Lucky Hats

My first lucky fishing hat!

I believe in luck.  There it is.  I’m now on the record for saying that I believe in luck.  Half of you probably just quit reading this post, which means I can call you jerks and you won’t ever be the wiser.  Jerks!  The other half of you probably gave your computer screen a stink eye and muttered under your voice, “Well doy.”  I get it and I can’t be mad at you because you’re still reading.  Thank you and you are NOT jerks.

I need to clarify my stance on luck however.  I don’t believe that a black cat crossing your path guarantees a bad day.  I’ve walked under ladders and lived to tell the tale.  I broke a mirror once and avoided certain death although I did date a girl for way too long during that time.  Alright, so maybe a little bad luck exists.  While I don’t adhere strictly to my belief in bad luck, I do believe in good luck.  I don’t necessarily think that hanging a horseshoe above your door keeps vacuum salesmen away, but I think it can improve your outlook on things when you look at it.  After all, believing in good luck is simply an attitude adjustment.  Thinking you are lucky is a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts.  I think that if we surround ourselves with positive things, then it can affect our outlook on certain situations.   That’s why I have a lucky fishing hat.

The reigning champion.

No, I don’t believe that my hat guarantees I will catch a wall hanger every time I hit the water.  I’ve been skunked before in my lucky hat, but that doesn’t mean it has run out of luck.  It just means that the forces of evil on that particular day were more powerful than the magic that the hat possesses.  But seriously, there is a feeling that I get when I put on my lucky hat.  It makes me feel good and evokes a feeling of hope.  You should have that feeling every time you hit the water, but my hat is like having a fishing buddy.  It says to me, “Hey bud, let’s go catch some fish today.”  I do a lot of fishing alone, so maybe my hat is some sort of metaphorical companion.  I am lucky enough to have a few pictures of me holding some beautiful fish and most of the pictures have one of three hats on my head.  I am fortunate enough to have had three lucky fishing hats in my life and they all hold a special place in my heart.  I know it sounds strange that a hat can mean so much, but there are people that name their cars (the General Lee, Kit, Bumblebee, Christine, etc.) so it’s not all that strange.  I even know people that name their tablets for Pete’s sake.

While I love my lucky hats, it is important to note that you don’t pick the hat but the hat picks you.  You’ll know that you have found a lucky hat when you look back at some fishing pictures and see that you are wearing the same hat in many of the pictures.  You might even realize it when you are unloading your truck at the end of a fishing trip and toss your cap in the passenger’s seat.  For me at least, there is not a big epiphany when I have found a lucky hat.  It just kind of works its way in there. 

While you cannot pick your lucky hat, you can do some things to tip the scales in your favor.  First of all, I like to avoid mesh back hats in general.  I usually have short hair and don’t need my lucky hat accounting for early stages of skin cancer.  I also avoid hats that are trendy.  This is just a good rule in general I have found.  Think about how you would look today if your lucky hat said Von Dutch on it or had some goofy looking Ed Hardy inspired snake wearing a top hat.

NOT a lucky fishing hat!  Also, I DO NOT OWN THIS HAT!

Stick to what you know and what has staying power.  A hat of your favorite baseball team is a great place to start.  If you can get some extra mileage out of your hat by wearing on the water and at the ball game, well then that just might increase the lid’s juju.  Just make sure you account for the smell factor.  The ladies don’t like stinky hats.  You might also try a hat from a fly shop or tackle store.  Now I’m not talking about something from Bass Pro or Cabela’s.  If you get too corporate, then the luck might depend on how the stock is doing for said company.  Gas station hats are wildcards.  While I have seen some hideous hats hanging in gas stations, I have also purchased a few that still have staying power.  My hunter orange hat that has a large 01 on the front is still one of my favorite hunting hats because I loves me some Dukes of Hazard and it affords me one of my two pieces of orange required by the state of Missouri during rifle season for deer.  Finally, don’t be afraid to give a bunch of different hats an extended try out.  I have had plenty of hats that I thought had potential but petered out at the end and are now yard work hats.

The gold standard!  This was my second lucky fishing hat.

The bottom line is, I can’t tell you how to acquire a lucky hat because there is not a set of rules that nature has laid forth for this sort of thing.  All you can do is take a hat that fits you well, hit the water as much as possible with it, and see what happens.  I wish you all the luck in the world that you find one if you don’t have one.  And if you have one already, then you hold on to that sucker for as long as you can because they are few and far between.