You ever have something that you just know is lucky? A lucky hat, maybe, or a lucky coin you always keep in your pocket? If so, you’re in good company. Well, I can’t speak for many other people, but at least you have me. I’ve got a lucky rod and reel.

I’ve had this particular rod and reel for a little bit, and it’s never failed me. And by failed, I don’t actually mean that I’ve caught a fish every time I’ve used them. If they were THAT good, I’d call it my miracle gear. I mean that ifI do hook something—more times than not, I’m able to bring whatever’s on the end of the line—the line doesn’t break, the fish doesn’t escape, etc. But that’s only part of what makes it so lucky. I mean, I could say that I’ve had some good lures, or some lucky fishing holes, or maybe even just some really good line. It could all just be a coincidence. But you haven’t heard the whole story on why they’re lucky just yet!

I like to get back to my homeland once a year to visit with friends. On one of these visits, a dear friend of mine and I had planned on taking a fishing trip. I ordered some new gear (the lucky rod and reel) and had it shipped to a store near where we’d be going. It was set to arrive two days before. Only it didn’t arrive. The guy at the store thought that perhaps my order went to a different store, but he didn’t know which one. I thought about buying something they had in-store, but I figured I would wait one more day. The next day, of course, I headed to the store first thing and talk to the same guy. He said that the situation was totally the same. I asked him to check in the back anyway. He went back there and sure enough, my stuff was there. Nobody had scanned it in as received or something. The salesguy said he thought maybe one of the receiving guys saw it and thought it was nice, then put it aside so that he could take it home one day when the night manager wasn’t on duty. That was a little disturbing, and I made a mental note not to have anything shipped to that store anymore, but I was happy to have my stuff.

Next day was the big fishing trip, and I caught the biggest trout I’ve ever hooked. If you don’t count Caribbean fishing, because the species there tend to be larger in general, it is the biggest fish I’d ever caught. But that’s not where the luck comes from, either. Of course I wanted to bring the gear back home with me to Anguilla, and I worked with the airline on how best to transport and pack it. Of course I did exactly as they told me, and of course they lost the bag. Once again, though, it took less than a day for it to return to me. So twice somebody tried to lose this thing on me and twice it came back! I call that rather lucky, wouldn’t you?