If You're Superstitious, Don't Bring This Sweet Fruit While Fishing

Between their pleasing taste and myriad of health benefits, bananas are beloved by almost everyone. It may not come as a surprise, but according to the International Fresh Produce Association, this sweet fruit is the most popular one sold in the United States. That said, however, fishermen are a notable exception, as most anglers have an inherent disdain for bananas.

Fishermen are renowned for believing a long list of superstitions. At the very top of this list is the belief that bananas are bad luck. Interestingly, it is not uncommon to encounter fishermen who swear that the essence of bananas is more than enough to offset the benefits of the best time of day to fish and negate the effectiveness of even the best baits and lures.

While this may sound irrational to those who do not fish or anglers new to the sport, to those who believe, the curse of bananas on a boat or fishing excursion is very real. Even if they don't know exactly where the belief originates or why bananas bring bad luck, they know not to pack this yellow fruit while fishing. They are so sure of it, in fact, they often have banana curse merch, such as No Bananas on Board t-shirts and decals.

While there is a shared belief among most fishermen that bananas are bad luck, there is no singular explanation for why they believe this to be so. In fact, it is likely many fishermen don't know why they believe it themselves, other than the belief has been passed down through many generations. However, not knowing the story behind the supposed curse does not prevent them from believing the best way to easily catch more fish is to leave the bananas at home.

There is, of course, a reason why this superstition began. In fact, there are several reasons. One story originates from the Caribbean and states that boats transporting bananas in the days of old had to move fast to prevent the fruit from spoiling. However, this speed also made it impossible for anglers to fish. On the other side of the world, fishermen in the Pacific Ocean seem to believe the curse exists due to the number of wrecked ships and sunken boats which were transporting bananas. Another reason which crops up around the world is that spiders, snakes, and other hazardous creatures would often hide in bunches of bananas aboard boats.

There are also a few explanations given which are directly related to fish behavior, although more studies need to be done to test the validity of these claims. One of those is that the sweet scent of bananas is transferred from angler's hands to lures and baits, causing fish to turn away. The ethylene gas emitted by bananas, which would often cause sailors to become ill, is also considered a turn-off to fish.