if scents are a big deal why isn't there a clear consenus among fishermen as to which scent is the best. anise vs shad, coffee vs craw?? you would think the fish would tell you. maybe they just prefer slippery stuff.
Anise is a staple for salmon and trout fisherman. I prefer garlic for bass. Its a pungent smell but for some reason it smells good to fish. As stratos mentioned Smelly Jelly is good stuff and so is Spike it and JJ Magic dipping sauce. Pretty much anything that your afraid to spill on your hands because they will smell for a day is the stuff you want to use.
this debates been going on for eons. I think "real" food for fish most certainly have a scent and in fact also give of pheromones.
Some say scent also masks the smell of humans or any other offensive odor. It also adds to the visual appeal of the bait as well. Anise oil shines up plastic baits nicely and gives them that oily look.
Open up a bag of chiggar craws and take a sniff. Bass love them and I dont think it has anything to do with there look or design.
I think its safe to say scents dont hurt your chances of catching a fish. I use it sparingly as well, but like Rich said, when you pull up to that spot that looks like it could be holding a monster, I usually apply some scent.
Some say scent also masks the smell of humans or any other offensive odor. It also adds to the visual appeal of the bait as well. Anise oil shines up plastic baits nicely and gives them that oily look.
Open up a bag of chiggar craws and take a sniff. Bass love them and I dont think it has anything to do with there look or design.
I think its safe to say scents dont hurt your chances of catching a fish. I use it sparingly as well, but like Rich said, when you pull up to that spot that looks like it could be holding a monster, I usually apply some scent.
I soaked a number of senkos in a bag of crushed garlic two years ago for several months to experiment if there was a difference of scented or unscented as far as number of hits went.
In my totally unscientific and kinda screwed up experiment and hit tally I could not see any difference....except in the way my hands smelled.
In my totally unscientific and kinda screwed up experiment and hit tally I could not see any difference....except in the way my hands smelled.
I got garlic gulp spray. And spike it.
Last November I caught a 2lbser on a spike it chartreuse. On the black zoom chunk.
I'm thinking of getting bio edge. Frog and shiner.
I wana put some frog scent in my hollow bodied frogs. It will leave scent trail in the water.
I've used he bio edge in saltwater. And it smells horrible!!!!!!!!!
Last November I caught a 2lbser on a spike it chartreuse. On the black zoom chunk.
I'm thinking of getting bio edge. Frog and shiner.
I wana put some frog scent in my hollow bodied frogs. It will leave scent trail in the water.
I've used he bio edge in saltwater. And it smells horrible!!!!!!!!!
not sure if they work to catch fish but they do a decent job as bug spray.
We were getting skunked on birch pond one day around dusk. My friend tells me he is putting on bug spray, a few minutes later he hands me a bottle and tells me to try it, then casts. I don't look at the bottle and start spraying it on. He turns around and cracks up, he forgot to mention it was earthworm scent, not the bug spray he had used. He still chuckles when he pulls it out of his bag.
We were getting skunked on birch pond one day around dusk. My friend tells me he is putting on bug spray, a few minutes later he hands me a bottle and tells me to try it, then casts. I don't look at the bottle and start spraying it on. He turns around and cracks up, he forgot to mention it was earthworm scent, not the bug spray he had used. He still chuckles when he pulls it out of his bag.
not sure if they work to catch fish but they do a decent job as bug spray.
We were getting skunked on birch pond one day around dusk. My friend tells me he is putting on bug spray, a few minutes later he hands me a bottle and tells me to try it, then casts. I don't look at the bottle and start spraying it on. He turns around and cracks up, he forgot to mention it was earthworm scent, not the bug spray he had used. He still chuckles when he pulls it out of his bag.
I have to try this on an unsuspecting fishing partner sometime!!!
i do believe some scents have an effect on fish. ive used the berkley gulp smelt with the "300x" scent and i've caught more fish with those opposed to the ones with no scent. so i think it has some sort of an effect on the way fish react to that bait. Im not saying its a sure fire way to catch more fish but i think it works.
as said before i use them to mask my own "scent"
i have very aggressive hand sweat that even ate up once an coated aluminium gear shift - well was a race car so maybe thats why i sweated like a pig -
but fish for sure can smell your hand stinki especially if you fiddeled with the gasline, marlboro or your fat doobie
i also noted that when i bait my carp setup with a glove they seem to bite better
but as i said to get the boat going i touch the gasline and engine
i have very aggressive hand sweat that even ate up once an coated aluminium gear shift - well was a race car so maybe thats why i sweated like a pig -
but fish for sure can smell your hand stinki especially if you fiddeled with the gasline, marlboro or your fat doobie
i also noted that when i bait my carp setup with a glove they seem to bite better
but as i said to get the boat going i touch the gasline and engine
So I did a little experiment yesterday. Identical setups: rods, reels, line, lures, etc except I used Berkley Trout Dip on one and nothing on the other. Caught 1 salmon and 2 trout on the dipped lure; nothing on the other. I kept rigs on same side on boat but the way I trolled it could have been a factor. Not conclusive but will keep this experiment going this Spring...