I always let my buddy get his rod down first on the downrigger, it would be tough to beat him to that anyways, patience and watching the fishfinder for a couple minutes first before lowering isn't a bad thing either.
I packed a couple of bananas in my lunch yesterday. I ate one as soon as we got out to our first spot and caught fish on and off all day.
I am not a believer in superstitions so it doesn't bother me at all. The other 2 guys in the boat mentioned the superstition which I already knew about but a few minutes later they weren't complaining.