Hi Y'all.

5 yrs ago my lovely wife gave me a guided trip down the Sol Duc with our venerated "you know who". I had never caught a steelhead & did'nt know squat. First thing Bob asks my buddy and I was "Did either of you bring any banana's??!! My partner promptly pulls out a whole bunch to the surprise of our guide. Needless to say we were pretty embarrased about that & after the explanation was given we thought our chances were greatly diminished that day. Well, not more than 60 seconds into our first drift, the middle rod does that dance (we were fishing plugs since we obviously didn't know a thing about drift fishin'). My very first Steelhead was a 12lb. hen with gnarled fin & nasty scar from the nets. Thanks be to the Bob!

Welcome

Welcome Another real life story of the curse of bananas ... especially when they interact with me

Never, ever, bring banana anything when fishing with me!

Glad to hear the steely bug bit ya enough to keep you coming back!

FF,
Way to go! You're off and running.

Bob,
I know what you mean. If I'm serious about catching fish, I not only leave the bananas at home, but I bring the wife. Took me years not just to catch my first steelhead but also to figure this out. Didn't take me long though after watching her catch steel each of the first few times she went out. All driftfishing too. She's awesome.

At the enormous risk of sounding incredibly naive, what bananas are you talking about?

Banana weights (mooching lead)?
Banana plugs (Kwikfish)?
Bananas (the fruit)?

What's the deal?

The fruit.

Don't know the real story, no one has ever satisfactorily explained the superstition to me. But as far back as I can remember no guide or dude with a boat wanted a banana on board cause it meant skunk for steel. I seemed to remember the General didn't even want one in the car if we were bankin' it. But it could have just been that he hated litter.

Doesn't seem right though; the banana being the "perfect" food an all. I mean a guy doesn't live on fish alone. Not if you're fishing for steelhead that is.

Yes! We have no BANANAS!

...or oranges, for that manner...

...apparently the scent from the rind is repulsive to salmonids. Do you want to substantiate it by not catching, or by catching? ...one superstition is as good as another...

WHEN WE GO FISHING FOR SALMON, WE RUB BANANAS ON OUR QWIKIES.

Bardo

Your bedroom stories do not interest us :p

Full Freezer, the warning at the Lewis Street ramp was in reference to a root wad/log that was in the middle of the river at the first left turn downstream. Unfortunately this hazard took the life of a youngster in a raft this past summer. The sheriff department removed a portion of the hazard but couldn't get all of it. Fortunately, I have heard that the remaining portion was lifted out two high water events ago so the corner should be safe now.

BTW with a handle like "Full Freezer" are you sure you're not from Sedro Wolley?

Beezer

Bob's 100% right!

Cowlitzfisherman

It's not just steel! In Puerto Vallarta our guides refused to let my B-I-L take a bunch aboard our panga. The results were positive.

Their just as serious about it down in Hawaii, one of the boats I was on had a bunch of news paper articles about bananas and fishing placed between the glass and wood on their table so every customer they had could see it.
waterboy

Guys, you're killiing me here. All this talk of Hawaii and panga fishing in Mexico is conflicting me. I'm just trying to stay focused. It's been tough enough catching steelhead this year, I don't need to be dreaming of warm sea breezes, white sand beaches, gorgeous sunsets and reel burning/arm wrenching runs of a mad yellowtail or a screaming bill-fish while I'm knocking the ice outta my guides and off my moustache.

Some guys have all the fun.

Thanks for the welcome guys!

I believe I know the reason why banana's are a no no when it comes to fishing. I have heard it's the potassium that the wonderful fruit is packed with. It seems they do not like it & turns em' off right quick as they can smell in the parts per billion!

I,ve been going to Zihuatanejo, Mex. every Jan.since 1998. We always catch a lot of fish,sails (sometimes it almost gets boring) dorado, wahoo,yellow fin, roosterfish, bonito, but no MARLIN!
The weather (84 degrees) the scenery, the blue water, the boat, the skipper, the people, are all fantastic.
I'm goin back till I catch a MARLIN.
I've taken banannas on every trip and one time had to send the bait-boy to the market cause they were out of them on the pier. If I'm lucky I won't catch one this year either.
Hope they don't run out of bannanas.

herm

Here's what I learned about bananas this summer when I took a deep sea fishing trip out of Hawaii.The legend is that a village chief had a bunch of his prized bananas stolen by some young warriors. So to punish them he had the witch doctor (medicine man - whatever they call them out there) put a curse on the warriors so that they would not catch any fish. Which they didn't. So in Hawaii, that is why they never allow bananas on the fishing boats. Sounds like this legend/story is working it's way around the world...