# Another short report.



## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

Well, we planned on taking the guys from work on a snapper trip this year. But Cookie got sick this week and things got haywired. But with some crafty changes to the schedule and a little help, we managed to get them out on the boat Thursday. 
We got out and managed some live bait and a box of cigar minnows (cause I left mine at the house:blink and headed out nice and early to the trolling corridor about 7-8 miles out. I was confident we would do well based on our previous experiences there a few weeks ago. In as much as I was determined to only keep fish 24" or larger. 
We caught a lot of small snapper.... But I finally managed to boat a "24 fish before we ran completely out of bait.








Now, your take on this superstition, I found out one of my crew, my employee, brought a banana on my boat! I was floored! You brought a banana.... on my boat! :001_huh: no wonder we were (mostly) skunked!

What do you think? Do you believe the whole banana superstition?

Anyway, I gave him the fish, because it was his first offshore trip. But I told him, don't ever bring a banana onto my boat again!

Anyway, I hope everyone caught their limit of snapper this federal snapper season. I guess if Cookie is going to catch any, we'll have to renew our Florida license.
Tight lines and God bless everyone
Mike


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Nice fish Mike

I do not believe the banana curse. I bring them on board all of the time. If you believe in something, sometimes it will come true


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

Chris V said:


> Nice fish Mike
> 
> I do not believe the banana curse. I bring them on board all of the time. If you believe in something, sometimes it will come true


I never really thought about it, knew about it- but it didn't bother me. I just never had a banana on my boat. I did have a charter captain in the keys tell us "don't bring no bananas". 
And at first, I was lighthearted about it. And really, I still am. But he is my employee, and now I have something to pick on him about. And in the future, _just to be sure_, we won't have any more bananas on the boat. :thumbsup: I might even design an anti-banana bumper sticker for the occasion!


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## johnboatjosh (May 19, 2008)

I've always heard the banana thing but never gave it much thought. A while back I fished with some folks who I met through a mutual friend. The guy's wife walked down the dock with, not one, but THREE bananas that morning. We wound up running out of room in the fish box before the day was over. I decided that the banana thing wasn't all it's cracked up to be!


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## Tobiwan (Apr 27, 2012)

We don't allow bananas on our boat but as for me personally I think it's a bogus myth.

It all started back in the day when ships were transporting fruits and veggies from South America or long distances and bananas will make all the other cargo spoil faster. 

So that is where the myth supposedly originated. I don't buy it.


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

Ok, here is one version of the banana thing. Bringing a banana aboard a fishing boat won't win you any friends among anglers-but it might score you a wedgie. :whistling: This article was taken from a Boating World Magazine


> The mere mention of a banana muffin on board was enough to send legendary south Florida fishing guide "Bouncer" Smith scrambling toward the cooler that held the offending item. With his face flushed and a vein bulging from his forehead, he hurled the hapless muffin overboard, much to the objection of its rightful owner. Was this the act of an isolated bananaphobe? Well you can forget about black cats crossing your path or broken mirrors, because to many fishermen around the world, there is nothing unluckier than a banana on board a boat.
> Having been cultivated in the Indus Valley as far back as 2000 B.C. , the banana's nickname is "the fruit of the wise" Somewhat ironic when you consider that it is technically classified as an herb (although clearly a member of the "hand-fruit" genus) and is a favorite food of monkeys, whose major leisure activities include hurling bodily waste products and offending sexually uptight visitors at the zoo.
> The origin of this superstition is uncertain, but many believe that it began in olden times, when bananas were transported by rickety, overcrowded, top-heavy boats plying the tropics (now known as cruise ships). These boats would frequently sink, leaving behind a residue of floating yellow commas, thus leading witnesses to deduce that hauling bananas was unlucky. A more scientific explanation is that since bananas give off ethylene gas when they ripen, it causes other perishable foodstuffs to spoil more quickly. This expended-gas theory could be why it's also considered unlucky to have a politician on board. Yet another theory suggests that crates of bananas would also contain unwanted pests, such as spiders, snakes, flies, mice and Beanie Babies.
> Although the banana superstition is worldwide, nowhere is it taken more seriously than in Hawaii. Some believe the Aloha State's anti-banana sentiment has its roots in legend when the god Pele (apparently before his soccer career) brought his brother to the islands to be the deity in charge of sport fishing. Rumor has it that he was deficient in, how shall we say, the male hydraulics department, giving him a severe case of banana envy. A clue to how Hawaiians feel about the subject can be found on the Kona Fishing Charter website. Although fairly ambiguously written, it states "Absolutely positively, no ifs, ands ,or buts, do not bring bananas on board". Let's just say if questioned by a Large Samoan deckhand folding a filet knife, it might be better NOT to reveal the fact that you had a Bananas Foster for breakfast.
> ...


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## IrishBlessing (May 13, 2012)

Good catch! Taking some out of towners on Poseidon's Prize tomorrow. I have already thought about adding no bananas to my dockside brief before we leave the dock. 
Irish


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

I know this was an old report- but had to renew it with this word from a popular fishing host.... just because we were talking about the banana thing.






Some guys are really superstitious about those bananas!! :001_huh:


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Man, blue jeans out there.....whoaaaaaa I'm sweating to death just looking at the pic! Hahaha the banana curse!!! Did anyone do some whistling too:whistling:


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

Jason said:


> Man, blue jeans out there.....whoaaaaaa I'm sweating to death just looking at the pic! Hahaha the banana curse!!! Did anyone do some whistling too:whistling:


Don't knock it! Those are my "lucky" fishing jeans... Lol


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Wife and kids always bring them aboard. Didn't know about the issue until my Hawaiian buddy told me. I think it's bull crap! lol


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

*Banana's and bad luck origin*

One author of sport fishing books in Hawaii - Jim Rizzuto - researched the 'Banana Curse'. I have some of his books and the research is detailed pretty extensively.
After digging around he could not find any written reference to Banana's and bad luck Prior to a book written in the early 1950's about the pioneering days of Hawaiian sport fishing. 

The book was a mixture of fact, fiction, and tall fishing tales.. in the book there was a story about 1920's exploratory fishing trip made by a few Americans, and they brought along a Polynesian fisherman guide who told them that his people believed bananas were bad luck. Note that no mention of bananas and back luck was found dating to the 1920’s, rather a book written in the 1950’s states the myth as a quote by a fictional charter from 1920’s. 

Mr Rizzuto could find no earlier reference .. Nothing in any reports or written history or description on papers about Hawaiian or other Polynesian fishing or cultures. 
After the book with the tall tales was published, the myth began popping up in articles and stories about fishing in Hawaii, and was picked up by the Hawaiian charter boat captains, crews and their customers. 
The origin proposed by Mr Rizutto explains why the myth first took root in Hawaii - and the spread was largely credited to the spread of Hawaiian sport fishermen who developed a lot of the modern bill fishing methods (the boats - lures - etc..) 

Origin theories about spiders, top heavy banana boat loading, and Polynesian gods all seem to be made up to support a myth started by a tall tail. If any of these were true, it likely would have been written about before this 1950’s book. 

With Modern research maybe some can find a reference, generated prior to 1950, that backs up another origin.
Note that an article penned today about spiders and deities back then is not proof, but more speculation. Googling and repeating modern speculation is not proof. If someone can find a reference written about bananas and back luck fishing prior to 1950, please come forth !


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## TeaSea (Sep 28, 2013)

all superstitions are hooey EXCEPT for me having to wear my lucky T-shirt when the Sooners are playing


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

TeaSea said:


> all superstitions are hooey EXCEPT for me having to wear my lucky T-shirt when the Sooners are playing


I believe any of the superstitions either, nothing to them.... but I will not take a banana on board.

(its fun to rip into a newby that brings one ... in good fun  throw it over then put them on fish! )


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## CARMA (Mar 17, 2015)

I made a guest bait his hook with a banana he brought on board. He caught a remora!


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## olegator (Dec 6, 2014)

Wifey and I were fishing on the 'Destiny' several weeks ago. Not one red snapper caught, boat struck by lightening. Two folks had bananas! No bananas on my boat......ever!


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