Why Are Bananas Bad Luck on Boats?
Spend enough time around serious anglers, guides, charter captains, or commercial fishermen and you will eventually hear one rule delivered with complete confidence:
No bananas on the boat.
I 100% follow this rule on my boat!
Not in the cooler. Not hidden in your lunch bag. Depending on the captain, banana bread, banana-flavored snacks, and clothing covered in banana prints may also be prohibited.
They tried to bring one but I found it!
Does a banana actually control the weather, break an engine, or stop fish from biting? Of course not. But this superstition has been passed down for generations, and there are several reasonable theories about how it began.
The Honest Answer: Nobody Knows Exactly How It Started
There is no single historical record proving where the banana superstition originated. Most explanations come from maritime folklore, and some are more believable than others.
What we do know is that bananas became an important cargo carried from tropical regions to North America and Europe. Because bananas ripen quickly, the ships carrying them had to move fast. Over time, sailors and fishermen began connecting bananas with spoiled food, unwanted pests, dangerous voyages, and poor fishing.
That was more than enough to ruin the banana’s reputation.
Bananas Could Spoil Other Food
One of the most believable explanations involves ethylene.
Bananas naturally produce ethylene, a colorless and odorless plant hormone that promotes ripening. In an enclosed storage area, it can cause certain nearby fruits and vegetables to ripen and deteriorate more quickly. The USDA still recommends separating ethylene-producing fruit from ethylene-sensitive produce during storage. USDA produce-storage guidance
On an old ship without modern refrigeration, losing part of the food supply during a long voyage was a serious problem. Sailors may not have understood the science, but they could see that food stored near ripening bananas did not always last as long.
To them, the cargo probably looked cursed.
Banana Cargo Could Carry Unwanted Passengers
Large bunches of bananas transported from tropical growing areas could also provide hiding places for insects, spiders, snakes, and other creatures.
Finding a spider in your lunch is unpleasant. Discovering one in a crowded wooden ship days from land is another matter entirely.
There is no strong evidence that pests alone created the superstition, but they likely helped reinforce the idea that bananas brought trouble aboard.
Banana Ships Had to Travel Fast
Before modern refrigerated shipping, bananas had to reach port before they became overripe and worthless. Ships carrying them were under pressure to maintain speed.
One popular theory says that crew members sometimes fished during long voyages, but the fast-moving banana ships were not good fishing platforms. When nobody caught anything aboard a ship loaded with bananas, the fruit became an easy target.
It is a believable explanation, but it remains a theory rather than proven history.
Shipwreck Stories Added to the Legend
Another familiar story claims that floating bananas were sometimes discovered near the wreckage of lost cargo ships. That supposedly caused sailors to associate bananas with missing vessels and lost crew members.
Bananas and their packing materials can float, so the story sounds possible. However, there is little reliable historical evidence showing that banana ships disappeared more frequently or that floating fruit directly created the superstition.
It makes a good dockside story, but we should not confuse a good story with established fact.
Do Bananas Really Ruin the Fishing?
There is no scientific evidence that having a banana aboard will stop fish from biting. Claims that banana scent or ethylene repels fish are also unsupported.
A banana cannot change the weather, damage your motor, tangle your line, or make you miss a hookset. Anglers manage all of those things perfectly well on their own.
Fishing is built around unpredictable conditions. When success depends on the weather, water, fish, equipment, and a little luck, people remember strange coincidences. If someone brings a banana and the fishing is terrible, everybody remembers the banana. If the boat catches fish all day, nobody mentions what was packed for lunch.
That is how a superstition survives.
Why Captains Still Ban Bananas
For many captains, the rule is less about believing in supernatural fruit and more about respecting tradition.
The New Zealand Maritime Museum includes the banana ban among the old superstitions that developed around sailing and fishing. When people worked in dangerous and unpredictable conditions, rituals gave them at least a small sense of order and control. New Zealand Maritime Museum
Plenty of fishing boats still enforce the rule today. Some captains laugh about it. Others will inspect your lunch before letting you aboard.
Either way, it is their boat.
Accidentally Brought a Banana?
First, remove the banana.
Second, apologize to the captain.
Third, you may need Reverse the Curse from Wrapped in Water. It cannot repair an engine, settle the weather, or guarantee that you will catch fish—but it might restore peace on the boat and give everyone something else to blame.
We created it for anglers who understand that superstition is basically science once enough fishermen agree on it.
Should You Bring a Banana on a Fishing Boat?
You can, but you probably should not.
Not because a banana will sink the boat, but because showing up with one may irritate the captain before you ever leave the dock. If someone invites you aboard, respect the rules and leave the banana at home.
Bring an apple, a sandwich, or a protein bar. There are plenty of ways to ruin a fishing trip without arriving with the one fruit anglers have been blaming for centuries.
Bananas may not actually be bad luck—but are you really willing to test that theory on the fishing trip you have waited all year to take?