Man, that guy must've thought I flew off the handle with the scene I was making. 'Oh, this is double bad luck! I'm done!' He just sat there wondering. Sure enough, in four minutes and 20 seconds, I had a 13-pound limit, all on consecutive casts. It was unbelievable. That old boy stood up and seemed kind of upset when he said, "Now wait a minute! I thought you said it was bad luck to catch a fish on the first cast?"

Kevin VanDam

It's not that I have any superstitions, because I don't, but we do have a lot of fun with the [chocolate chip] cookies (baked from a family recipe by his wife, Sherry). I'm good friends with Scott Rook and Davy Hite, and we stay together on the road sometimes. I'll share some cookies with them. Davy's got his lucky drawers, though.

Mike McClelland

I do have one, yes. I have Jeff Kriet to thank for it. We were rooming at a tournament, and I had a bad day one day and he asked me what color boxers I was wearing. They were red, and he said, 'Ah, there's your problem.' He swore up and down that was why I didn't do good. He believes in it 100 percent. So I don't wear boxers that have any red in them. I even had my wife quit buying red ones, or ones with any red at all.

Bryand Schmidt

No, not really although I may have a lucky coin now. My friend J.P. Greeson gave me a Ray Scott coin before the final day of the 2009 Classic. He said it was good luck for him, so I carried it on the water and had a really great day. When the Classic was over, I gave it back to J.P., but then he mailed it to me and told me to keep it. I might start carrying it on the last day of tournaments.

Peter T

Not really, but there is one thing I'll do before each day of each tournament. I think it's bad luck to catch a fish on the first cast, so I'll take my bait and throw it out somewhere into dead water or at least water I think is dead. It has backfired on me before. I just can't bring myself to throw out a 3-pounder, even if it is unlucky.

Dustin Wilks

I used to. A long time ago I had this old set of pliers that was rusted shut, and the whole time I had them, I won every tournament. This was at the local level, mind you. Then one day I finished second and threw them out. That was that.

[RoLo]

Of all the thousands-upon-thousands of lures in my arsensal,

I place all my confidence in ONE lure, the one on the end of my line.

Crazy, isn't it?

I have no fishing superstitions

Roger

[Busy]

If the cows are lying down, you won't catch any fish.

(edit:  I don't have any superstitions, fishing or otherwise, but this is my favorite one to repeat)

[DINK WHISPERER]

I really don't have any, just my "lucky" outfit though.

[kms399]

my brother and I have figured out a phrase that will make them bite. for me it is "this spot sucks this is my last cast." for my brother it is. "we haven't caught anything for a while." i swear for like 5 trips in a row. almost every time one of us would say it we would get bit.

I know it is bs but still funny.

[Dad_Golf_Fish]

Either my wife or my daughter is bad luck in my boat. I haven't figured out which one yet as I won't leave either of them behind. Spending the time with them is more important than some silly green fish.

Other times I leave them both home and go with someone else because I just love catching those silly green fish. And I always do when they're not with me.

[Muddy]

I only fish on days ending with a  Y

[crw]

I will only fish in water.

[RobE]

Not a superstition but a word of advise... Don't use a worm hook to pick corn-on-the-cob out of your teeth while traversing choppy water.

That sounds like an ancient Chinese Proverb, huh? LOL

You should find toothpicks in your tacklebox. Somewhere.

[DINK WHISPERER]

Either my wife or my daughter is bad luck in my boat. I haven't figured out which one yet as I won't leave either of them behind. Spending the time with them is more important than some silly green fish.

Other times I leave them both home and go with someone else because I just love catching those silly green fish. And I always do when they're not with me.

I figured this out very quickly....................it is my wife! Every time she goes i will catch nothing or just a couple of dinks!

[fishinfiend]

lucky hat

[bilgerat]

lucky hat

Me too. And I HATE wearing hats. Except when I fish, then I have to have my old Detroit Diesel ballcap. Can't catch fish without it :

[Sam]

Nope.  None.

Now, while watching LSU football I have a lot.  

[Fishing Rhino]

If the cows are lying down, you won't catch any fish.

(edit: I don't have any superstitions, fishing or otherwise, but this is my favorite one to repeat)

It's a superstition around here, and elsewhere I presume, that when you see cows lying down, it's going to rain.

I seem to do better on rainy days.  

That poses the question, if that is true, is the fishing  better because it is raining, or because there are fewer fishermen on the pond when it is raining?

[Sam]

When it rains, you know that the water gets stirred up and the bass will start to feed.  

Great way to fish if you don't mind getting wet.  

[Catt]

I wouldn't call it superstition but one island I fish at night has Bats on it and if they are fling the bass will be biting.

[Micro]

I usually wet my hat in the water where I fish.  

[cart7t]

None now though I used to only wear a red hat when fishing.  

[Fishing Rhino]

I wouldn't call it superstition but one island I fish at night has Bats on it and if they are fling the bass will be biting.

I'll hazard a guess as to why that is.  It seems simple to me that since bats eat insects, their presence indicates insects and possibly a hatch in process.  

No bats, they are foraging in greener pastures, meaning nothing of consequence, insect-wise, is happening on the water.

[Md]

No bananas in my boat!

[bigtimfish]

If the cows are lying down, you won't catch any fish.

(edit: I don't have any superstitions, fishing or otherwise, but this is my favorite one to repeat)

HOLY S*** that is the same one I have. I was told that a long time ago and still live by it today. HAHA ;D Oh almost forgot my lucky boonie hat. Everytime I catch a fish I wipe a dab of slime or blood from the fish on my hat.

[cabullwinkle]

None here.  Bass fishing is such a "condition reading" activity, don't think there is luck.  The only luck I think there is if there are a few fish around and that the bigger one gets to it first.

[Jeremy D.]

Dont have one yet but Im sure eventuly I will think something made me have a bad day on the water that I can blame it on! ;D

[vatech]

I have a meticulously organized tackle bag with boxes. One of the boxes holds a variety of solf plastics with about 2-3 of each model/color. I carry another shoulder bag that holds all of the zip lock baggies with the remaining plastics.  Instead of going to my organized plano tackle box, I haphazardly dig through my shoulder bag to retreive a plastic from a zip lock because I feel like they're somehow fresher/more oily/luckier.