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#1 Sep-07-09 1:39AM
- Carl
- Northern Snakehead
- Registered: May-24-08
- Posts: 133
9-6-09 Weem's Creek, Annapolis
After hearing about the success Ernie and I had on Saturday, Mo was able to get a "pass" to go fishing yesterday. We launched in Spa Creek at 5:30 am, on calm water, one hour before high tide. As we motored down the creek, it was once again, a trip through a dream land. Such affluence is hard to imagine. Hundred foot yachts moored in front of mansions!
Since Ernie and I had questioned how long it takes to get from Spa Creek to Weems Creek, we timed it. Obeying the 6 mph, it took nineteen minutes. Once in the creek, Mo said that we should try a grassy spot where he had previously caught his first pickerel.
We did; and he removed the skunk by catching two quality white perch. We left and went to another "honey hole." By now the tide was reaching crest and things were not happening. As I stared at the banana Mo had resting on the dashboard, I could not help but wonder. Is there something to this superstition? I had not gotten a bump yet!
As we did some more exploring, we found ourselves at the "Tiki Bar." This is an old shack made to look like an island tiki bar. There is a weathered sign displayed over the bar that reads "Free Beer Tomorrow." Sounds great---wait a minute, that won't work!
Now the fishing began to pick up. We caught quality fish in the nine to eleven inch class. I caught a thirteen inch fish as Ernie phoned us to see how we were doing. He nixed my plan to have it mounted. Mo already has a thirteen and one half incher mounted. I must set a higher goal; but I'm not sure I'm capable of landing it on UL. They are fighters!
By mid-day we were ready to quit. The final count, of keepers, was fifty-five. We released about thirty marginal and small fish. It is now the next day. I'm ready to go back!
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#2 Sep-07-09 9:55AM
- Ernie
- Administrator
- From: Ashburn VA
- Registered: Feb-03-06
- Posts: 15630
Re: 9-6-09 Weem's Creek, Annapolis
The Evils of the Banana (From Failed Success, Purveyors of Useless Knowledge)
Bananas are a mainstay of most cultures and are the world’s most popular fruit. However, these deliciously yellow treats have no place at sea. Since the 1700’s, it has been widely believed that having a banana on board was an omen of disaster.
In the early 1700’s, during the height of the Spanish’s South Atlantic and Caribbean trading empire, it was observed that nearly every ship that disappeared at sea and did not make its destination was carrying a cargo of bananas. This gave rise to the belief that hauling bananas was a dangerous prospect. There are other documented origins to this superstition as well.
Another explanation for the banana superstition is that the fastest sailing ships used to carry bananas from the tropics to U.S. ports along the East Coast to land the bananas before they could spoil,” Chahoc said. “The banana boats were so fast that fishermen never caught anything while trolling for fish from them, and that’s where the superstition got started.
Another theory is that bananas carried aboard slave ships fermented and gave off methane gas, which would be trapped below deck. Anyone in the hold, including cargoes of imprisoned humanity, would succumb to the poisoned air, and anyone trying to climb down into the hold to help them would fall prey to the dangerous gas.
And finally, one of the better known dangers of bananas at sea, is that a species of spider with a lethal bite likes to hide in bunches of bananas. Crewmen suddenly dying of spider bites after bananas are brought aboard certainly would be considered a bad omen resulting in the cargo being tossed into the sea.
Any of these scenarios could be the reason behind fishermen’s mistrust of the yellow fruit, possibly all of them. Whatever the case may be, it is best that you don’t attempt to bring any bananas on board your next seafaring excursion, just to be safe.
Time to go fishin' again!
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