One of the most persistent superstitions among fishermen, and professional anglers in particular, is the belief that having bananas aboard a boat is extremely unlucky. Bananas have been blamed for boating accidents, breakdowns, illness, poor catches, and more.

So here it was, the time of year when my family and friends all get together and head down to the Florida Keys for lobster mini-season. When I say family and friends, I’m talking about fifteen adults and eleven kids all under the age of 10.

As a teenager growing up on the edge of the Panhandle, my only passion was fishing. While most kids in the neighborhood dreamed of shiny new bikes or sleek skateboards, my only desire was to land a monster shark. I wanted to catch a man-eating beast that would make Jaws look like a big fat sissy. For years all I could talk about was shark fishing. The thought of landing such a giant absolutely consumed my mind.

The time has finally come. Im going to buy a brand new boat. Now dont get the wrong idea, I know boats. I grew up with boats. I remember my parents taking me on vacation when I was about 8 yrs. old to the Florida Keys. Dad spots this 17 footer on the side of a building lying on the ground, full of water. He stopped to look at that wreck every day we were on vacation.

I cant believe I am doing this, dragging myself out of bed at like 4:00 AM on a Sunday morning to go fishing. All my buddies tell me its the thing to do, a great time, gotta try it, youre missing out, etc. etc. etc. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah I keep saying, but here I am, standing nude in the kitchen before the world is even awake, waiting on the damn coffee.

It was a flat calm Tuesday night as we headed offshore in search of the almighty swordfish. Recent reports indicated a solid bite of quality size fish in the 100 to 300 lb range with most hits occurring in 1200-1500 of water. We had all been planning this trip for quite some time and after numerous cancellations due to poor weather or having to work late, we finally hit it off.