Bananas in the Boat

Fishing is a fickle sport.  One can master all of the techniques, use all of the right equipment, spend hours on the water, and yet the outcome can only be probable; never assured.  The unpredictability and variance tends to breed superstitions and semi-compulsive behaviors.  Fishermen share these traits with baseball players who never step on a foul line or aviators who follow a strict preflight regimen.  Most fishermen accept the idiosyncrasies as a part of the passion we share.  Only when these unwritten, often unspoken rules are violated is the ire of an angler revealed. One of many of these superstitions is the belief that fishermen should NEVER bring bananas on a boat.  There are many legends as to why, including one involving banana boats and poisonous spiders, but it doesn't really matter. This Captain is humble enough to know not to challenge the rule.

Superstition, Karma, or the Fishing Gods were tested Sunday Aug 27 when Captain DiPaola was joined by Clare Edmonston and her son Jonathan for an afternoon in pursuit of rockfish.  We left the dock on the back end of an outgoing tide on a sunny afternoon with light winds.  Though there weren't any birds diving on bait, the lowrance was pretty active.

We chunked and jigged off of Hacketts Point near the Bay Bridge.  Thirty frustrating minutes later with a couple of bites and two lost fish, we decided to slowly cruise toward Thomas Point Lighthouse.  The hope was to mark larger groups of fish on the trek south.  Again we came up empty.  Feeling the pressure to produce for Clare and Jonathan, we headed back north to the Bay Bridge pilings where there are usually some nice fish.

(This dead sea turtle was an omen for the day)

Soon after setting the anchor and positioning between two sets of pilings that have been lucrative in the past, we noticed the encouraging tap, tap, tap of the rods.  The baitrunner reels were set to run and despite our best efforts, we lost three successive fish including one that got away due to a broken line.  Our next two hookups were to cow nosed rays.  After giving Jonathan a chance to fight his first ray, I cut the braided line.

It was at this point that Clare offered Jonathan a banana muffin and I could tell that as she uttered the words she knew from past fishing experience that she had committed a fishing venial sin.  Without hesitation, Jonathan dumped the muffins overboard.  Our sacrifice to the Fishing God's accepted, not more than 5 minutes later, Jonathan landed a schoolie striper.  The first striper of the day.  With the sun getting low on the horizon, it was time to head back with an empty cooler and superstitions validated!

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing