... Attractants?

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

I'm thinking about revisiting this topic.  Last I experimented with it, I was something like 14 years old.  Never caught anything with the attractants they had in the early '90s.  I gave up after using that small spray bottle.

 

I figure spray attractants have evolved as have lures and line.

 

Is it worth anything?  I'm thinking Yum F2 might be something to try.  So far I'm thinking crawdad or shrimp would be best as there are no shad in the target lake so far as I can tell, and bluegill, freshwater shrimp, and crawdads are the main forage.

 

I'm well aware that bass tend to hunt by sight, and that they use sound to start searching by sight for a bait.  I'm thinking that, in less-than-really-clear water the scent might add a bit to convincing a bass that might otherwise be ambiguous about the sound.

 

I'm really not sure.  I'm not convinced.

 

I probably will move forward with this experiment regardless, but I'd really like to hear your experiences with the new wave of spray attractants.

 

Thank you,

 

Josh

[Catch and Grease]

I don't use any spray, I use the garlic dipping dye called JJ's magic. I use it mainly for the colors the scent is just a plus, Idk if it helps make the bass bite but I do believe it can make them hold onto the bait longer.

[5fishlimit]

Power Team Lures Hawgtonic has been a game changer for me with soft plastics.

[A-Jay]

No Spray for me.

 

Seems like there is too much waste.

 

Megastrike & Pro-cure for me.

 

I prefer the direct application and the fish seem to agree.

 

A-Jay

[PJBoudzy]

Megastrike.

[BigBassLoveSenkos]

Walmart sells one named Ultra Classic Bass.  I find it really useful when throwing soft plastics.

[Josh Smith]

Thanks guys!

 

I went to Walmart (yuck) and they did indeed have some Yum F2, Gulp, and Ultra Classic Bass.

 

I almost grabbed the Classic Bass stuff, but figured I'd start with Gulp because it hadn't been mentioned and because the Yum stuff was priced way down there -- so much so that I wondered how well it really worked.  Price is not usually an indicator for me; for example, I've caught more bass on Texas Rigs and $2 swim jigs this year than anything else, including the more expensive jigs, but I figured I'd try the Gulp first because I've had really good luck with both them and Yum, but Gulp is the one that had a trigger spray bottle as opposed to the push-button type that I hate.

 

No idea if I'll get to go fishing tomorrow.  I want to, but the lake is likely to be crowded and I want to compare to the non-crowded days.

 

Thanks, and keep 'em coming!

 

Regards,

 

Josh

[SirSnookalot]

A piece of cut bait dangling in the water will catch fish, it has to be the smell attracting them.  If others choose to use these enhancement products that's fine with me, but I would not use them.  The challenge to me is as important as the actual conquest, I seldom use the type of baits to put an enhancement on.  

[*Hootie]

I have success with Jack's garlic spray. I have used Megastrike over and over with no luck at all. I don't doubt for a minute that it's good stuff. It just doesn't seem to work on the lake I fish. I have so much better results with the garlic, that I'm starting to believe the bass in my lake are all Italian bass...lol.

Hootie

[Smokinal]

I do believe that it will help make a fish hold your bait a hair longer, possibly letting you get a hook in him before he spits it. Remember, fish cant read labels, pick things up and look at them etc.. they do this by picking it up with their mouths, deciding if its food or not and then either swallowing or spitting. If a fish detects human scent, oil, gas, egg McMuffin juice, anything that they know is not natural, it's out. If an attractant like Megastrike makes that decision a little harder for them, they will have it in their mouth just a little longer.

[*Hootie]

I do believe that it will help make a fish hold your bait a hair longer, possibly letting you get a hook in him before he spits it. Remember, fish cant read labels, pick things up and look at them etc.. they do this by picking it up with their mouths, deciding if its food or not and then either swallowing or spitting. If a fish detects human scent, oil, gas, egg McMuffin juice, anything that they know is not natural, it's out. If an attractant like Megastrike makes that decision a little harder for them, they will have it in their mouth just a little longer.

Now wait a minute. Egg McMuffin juice is perfectly natural...lol.

Hootie

[ThatZX14Fella]

I want to venture out and try some attractants too. Right now I'm trying some kind of garlic scent that my dad has had in his bag for no telling how long. The only problem with the garlic ones is I love garlic and it makes me hungry. Lol

[whitwolf]

http://jjsmagic.com/

[BobP]

I've tried a number of scents through the years.  The one that stuck is Kickn' Bass.  It's a fish oil based scent with very strong garlic odor and stays on the bait (or your hands!) for a long time.  The garlic will drill you a new sinus cavity.  The anise and crawfish KNB variants are milder.  In addition to its masking scent, the oil in Kickn' Bass lubricates the plastic so on most bites the plastic will slip up on the line and not get balled up or torn up.  Water and solvent based scents don't last long in the water unless they are impregnated in a special non-plastic bait like the Gulp baits .  You have to decide if you believe water/solvent based scents disperse a scent that attracts bass to bite, or if you think its better to use an oil based scent that will stay on the lure longer and mask unnatural odors when bass mouth your lure.  I think bass are sight feeders and the oil based scents are better, but it's players' choice.

[roadwarrior]

MegaStrike for me.

 

Effective in holding bass a little longer, great lubricant and VERY user friendly! 

[BassinLou]

Megastrike: Simple, easy to use, no mess no fuss. 

[Sam]

Josh, the best flavor to attract bass and keep them on the hook longer is worm extract.

 

The rankings by Dr. Keith Jones from Berkley's research department rank flavors bass like in this order:

Worm Extract

Prey Salt

Salt

Garlic

Sugar

Anise

 

Prey salt is not your table or Kosher salt. It is the salt from animals.

 

So go out and dig up some Nighcrawlers; go into the kitchen and get the household blender; and mix up a batch of worm extract.

 

Smear it all over your baits and hold on.

 

Or, just get some MegaStrike and JJ's Magic and forget the blender thing.

[Josh Smith]

Hi All,

 

It almost sounds like mixing nightcrawler juice (nod to Sam) or fish oil or whatever with lanolin would be effective.

 

Lanolin tends to stay put in the water, and smearing a bait with it would release a little at a time.

 

Josh

[WRB]

Bass use all their senses to locate prey, sight is #1, senses of hearing for close up and lateral line for longer distances are the primary senses,. The senses of smell or taste isn't highly developed in bass but they can detect odors at close distance. Attractants don't attract bass, they add a little realistic smell at close range, more of a masking of unwanted odors in my opinion.

The first sprays like Bang came out about 25 years ago followed by Smelly Jelly and Berkley's attractants.

Before that we used pure anise oil and garlic, worked 40 years ago and still does today.

Stay away from sprays.

Tom

[Crestliner2008]

Another vote for Megastrike.

[TorqueConverter]

Generality speaking any sort of sent scent additive is not going to have an effect on your ability to attract fish to your bait or hold on the bait longer.  So why do people use it?  Faith.  Anglers have faith in products and they have tendency to draw causation from correlation.  Until some peer review paper on the affects of chemical fish attractants comes out, then I'm not buying into any advertising slogan these "attractant" companies are throwing around like holds on X300000 longer!.  I don't care what Bubba on the 123 pro bass tour has to say, I want to hear from the biologist(s).

 

A lot of these scents are also soft plastic lubricants and help to prevent baits from becoming bent or drying out.  I use F2 for lubrication when I boil my plastics to make them softer, as that has a tenancy to dry out the plastic making them sticky, and I can't imagine the F2 scent hurts anything.

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

The idea on which I'm operating is simply this:

 

Currently, my lures attract with usually two senses:  Sight and sound.  I make several casts to the same likely-looking place as bass tend to sometimes need hit on the head before they strike.

 

Consider a fine wine or excellent craft beer.  We, as humans, are usually visual hunters first and auditory second.  Smell is a third.  If we see the beverage poured and hear it poured, we also expect to catch a whiff of the bouquet, right?

 

Now, a bass that's not all that active might expect the same thing.

 

In any case, adding sound to sight helps, and adding scent to sight and smell should help further, assuming it's the correct scent.

 

This is the theory I'm testing.  I've never been one to be swayed by advertising or by what is "new and better".  I like to know what's available but in the end, I evaluate my needs and go from there.  I have a huge tackle box full of stuff that didn't work before by is now working with new techniques. 

 

Maybe this will end up being a gimmick, but maybe not.  I just picked up a Booyah Boo Alpine rig because it makes sense that it should work.  It's one of the few newer things that I buy into.  I really doubt the Booyah Alpine is a gimmick, and I don't think the correct scent would be a gimmick, either.

 

Whether the makers have the correct scent nailed down, however, is another question entirely.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

[F14A-B]

I used Powerbait everything for years, I still use it some.... Other than that I don't sweat it much..

[Mike L]

Been mixing my own for years...1/3 anise 2/3 baby oil.

Mike