I just completed a 2 day run on the FLW Tour fishing Lake Norman.  There were a lot of fish caught this week and unfortunately my 10 pounds only allowed me 105th place.  After day 2 of the tournament I had to chuckle about a funny thing that happened. We all know about the superstitious nature of anglers, and most have heard that bananas are bad luck on a boat.  But does anyone really know why?

One acccount of the historical nature of the bad luck bananas comes from http://www.azinet.com/captjim/bananas.htm 

"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."

Day 2 of the tournament I woke at 430 to meet my Pro, and grabbed my usual small cup of coffee and banana for the drive to the ramp.  I piled my goodies into his boat and we took off.  My lunch bag was tossed into the rear compartment and my tackle bag was left out for easy access.  About lunch time I sat down to dig through my lunch sack for a sandwich.  As I opened the sack I caught a glimpse of a large yellow object...which WAS NOT supposed to be in the boat.  I glanced at my Pro and he was still fishing contently off the front bow. He never noticed the look of fear on my face.  I had caught  keepers and was only looking for number 5 and a kicker, while my Pro only had 1 in the livewell.  Since it hadn't brought me bad luck, I decided ot leave it in the boat until I had my limit.  Of course, my superstition superseded my boater's! About an hour later I got that last bite and yanker her over the side.  Once in the livewell, I had a dilmna.  I didn't want my boater to see the banana, but I didn't want to throw it over either.  We entered a small fishing cove and I noticed the current was swirling debris back out to the main lake.  SPLOOSH! Problem solved...I watched that stupid thing for 10 minutes to be sure it didn't float back toward the boat.  Thank goodness the trolling motor carried us around and my nightmare was over.  I never caught that kicker fish....guess I should've kept it a little longer!

Lesson Learned: Dont' Go Bananas!