NC Angler Forums banner

Bananas on board

6786 Views 47 Replies 28 Participants Last post by  sundrop
I see the references to "no bananas aboard your boat" if you plan on catching anything. What is the origin of this curse/superstition?

Just curious!
1 - 20 of 48 Posts
I do not know all or exact details but it is very obtainable through google. Here is the down and dirty, cliff notes version. Bananas spoil, early settlers/Mariners got sick because of spoiled bananas and they have been said to be bad luck ever since.
Bad joojoo that's for sure. A banana can wreck any fishing adventure. I once touched a banana in the same day I went fishing and was worried.
  • Like
Reactions: 3
I ate a banana the day I got my king on the pier. I think the superstition doesn't apply to the planks
  • Like
Reactions: 3
  • Like
Reactions: 2
Thanks Dave. The spiders and methane gas are the ones I've read in the past and was thinking of.
I can see how both would be unlucky!
Let a captain leave a marlin flag flying overnight. He'll find it spread out and nailed to the dock behind his boat. Bad luck for the fleet.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
There will be no bananas no banana named products like "banana boat sunscreen", no pictures of bananas and preferable no banana yellow anyhthing around me when I am fishing period, land boat or otherwise. I love going out of the headboat Continental Shelf and watching Capt Dave toss peoples snacks overboard if they are bananas or banana flavored (yep even moon pies) before we leave the docks !! Font Badge Crest Rectangle Symbol
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Here are some more interesting superstitions. http://caribbean-pirates.com/nautical_superstitions.php
Yeah...just like apricots on Amtracs. Amtracer's hated when the grunts brought apricots on their tracks in Vietnam because whenever it happened that track would eventually hit a mine or have some other disaster befall them and they always blamed it on the apricots. Us grunts would buy whole cases of them and would hide them all over the track in every nook and granny when we got in one...and then stand back and watch the trackers go ballistic!!!
  • Like
Reactions: 2
To be honest, I had never heard of this superstition till a couple years ago. Before then I regularly took bannanas fishing with me and can't recall my fishing being any worse. Of course, being a fisherman, when I learned of it I stopped taking bannanas. We are a bunch of superstitious creatures aren't we. :)
  • Like
Reactions: 1
I hadn't heard of this until last weekend. I was fishing the Hardcore Kayak tournament on Mountain Island Lake. It was my first kayaking trip and I sauntered up to the pre-fish briefing eating a banana as breakfast. Everyone freaked. I'm not superstitious so I blew it off: I had another banana in my snack bag. Sure enough, my morning was spent retrieving stuck lures, fixing backlash, etc. I got out to pee at one point and getting back in to the boat managed to flip the whole thing and lost a pair of forceps and soaked all my stuff. I quickly ditched the banana. After that it was smooth sailing and I went on to place in the money. No more banana's for me!
  • Like
Reactions: 3
I first heard of it on an inshore trolling charter out of Carolina beach back in the early 90s, we had them on board and didnt catch squat.

A few years back I fished a club tournament on Jordan lake when it was still a 16" size limit. My partner loaded his stuff in the boat and I asked if he had bananas, he said yes and I asked him to get them out of my boat. He did but it was too late. Ran to the first spot and threw back a bunch of 15 7/8" fish, never did get a keeper. Winners caught there fish in the same area.

Went on Capt Stacy in october, on the way out we sat on the top deck behind the wheelhouse. One of the mates came up the steps, spotted a banana peel in the trash and quickly tossed it overboard without missing a beat.
You guys are BANANAS...

A lot of years ago, while getting ready to fish my very first all-niter tourney as a non-boater. I stopped by a local deli and picked up some sandwiches and drinks for my boater and I. On the counter were some bananas, picked them up and tossed them in the bag. Went to the lake with everything including ice, thinking I was being a thoughtful guy. While the boater was getting his stuff ready...I split things up between the rear compartment and the cooler. Off we went into the night.

About three hours into it, my boater asks if I could hand him a drink, I hand him one and grab a banana for myself. Being polite I ask him if he wanted one. Well you would think I slept his sister the way he carried on. Cursing, screaming, calling me all sorts of names. He stated he was going to throw them overboard.

I laughed and said, you can call me all the names you want...but touch my bananas and you're going into the drink to get them.
(my dynamic personality prevailed again)

Sad to say, he would not speak to me the rest of the night.

In the end, he finished 3rd and I finished 1st on the non-boater side.

After that experience, I respected the boaters that did not want bananas on board...but thought it foolish.

I frequently eat bananas as a snack while on the water...and I have 3 - 8lbers 2 - 7 plus lbers and a bunch of 5-6's this year. If I figure a way to make trebles stick to a BANANA...I would use one for bait. :)

As the saying goes, to each his own.

Either way, good fish'n boyz!!!
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 5
I'm with JoeyB. I brought bananas and sunscreen on a chartered trip out of south Hatteras a few years ago. Boat captain was not thrilled about it and this is when I first learned of the superstition. We caught our limit of speckled trout that day in July. I'd say we had a good day. Bananas or no bananas ... doesn't matter to me.
  • Like
Reactions: 4
Bananas on boats

Had an old man that we chartered a deep sea fishing trip with bring a fifth of Jack on the boat. He said it was for keeping snakes off the boat, lol. It must have worked, for we saw no snakes at all!..lol
  • Like
Reactions: 5
I been eating bannanas sandwiches while fishing for 25 years, not a problem in my boat. Just ask anyone who fishes with me, and we catch plenty of fish.
I did an article on just this topic...asked several pros what they would never have in their boats...all but one said bananas. The one that didn't was Jay Yelas. He has one banana on his boat every time he goes out...to eat at 10:30 for his mid morning snack!
1 - 20 of 48 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top