Superstitions I have. How many if any do you have?
I never put a fly in my hat unless it has either been given to me by a friend or I have already caught a fish with it.
I never never wash my hat except for occasionally getting it wet when I fall in. Evil soap would scour out all the good luck mojo.
I name all my boats with seven letters. My current boat is named Sea Barf.
( Seven letters must be good luck , look what it did for the Titanic! )
While in the boat never open a can of milk, beans, etc with the label upside down. ( some fish boat captains on the west coast of BC will actually throw such a can overboard )
Never take bananas aboard a fishing boat. This superstition is based in fact. More than one charter company in Hawaii will not let you bring bananas aboard. Eg.
Never change a fly to put on another of the same kind just because it is beaten almost to death, if its catching fish it must be lucky. It will be my fly of choice for the next trip even if it appears to be falling apart.
I always troll clockwise around a lake. ( nothing to do with traffic patterns it is just luckier )
My wife always sings this little song prior to putting a line in the water.
fishy fishy bite
your father said you might
your mother there she doesn’t care
so fishy fishy bite.
I always bought a new pennant to fly from the stern of any boat I ever sold
so It would look good for its new owner and bring him luck.
During my resident stint in Southeast Alaska years ago, my salmon fishing partner would lean over the side of the boat rail, slam his face into the ice cold water and yell at the fish to bite before we set any lines.
On my first trip out with him, he searched my ice chest and threw my banana overboard. (I never brought one aboard again).
Clinch knots had to be tied with seven turnes only.
He would kiss the bow of the boat after returning from every trip.
Rain gear had to be old and used. No new rain gear allowed onboard.
He was a sad, strange little man…but we caught fish every on every trip.
Bats in the evening around you are good luck (their feeding on insects).
I wear a hat that is well over 20 years old if I’m fishing with a new fishing partner (it take a while to break in a new partner as it does a favorite hat).
Spitting into the wind will show where fish are (fish face the wind and feed this way).
Growing up with my fishing buddies, whoever got in the water first ALWAYS caught more fish.
Every time I think I have got a perfect fish on for a picture, I lose it. EVERY time.
Same thing goes for keeping em. If I say “This one is a keeper,” he is gone. ALWAYS.
If I let myself get too excited, I will always forget something. (not really a superstition, but always holds true)
If I have butterflies when I pull into the parking spot/lot I WILL catch a big fish.
If I wait for my wife to call to tell me it is time to come home, I will almost always lose the fly I’m fishing with. If I reel in before she calls, then I am safe.
WEIRD… :shock: I hadn’t really thought about some of these til now.
Strange, I thought I didn’t have any superstitions but when I think about it, I always spit in the mouth of a fish I’m going to release and tell him to bring his “brothers” to me.
This way I’m sure to catch his relatives later on.
I think my mother gave me this advice, still I can’t remember going fishing with her!!!???
The day before I go fishing I spend considerable time loudly proclaiming, “Well, looks like the weather tomorrow isn’t going to be too good, guess I’ll hang out at home and work inside”, to fool the weather gods.
