No No No No No….

You may think that this hot weather and the lousy fishing is driving me bananas, but I just thought I needed to share this. There are many things you don’t do when you go fishing, but at the top of the list is:

Never bring a banana in the boat.

No No No No No.

There are many theories on why people believe bananas are bad luck for a boat. One superstition is that boats carrying bananas don’t catch fish. The origin of this belief dates back to the Caribbean trade of the 1700s. The wooden sailing boats of that time had to move quickly to deliver bananas before they spoiled, and fishermen had a hard time trolling for fish on such fast-moving boats, which is apparently how the superstition came about. I don’t know anybody that sailed or fished on one of those boats, so I don’t know for sure. Another superstition that originated during that time is that bananas will cause a boat to sink. This belief developed after many boats never made it to their destinations, and all of the doomed boats were carrying bananas.

Of course, this has carried over into all kinds of boating, especially when fishing is involved. It isn’t just plain bananas that drives fishermen bananas. It is rumored that a popular bass fisherman once took his pocket knife and cut off the label of his “Fruit of the Loom” underwear when he realized he had accidentally worn them fishing. Another freaked out when he realized that his fishing partner had been eating a bag of plantain chips during the day. Neither of them caught a fish, by the way.

You even need to be careful what sunscreen you wear. There is a popular sunscreen label (Banana Boat) that has been banned from many a boat. And for goodness sake, don’t eat banana nut bread muffins for breakfast before you fish.

And one more useful tip. When fishing, you better not even sing (or hum) the old song, ” Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas today” else you have no fish today….or worse.