Give up your secrets
 

No; I'm not talking about your favorite spot, your favorite lure, or how you work your jig to provoke a strike. I'm talking about your "go to" food or drink that makes fish strike when the going is slow.
For years, I have always carried "Mountain Dew" with me to sacrifice to the fishing gods. Many a fisherman has heard me say "guess I have to break out the Mountain Dew" in order to serve as a catalyst.
Now there are two ways to make the "Dew" work. Most of the time, I just need to crack the top and drink it with my sandwich. Usually; midway through my lunch, a rod goes down and I have to sit my sandwich (or peanut butter crackers) down to reel in a fish. BUT; if no strikes come from drinking the Dew; you have to pour the last of it over the side and actually feed the gods it's golden nectur.
The Mountain Dew thing is a personal ritual between you and the fish; after all you don't "pass the Dew around" to your other fishing buddies. But this year, as several of my fishing friends will attest, we have found a "community" food to share among all the parties on the boat.
What could this wonder food be? It's strawberry lickerish:D. No kidding, we would open up a bag, pass it around for all to take a couple pieces, and settle in on some fine fishing.
I know I'm taking a big chance here. Everyone wants to protect our fishery, and here I am telling you how to "harass" more of our stock. But what the hell, I figure most of you will forget about me parting this knowledge by the time spring rolls around.
At the last PSG meeting, Capt. George said he had two outside tables still available. I wonder if I leased a table and filled it with Mountain Dew and lickerish, how much money would I make selling those items?

What makes it on your boat, and why? 5th (Marty)

My staple are pretzel rods... However another CBAngler got me hooked on fried chicken.

While I love eating raw oysters. I am not sure Skips oyster donut sandwich will ever take off for me :eek:

Everyone on board MUST have a quarter in their pocket when we leave the dock.......if it's slow catching we recite the top secret fishing chant and flip the quarters over....a donation to the Fish Gods.....never fails if done properly!

Any angler on board who catches their first rockfish or their personal best rockfish....MUST kiss the fish to appease the Fish Gods....it's bad fishing mojo if they don't.

NO BANANAS !!!!!!!

If it is slow, I turn the radio on. If that doesn't do it, I put in a cd of Korn, Godsmack, or something of that sort. Always seems to work.

Gotta crank up some Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. If fish can hear the noise in yer boat, they like that noise....always works.

Friend chicken used to be the ticket...but a combination of diets, laziness, and a lack of chicken places that were trailer friendly put that to a temporary halt.

Now, it's usually wawa pepperoni and cheese - make sure to rub the grease on the lure. Beef Jerky works too.

But for me, and that person I fish with the most (Morsax) it's also about don'ts:
- No bananas
- No sun-in in your hair (it's a long story)

The thing that really works for those on the boat with me is usually when I start bitching and whining about something stupid I did (birdsnest, hook in finger, heat stroke, whatever). Almost no fail, we start catching fish.

I also have the most disgusting lucky fishing hat that has never been washed, and I had a no-skunk streak going for like 3 years that ended this past fall.

After every fish I catch, I must give both audible and inaudible thanks to the fishing gods, or I SWEAR I won't catch another fish all day.

Garlien has been with me; he knows. :rolleyes:

As to my "go to" food or drink either to change my luck or to celebrate, it's usually Sangria.

I have to have my Gator Aid with me or it’s a total lost. I also kiss some fish before sending them free but not all of them just the big uns. If the fishing is real slow I ask the Big Guy upstairs to help us out and most of the time he does come thru. I will have to say that one guy that fishes with me (Uncle Phill) brings a banana with him and so far it has not matter…. :eek:

OK, I'm going to share a story about Morsax - last year, we fished a boat who's captain we knew relatively well. The mate however, was new and didn't know Hans or I. Hans reeled in a nice rock and it spit up a big half digested alewife. The mate says, "you gotta finish eating that or it's bad luck", thinking his kidding would get some response from us, like an uneasy "ya right". Hans picks up the alewife and takes an emphatic bite without even blinking an eye. I thought the mate was gonna die from either being grossed out or thinking he talked a "normal" person into eating a half digested alewife. It was classic.

One ofour secrets on the boat is pepper fish. I usually practice pepper fish in the spring season. I have two jars of home grown peppers I grew in the garden and do they pack a punch. One jalapeño and one Habanero. If you catch a fish less than 40” you must sample from the jalapeño jar for the fish to be recognized by the crew. If the fish breaks the 40 Mark the game is stepped up a notch and must sample from Habanero jar. I have never seen more people pray for small fish :D . This practice was a big hit last year and seem to help us catch more fish.