[Citori]

I went with my boys and a couple friends out to Ilwaco looking for Salmon yesterday. No hits, no runs no errors 1 unclipped 12 lb. chinook left on base.

It was a good day, but no fish. Not only that, we didn't even see fish being caught. Maybe 2 fish for 500+ boats.

I have this "lucky fishing hat", a Corona promo hat I picked up in Mexico before an unplanned bonefish day. Up until yesterday, it was 100% - caught fish every time I wore it.

True enough, we were trolling bait and blades, not fly fishing. But, still the had didn't come through.

Then, when we got back on the dock and were unloading the boats, the two friends produced bananas that had been on the boat all day.

So here's the question(s) - for those of you who are a slight bit superstitious. Did my hat run out of juice? Or is it just a lucky fly fishing hat? Or, did the bad banana juju trump the good hat juju? Bottom line, do I have to retire the hat and start the quest for a new lucky fishing hat, or do I continue to wear this hat on my next outing?

Oh, yeah, there's gonna be folks dog me and ridicule me - bring it on. I am only looking for what the other irrational owners of lucky ___________ (fill in the blank with your own lucky fishing icon) have to say. This is serious stuff.

 

[Alex MacDonald]

Only one way to answer that, Citori: hit the stream again with flies. If you get skunked this next time, welllll.... Toss the hatbawling:

 

[Paul Norton]

I don't actually believe in lucky hats.

Having said that, I wonder what it was you think bestowed luck on the hat in the first place? Was it the fortunate, unplanned bonefish day? Then perhaps whatever the bananas did to your hat needs to be cleansed via some pilgrimage, or ritual. Maybe washing it in the Hoh with a congregation of WFF onlookers? Or perhaps it needs to return to it's natal waters as it isn't by nature a cold water hat.

Or, perhaps, the hat was lucky before you purchased it, and you've been spending that luck ever since, first a big spend on a bonefish day, and more or less until it's luck account is dry. If that's the case, then yes, you should retire it, let it serve as the house-painting, tree-pruning, chore accomplishing hat, that many lucky hats retire too.

Or, maybe, it wasn't a lucky "you get to catch fish" hat, but a lucky, "you get to go fishing" hat. After all, any day you're lucky enough to go fishing, you're lucky enough.

 

[Tim Lockhart]

C - You're looking at it all wrong. There's only one true criteria for a lucky fishing hat: The one your wife hates and wants you to lose in the worst way. When that hat emerges you've struck gold...cherish it and never allow her access to it, or that will be the last day you see it.

 

[Gone]

For crying out loud, Citori - don't be such a quitter. A lucky hat isn't going to have a 100% track record, so don't be a fair weather fan. Do you root for your favorite team only when they're winning, and eat your young when they disappoint? Stick with the hat- wear it with pride and remember the good times you two have seen together and forget about the occasional let down. You're a better man than that. The hat deserves all that you have to give. I've blogged on this very topic, including bananas. I don't recommend a yellow hat, but I don't buy into the banana thing.

 

[Salmo_g]

I eat bananas while wearing my lucky fishing hat, so I doubt the bananas had anything to do with it. Itchy's right, lucky fishing hats don't bat 1000. Cut it some slack for another trip or two before deciding to replace it. If you've had it a while, and it isn't greasy or dirty enough yet, that could cause its luck to be running low. I think it's important to not let a lucky fishing hat stay too clean for too long.

Sg

 

[jcnewbie]

I always wear a “banana-yellow” hat decorated with images of bananas and always carry 2 or 3 three with me for snacks – plus the one or two already in my stomach/guts from breakfast and always limit-out, usually within the first 15 minutes or so fishin’………:rofl:

Now, taking peanuts into the pits at a NASCAR event would likely be a fatal mistake and not just a simple political faux pas like bananas in the boat or on the river…..!!


Jc:beer1:

 

[FlyFishingOn]

I never wear a hat. I keep getting told by my friends and girlfriend that I should be wearing a hat when I'm fishing. Maybe I should start!

Ian

 

[Citori]

THAT's what I was looking for. Good job gents, hat saved, bad juju gone.

Thanks!

 

[Old Man]

The only reason I wear a hat is to keep the sun out of my eyes and off my head. I eat bananas before fishing so my stupid hands don't get cramps in them. Being on in years a lot of shit happens that bananas clear up. So there.

 

[Gary Thompson]

It was the bananas, they didn't get eaten, ya gotta eat the bananas.
I've had the same problem with uneaten bananas.
Don't give up on the hat, if it feels good wear it.

 

[Jim F.]

I'm still trying to get over the loss of my lucky sweatshirt that my former bride tossed 12-years ago . . .

 

[Ernie Adams]

Like a cast iron frying pan, the hat must be re-seasoned. You gotta get lucky wearing the hat. It's the only option. Go on now and git R' done.

Go Sox,
cds

 

[KerryS]

My lucky fishing hat was given to me by the owner of the now closed Skagit Anglers fly shop when it was open. As things would have it years later fishing with the former owner of the fly shop the hat flew off my head and promptly sunk in the Skagit River. Damn. Again several years later I was fishing the Grand Ronde River with the same guy and he gives me another Skagit Anglers fly shop hat. He said he found it in his basement with a bunch of leftover stuff from the old shop. I take care of it now. It is my lucky hat. I am not sure but I don't think you can have a luckier hat then one that is from a closed fly shop, lost in a river, then another found and given to you from the owner of the same close fly shop some 10 years later.

 

[Buck]

It seems that about every third or forth time I go to the fly shop a nice truckers hat catches my eye, i just like em. But, that's not my favorite hat, mine is this stupid hat I bought at urban outfitters about 15 years ago...i think when they first opened. It's a hat that says Jakes' bait and tackle, Portland state park... something like that. Anyway, it was crisp and new and now looks like shit and has dirt imbedded in it but I love it.
Of course I took it on my Billings...I mean Missoula trip...:hmmm: (that was a little embarrassing), but that hat came through, and that's what's important.

 

[937]

I have a "lucky" hat. It's right under that red outfit.

 

[KerryS]

I have a "lucky" hat. It's right under that red outfit.

I'd wonder how you get any fishing done with a hat like that!

 

[Mark Walker]

What is that? An asshat?:rofl:

(jes' joshin' ya PT)

 

[Buck]

I wanna hit that hat!

 

[937]

I have a "lucky" hat. It's right under that red outfit.

She actually enjoys playing with my fly. 'nuff said, she's fairly well known.