Shore Fishing Using Scents, R U Superstitious?

[bigbill]

First R U superstitious?

I prepare to go bass fishing by;

Getting dressed the same way.

Washing my hands with BIG Orange. I remove my natural oils by using a citrus cleaner.

Now using scents from shore. On my first cast I load up my topwater popper with bass scent. I make the farthest cast from shore that I can. Now I get in the zone.

1. Topwater baits..........bass scent

2. Crankbaits..............crawfish scents

3. Plastics (unscented)....worm & crawler scent

4. Senko (salted)..no scents on first cast. If I get a strike and I miss it. I put a shot of scent on the next cast for a 100% hookup on the next cast. I use the eagle weedless hooks on my C-Rig with my senko wacky rigged. When the weedless hook guard comes up open I'm positive I had a strike. If I had a strike and it's closed I bumped something. A shot of bass scent.

5. Creature baits a shot of bass scent.

When do you switch scent flavors?

The garlic bass scent is my relief pitcher. It's my backup. It pays off to have a bass scent that's a knockout punch and the garlic scent is it.

On a slow day caught consider switching to garlic too.

Slow day.

Change lure colors and sizes.

Switch scents.

Change presentations.

Use longer pauses.

Go with firetiger.

I'm no expert. I fish mainly from shore.

[Scott F]

I am not at all superstitious and I NEVER use scents. I don't care if it could double my catch, I don't want all of my gear and boat smelling like dead creatures. 

[Joe Schmuckatelli]

lol

[Getfit74]

Not superstitious but I almost always use scent, may not really matter but it's just more of a confidence thing for me. Scent of choice Garlic Megastrike.

[Missourifishin]

I'm not very superstitious. And I don't use  scents much. I only use it on soft plastics. I'm not even 100% sure what scent it is... crawfish I think.

[Jay Ell Gee]

I have become a big fan of mega strike. I don't believe I have tried the garlic, just the original. You don't miss many fish when you rub on that paste.

[CJV]

I am not at all superstitious and I NEVER use scents. I don't care if it could double my catch, I don't want all of my gear and boat smelling like dead creatures.

X2 I'm with you on this one!

[Cryoglobin]

I use it sometimes, when I remember or if things are especially slow.  But, it is definitely not one of those things where I do not feel confident if I don't use scent.  I use Bang spray, a couple of different flavors.  Its all I will use because it comes out of a spray can.  I don't like the drippy messy crap that gets everywhere.  The spray bottle is pretty contained.

[SirSnookalot]

I am not at all superstitious and I NEVER use scents. I don't care if it could double my catch, I don't want all of my gear and boat smelling like dead creatures. 

I agree with the above.

 

More important to me is that I feel I'm cheating myself, it does reduce the challenge a bit.  Of all the various fish I target I have the least problem catching bass.

[Lund Explorer]

I don't have a superstitious bone in my body but. I ALWAYS use scent if I'm fishing. 

 

100% DEET!

[nascar2428]

No superstitions here. Megastrike( Original and Crawfish ) on all plastics. The scented ones just get a little dab.  

[ColdSVT]

I don't have a superstitious bone in my body but. I ALWAYS use scent if I'm fishing.

100% DEET!

Deet and sunscreen for me! Lol

[roadwarrior]

Hard lures or soft plastics, they ALL get treated with MegaStrike.

 

 

 

 

[.ghoti.]

Megastrike on all plastics and jigs. I don't use it on moving baits.

[Darren.]

Not superstitious here. I sometimes use scents, and I've changed over time. I'll go through periods when I use them a lot, and times when I don't at all.

 

I catch fish regardless. I've got MegaStrike on some of my plastics, I've got a spray bottle of Bang in the kayak, and I've got JJ's Magic bottles. I cannot prove one way or the other whether they've increased my catch rate or not.

 

The other day I threw to a male guarding a spawning bed. I threw every color and style of worm I had with me. I even scented some of them. Then I grabbed one of the new Zoom Fluke Worms (watermelon magic), did not scent it, and that's what he hit. I never ended up getting him into the boat, but he struck that worm three times, and one time I had him hooked, he jumped and the bent hook came out (was an Owner weighted wacky hook with light wire, bend the hook once and it bends too easily the next time).

 

So for whatever reason he saw the Fluke worm as a problem. Nothing else. Scent did not seem to play any part in this case. But I'll use scent again when I feel like it. I'm sure it helps at times.

[Felix77]

I tend to use scents in the spring and in waters where they are highly pressured.  In both those cases it's about anything to get one to bite.  When they are in an aggressive mood there is no difference either way.

[Raul]

I did an experiment many years ago, purchased a bottle of scent and sprayed my some baits generously, others were fished the way they came out of the T-box, noticed no difference in the catch ratio between the ones with scent and the unscented ones, so, no more I use scent.

[ww2farmer]

Hard lures or soft plastics, they ALL get treated with MegaStrike.

 

 

 

 

Same.............

 

As for being superstitious.............no. I am confident in my ability to locate and catch fish, I don't need to superstitious.

[F14A-B]

I simply don't believe a largemouth or bronze back are smart fish.... I enjoy fishing for many

Species... Mostly freshwater big and smallmouth.

This is true... In mid 90's on Ky. Lake in a yellow

Gambler... Sneaking into a great bigger fish hangout.... I saw a bit of water disturbance about

150 yards out..... Easing closer, I saw a very

Unreal sight... A 5 pound largemouth... With a 5 pound smallmouth... Stuck in its mouth... I still can't understand how these events can happen.

Smallie was dead and largemouth d**n near...

Unbelievable? Nope it happened... Point?....

Largemouth are not smart, per say.. Just a primitive creature running on a pea size brain.

No need to be superstitious unless you just want!

Don't over think it... It's not as hard as it seems

[Creekcrappie]

I like to pull out the scent when a lot of fish are dropping my plastics before I can get a hookset off.

[TorqueConverter]

If scents mattered than Berkly Gulp would be the hottest plastics in the bass fishing market.  The scent formula and the quantity of it a gulp plastic can store and release into the water over time is light years ahead of any crap we can spray onto our bass baits.

 

This being said I have caught a few big bass on cut bait bluegills catfishing and the only thing that could have drawn those fish to the bait was scent.    

[SirSnookalot]

No question in my mind that fish are attracted to scent, chumming for example.  Whether I'd use an outside agent to attract fish is dependent strictly on the species, for bass..............not a chance in the world.

[WIGuide]

If scents mattered than Berkly Gulp would be the hottest plastics in the bass fishing market.  The scent formula and the quantity of it a gulp plastic can store and release into the water over time is light years ahead of any crap we can spray onto our bass baits.

 

This being said I have caught a few big bass on cut bait bluegills catfishing and the only thing that could have drawn those fish to the bait was scent.    

Gulp doesn't get the market attention because it's actually banned at the Elite level.

 

To answer the questions asked, I'm not superstitious, but I do use Kickin' Bass on everything. I used to have a pet bass for a while as a kid and you could drop a bait in there with no scent on it and the fish would mouth it and blow it back out 2 or 3 times and then lose interest. If you put scent on the same bait that it just lost interest in and dropped it back in, within a few seconds it'd come over again hit it and hold on. You could keep pulling the bait away from the fish and it would keep hitting it over and over again. Pretty much convinced me that scent plays a role.  

[bigbill]

You guys don't wear a certain piece of clothing or favorite hat.

I need a favorite hat, polarized glasses, or I'm out of sync.

Once this happens I might as well stay home I lost my ability to focus.

[SirSnookalot]

You guys don't wear a certain piece of clothing or favorite hat.

I need a favorite hat, polarized glasses, or I'm out of sync.

Once this happens I might as well stay home I lost my ability to focus.

Of course not.