What's up with the Banana thing

[kickingfrog]

The favourite fishing snack thread brought this up. I've heard it, don't get it though. Why do some anglers consider bananas bad luck?

[irishfield]

Gotta blame something on the no fish days....

 

I think Dawg made Maureen walk back to the dock at Lakair 2 years ago...

[kickingfrog]

Gotta blame something on the no fish days....

 

I think Dawg made Maureen walk back to the dock at Lakair 2 years ago...

 

 

I just go to the source. It is always the fishes fault. I've never been in the wrong spot at the wrong time with the wrong presentation. Yep, it's always the fishes fault.

[Pinch]

There are longer explanations but here is a short one.... http://www.seagonefishing.com/bananas.htm

[pikehunter]

do some anglers consider bananas bad luck?

 

...so that explains a lot of things. Guess I had better leave the bananas at home next time.

[misfish]

LOL

I remember my first pro/am I attended. First thing I was asked "you got any bananas in that lunch of yours".

 

Good thing I didnt it. Was a great day out with Simon "Ice Man" Frost.

Never did I have a banana in my boat after that.LOL

[Landlocked]

Just researched this myself and found a few cool outlooks:

 

 

1. "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’tunderstand, that’s superstition”."

 

2. This is the closest to the origanal I could find.

 

 

In the early 1700’s, during the height of the Spanish’s South Atlantic and Caribbean trading empire, it was observed that nearly every ship that disappeared at sea and did not make its destination was carrying a cargo of bananas. This gave rise to the belief that hauling bananas was a dangerous prospect. There are other documented origins to this superstition as well.

 

Another explanation for the banana superstition is that the fastest sailing ships used to carry bananas from the tropics to U.S. ports along the East Coast to land the bananas before they could spoil,” Chahoc said. “The banana boats were so fast that fishermen never caught anything while trolling for fish from them, and that’s where the superstition got started.

[pikehunter]

“The banana boats were so fast that fishermen never caught anything while trolling for fish from them,

 

So if bring lots of bananas along my boat will go faster! Yippee!

[Greencoachdog]

Gotta blame something on the no fish days....

 

I think Dawg made Maureen walk back to the dock at Lakair 2 years ago...

 

 

Didn't make her walk... but man I could have throttled her there for a second!!!

 

... but we can laugh about it now, eh Mo?

[Clampet]

Yes, we have no bananas!

[irishfield]

.. bananas in Scrampton PA !

[Lungelarry]

I heard guides in Florida will cut off the Fruit of the Loom tag on your underwear......

[kickingfrog]

We're as bad as baseball players.

[JohnF]

.. bananas in Scrampton PA !

 

You mean Harry Chapin's song?

 

http://www.harrychapin.com/music/30000lbs.shtml

 

JF

[irishfield]

Yes John.. last time I sang it we were coming down the 8% grade out of Yellowstone NPark in the motorhome...and the brake pedal had gone to the floor !

[JohnF]

Yes John.. last time I sang it we were coming down the 8% grade out of Yellowstone NPark in the motorhome...and the brake pedal had gone to the floor !

 

I had a very graphic lesson in brake fade coming into the gate at the bottom of Whiteface Mountain in my Safari van. That was in the pre-disc brake days. If I'd known that song then I'm sure it would have been front and centre in my mind too.

 

JF

[Clampet]

You mean Harry Chapin's song?

 

http://www.harrychapin.com/music/30000lbs.shtmlJF

 

"..And he sideswiped nineteen neat parked cars,

clipped off thirteen telephone poles,

hit two houses, bruised eight trees,

and Blue-Crossed seven people.

it was then he lost his head,

not to mention an arm or two before he stopped.

And he slid for four hundred yards

along the hill that leads into Scranton, Pennsylvania.

All those thirty thousand pounds of bananas."

[sonny]

NO BANANAS ALLOWED ON MY BOAT!!!

 

Always has been and always will be!!

[Mike01]

I think it is more of a saltwater thing...you don't hear about it much up here. I don't believe in it, I have caught fish with bannanas on the boat.

[tjsa]

I don't know about this also, heard about it on the board, but have many, many, times taken bananas with me out fishing, and the success rate has not altered.

 

What I do know though, is when we were out trolling for salmon on Lake Superior, the gulls would follow us, and when we tossed the peel overboard they would swoop down instantly, but, would not eat it.

[Tarzan's Jane]

Landlocked...that was an interesting read.

[Casey123]

I justed banned Banana's from my house...can never be to safe with these things....

 

So anyhting up with oranges?

[Bernie]

Hah. Funny as hell. Never heard of this before reading this thread. Not being superstitious myself. Had many a banana on board for lunches over the years. I would respect others wishes but I like bananas so they are OK on my boat.