There is a superstition among saltwater fishermen that bananas are bad luck. Many take it so seriously that instructions are given to crew, and fellow anglers not to eat bananas the day before the fishing trip as you’ll still possibly have them in your system. Banana Boat sunscreen is even frowned upon. Not sure where the history of this superstition originated, there’s lots of stories, but it’s taken very seriously
In 2011 I was publishing a number of local magazines and books, including a local fishing tabloid called “Coastal Angler Magazine”. I always liked to fish, but can’t say that I was ever much good at it. In fact my wife used to laugh, and tell me, “For the publisher of a fishing magazine, you sure are a terrible fisherman”. Thanks Hon.
Publishing the magazine though, put me smack dab in the middle of a fairly robust fishing scene from Flagler Beach and St. Augustine, Jacksonville and Fernandina Beach, Florida. I made a lot of contacts during those years of fishing in, and covering local tournaments, that would become lifelong friends. Mitchell Rhodes, VP of GATE Petroleum, former Coral Reefer Vaughn Cochran, Salt Life and C&H Lures owner Don Combs, Captains Kirk Walz, Robert Johnson, and TV personality Tommy Derringer to name a few.
Well, It came to pass that the Northeast Florida Marlin Association founded a marlin fishing tournament in memory of a beloved, yet deceased member of the club named Jimmy Vaughan. The tournament was called the Jimmy Vaughan Memorial Corporate Challenge. The tournament was unique in that it was open to the public and local businesses in general, who would “sponsor” a Marlin Club member’s boat and take their employees, clients or other business associates offshore for a day of Marlin fishing off St. Augustine.
While publishing the magazine we were of course trying to ingratiate ourselves with local fishing organizations like the Northeast Florida Marlin Association (NEFMA), so it was only natural that we sponsor a boat and enter the tournament.
We entered and sponsored a beautiful 2005 Davis Express 45, that belonged to a local angler by the name of Jimmy Glenos. Jimmy is a local orthodontist and one of those aforementioned guys that became a good friend of mine following this particular episode.
I put together a group of four buddies to fish as the “Coastal Angler Magazine” team. A couple locals and a couple old friends from my home-state of Arkansas made up our group. I had hats and shorts made up with our logo. We looked like real pros.
About two days ahead of the tournament, my wife approached me about Pete. Ellen was my wife’s good friend and she had just started dating this guy whom had recently moved to Florida and had gotten word about the tournament. Now, I hadn’t met Pete at this time, and I really wanted to keep my team amongst friends that I knew. But, I couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to please the ladies, so, Peter Petropolis joined our team.
There are basically two types of “deep sea fishing”. There is bottom fishing, which involves bouncing bait or lures off the ocean floor. Bottom fishing will catch you snapper, grouper, trigger fish and various other species. Then there is trolling. Trolling involves dragging lures through the water at various speeds and depths for mahi mahi, wahoo, marlin, sailfish and others.
It is my understanding that marlin fishing, like sailfishing, is a specialized form of trolling. In northeast florida marlin fishing will take an angler to the gulf stream and beyond. We traveled eighty miles offshore the day of our trip.
There was a time when I fished offshore often. Notably with Captain Robert Johnson aboard his boats, Jodie Lynn and Jodie Lynn II. When you fish with Robert, you come back with fish…typically a boatload of fish, a limit for everyone on board. So, in a way I was expecting to bring home some fish to eat that day, regardless of our luck in the tournament. Later that evening at the dock we saw most boats came back with a wahoo or some black tuna. Captains in the tournament allowed the guys to catch some eaters for their trouble.
Captain Glenos on the other hand, was marlin fishing.
Trolling is a romantic way of fishing. One envisions the sleek hulls and outriggers cutting through the gulf stream with leaping sailfish astern. Truth is, trolling is fun when the fish are biting. When they’re not, trolling can get quite boring. Imagine motoring around for six hours in big seas, smelling diesel fumes and no action. That describes our day of the tournament.
We got one big marlin on the line that day, and it was pandemonium, only to have him break off right behind the boat. We were the ONLY boat to arrive back at the marina that evening completely empty-handed.
I recall about 3 pm the mate informing us all that unfortunately, it was time to have “lines out of the water”, as it would take us at least three hours to get back to shore. I recall him saying, “Damn, what a tough day guys. I’d swear someone brought bananas with them today!
Upon hearing this, Pete Petropolis jumped up and said, “I’ve got bananas! A whole bunch…you guys want one?”
It’s a miracle really that Pete made it back to shore.