Lucky hats and other superstitions

The first cast curse is high on my list. Not only on first cast of the day but also first cast after a change in fly or tactic. Getting a fish right after making a change makes me think I figured it out, only to be disappointed in the next 100 casts.

Being an old fart, I sometimes feel some of my angling friends who are no longer with us around when I fish one of their favorite spots.
 
My Stetson is my best fishing hat unless steady rain is forecasted (then my oldest baseball cap serves well).

It doesn’t provide luck, but the wide brim serves well in the sun and keeps tree danglers off my neck. Its symbolic for relaxation since I only wear it when fishing.

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Regarding the first cast curse, I usually expect to have a good day, numbers wise, if I catch one on the first cast, or first several casts. I remember one particular day on a Pocono wild brown stream, I caught one on the very first cast and that continued throughout the entire day. I lost track after my 45th trout.

Conversley, it's been my experience that if I don't at least get a strike in the first half hour of fishing, the day will go very slowly.
 
Dear Board,

For a long-time years ago, I was a heavy equipment salesman. You knew you were in with the customer when they gave you a company hat and a T-shirt or hoodie. For many years I wore an R L Perry Watkins Glen NY royal blue foam trucker's cap. It had gold lettering and a stenciled Cat D-8K on the crown. It was my pride and joy. I caught thousands of smallmouth, walleye, and trout with that on my melon. My other trout hat was a foam camouflage Flyfisher's Paradise hat, and it was successful too.

I currently wear these hats interchangeably. I just got the Blue Boomer hat in honor of our dog. It looks exactly like him. The Lingering hat is a gift from my SIL, and it refers to the restaurant/bar she owns in Bradenton FL, The Linger Lodge. The last one of Jerry was a gift from my wife about 10 years ago. It's gotten all hogged and sweated up more times than I can count, but it washes out perfectly with a little Dawn dish soap every time!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

Feeshin' Hats by Tim Murphy, on Flickr
 
My youngest son wears the ball cap that Grandpap gave him... "Women Want Me... Fish Fear Me."
His mother and grandmother can't stand it. 🙂
I usually wear one of the dull-colored or camo ball cap freebies from vendors' booths at work conventions or safety fairs. I can't remember the last time I bought one and I usually need to dig under car seats to find one.
 
RLeep2 said:
Now, how you hold your mouth when you fish is a different story. The best position for your mouth is slightly loose, ajar and open about 1.5", sort of like you just walked into a tree trunk and whacked your forehead enough to stun but not quite enough to concuss.

I've always found this produces more fish for me..
Click to expand...

That is exactly what my grandfather used to say— if we weren’t catching fish, he’d say “you’re not holding your mouth right.”
 
No superstitions or good luck pieces. I have one ball cap I wear when wading and a wide brim Tilley hat for the boat. The ball cap I need so I can use a hat magnifier. The Tilley is only to keep the sun off my head, face and neck. I don’t wear hats ever except when fishing or when out west and I’m taller than all the trees around me. I throw the ball caps away when they get dirty but I wash my Tilley rather often. I do have a bowl I’ve been eating my cereal out of since the 60’s. It’s not for good luck it just holds a lot of cereal.
 
I have a couple ball caps that I rotate. And one fluorescent orange one I wear when Fall hunting is in. My original fishing hat was an old Titleist ball cap that had grown too rough for the golf course. Still have it, but don’t really wear it anymore.

Don’t really have a lucky superstition or anything like that. Other than biting the head off the first (legal) Brookie I catch every outing. Sacrifice to the native Trout Gods.
 
I drank too much of a lot of stuff to the point of heaving if I smelled it, but with a lot of effort & concentration...

I got over it. 😉
 
Could a fishing lanyard do double duty as anal beads if someone doesn't have the real deal?

Yea, I get that the clips could be a b!+c#, but why spend extra money that you could use to buy lucky hats?
 
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