"NO BANANAS" FISHING CHARTERS
WITH CAPTAIN RANDY GILLMAN
561-452-8766
This is copied from another website, very interesting though.

While spending time in Hawaii fishing I spoke with some "native" Hawaiians who
clued me in to the origins of Bananas and bad luck. Back before fiberglass and
powered boats the Hawaiian men would go out in dugout canoes and fish for weeks
at a time. They would always take Bananas. Well it happens that the Bananas
would rot about the same time they would get to far out to really catch any fish. So
they associated bananas as bad luck. I learned this the hard way when I took banana
boat sun screen out fishing. We were not catching anything and I was baking in the
hot sun. I was putting the sunscreen on when the 1st mate saw it was banana boat.
He immediately grabbed it from my hands and threw it overboard. Not 5 min later
we hooked into a 950# marlin. So I am a true believer in the banana superstition and
will not allow anything to do with bananas on my boat at any time. I look forward to
possibly fishing with you this year.

Thanks
Jim Coppage
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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 pointed out so
eloquently: "When you believe in things you can't understand, that's superstition".
This was a funny story I ran across while surfing the web.  I pilfered it from this
site:  http://www.striper-csba.com/story6.htm

THE CASE AGAINST BANANAS
Bringing a banana aboard a fishing boat won't win you any friends among anglers-
but it might score you a wedgie.

This article was taken from 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 too 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.
In Florida, charter boat crews have extended the prohibition beyond bananas and
related food products to include objects that merely have the word banana on it,
such as Banana Boat sunscreen, or items from Banana Republic, During fishing
tournaments, anti-banana feelings run high. Not leaving any stone unturned, each
person on board is quizzed as to what brand of underwear they are wearing. Should
some clueless individual mention they are wearing Fruit of the Loom, a rather
unpleasant operation is performed on them. First, they are seized by a couple of
stout deckhands and given a punitive "wedgie" to prepare the surgical field. A razor-
sharp filet knife is then used to excise the label, which curiously doesn't even have a
banana on it. Experts recommend not struggling during this procedure, particularly if
after a hard night of carousing the underwear is on backwards.
Some bold individuals spit in the eye of this superstition such as the Banana Lure
Co., which features trolling lures that look like half a Chiquita. Attempts to inquire
about how business is going have gone unanswered…..

Could Eric Whul have been right about the banana superstition??????
Randy Gillman is a USCG Licensed Captain and is insured through Conova Marine Insurance