Are Bananas Bad Luck on a Boat? Or a Bunch of Fishing Nonsense?

Perhaps the most plausible explanation, and the most popular theory, is from a time when early wooden cargo ships transported bananas from the tropics to foreign destinations. Inevitably, poisonous spiders and possibly even snakes inadvertently stowed away in the banana bunches, later biting unsuspecting crew members. That's a fair reason for not wanting bananas aboard your boat!

Another problem with bananas is they give off ethylene gas as they decay. Think about how fast a banana goes from ripe to overripe to, as Dr. Seuss said: a greasy black peel. The ethylene gas causes a few problems aboard a boat. First off, the gas causes the cell walls of other fruits to break down and ripen prematurely as well. So you may think you've got provisions for a lengthy sea voyage, and all of a sudden, all of your fruit spoils. And without fruit, sailors get scurvy. And sailors don't want scurvy.

In addition, if you throw a few hundred pounds of bananas in a cargo hold, close the door and forget about them, the fruit spoils and starts to ferment. When fruit ferments, it produces alcohol. This may be all well and good if you're planning to have a daiquiri, but old-time sailors didn't realize the alcohol being produced in the cargo hold could ignite, causing the boat to explode! Which, ultimately, left behind nothing but a bunch of bananas (which float). No sailor wanted to ever come across a slick of bananas at sea.

Why This Myth Doesn’t Belong on a Modern Fishing Boat

So while lacking any actual evidence, these all sound like plausible and perfectly legitimate reasons for sailors not wanting bananas aboard a boat. However, even if they’re 100-percent true, none of these problems are realistic on a modern fishing boat.

Focus on Proven Fishing Techniques

Giving up on the idea that a banana in your boat has any impact on how fish behave will not instantly get you more bites, but shifting your focus and mindset absolutely can. When you stop wasting your time trying to eliminate bad luck and start focusing on proven fishing strategies and techniques—like reading the water, understanding how current conditions affect fish behavior, sharpening your mechanical skills, etc.—you give yourself a real chance at success. And each success leads to improved confidence that will take you way farther than any superstition.

Are Bananas Bad Luck on a Boat?

Sometimes even the most experienced, successful anglers have days when the fish have other plans, which makes it all a bit mysterious and unexplainable. But as humans, our brains are happier when we have answers, even if they don’t make any logical sense. So myths and old wives' tales, especially if we’ve heard them again and again over time, can fill in the spaces as "real" answers we accept as fact. But other than providing a little comfort, they’re probably not very helpful. The truth is, if you’re not catching fish, it’s not because of a piece of fruit.

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