Instead of catching fish, all that he fished out was an old boot.

他没有捉到鱼，捞到的是一只烂靴子。

youdao

Therefore, it was a common belief that an old boot was a good luck charm.

因此，过去人们通常认为旧靴子是一种幸运符。

youdao

For instance, if a fisherman caught himself an old boot instead of fish, it is believed that at the end of the day he would be able to catch and take home a huge amount of fish.

比如，如果一个渔夫钓上来的不是鱼而是一只旧靴子，人们就会认为，过完这一天的时候，这个渔夫将会捕获大量的鱼，满载而归。

youdao

The ship looked like it hadn't been refitted since the Flood, and it smelled like Noah's old boot.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Skybreaker'

Worm Trench, Louse Post, Bug Alley, Old Boot Street.

NEWYORKER: Trench Names

What's more, if you saw the first part of this upgrade diary, then you'll know I was aiming for a trickier-than-average setup, with Windows 8 Pro running on a brand new and untouched SSD, alongside Windows 7 Ultimate running in dual-boot mode on my old HDD.

ENGADGET: Windows 8 upgrade diary: a defiantly successful installation