Using cover scent

[Daniel Abram]

Ok I know this may have been on here before.  But I am really struggling to catch bass. I went today and put flo carbon leaders on my braid poles. I am just wandering if it maybe my scent. I am on a few medications from my PTSD and issues from being in the gulf war. Just wander if that may have changed something in my chemistry that they smell on my bait. I have heard spray sun block on them or WD40. Was wandering if any of you use anything on your bait. I have even thought about using rubber gloves. any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. maybe I just dont know how to fish. 

[lo n slo]

try some Megastrike, my favorite is garlic scent. there is much debate on the effectiveness of scent, and it may not be the answer to your fish catching woes, but it cant hurt to give it a try. 

[Daniel Abram]

4 minutes ago, lo n slo said:

try some Megastrike, my favorite is garlic scent. there is much debate on the effectiveness of scent, and it may not be the answer to your fish catching woes, but it cant hurt to give it a try. 

I just ordered it. In garlic scent. Thanks 

[OnthePotomac]

Another good one is Smelly Jelly in Bass Feast. After rubbing that on baits the bass love you.  Cabelas used to sell it.

[Daniel Abram]

Thanks I check cabelas has it. 

[fin]

"JJ's Magic Fish Attractor" has a pretty good reputation.

 

I don't have a lot of faith in scents, but some people swear by them, and I know some things, like clorox, will actually repel fish, so it can't hurt anything but your wallet to give it a try.

 

Have you seen anyone else catching fish where you are fishing?

[Daniel Abram]

Have you seen anyone else catching fish where you are fishing

Yes and one of the guys on here I have messaged told me it's a really good lake.  But I seam to have trouble where ever I go

[Munkin]

In my 35 plus years of bass fishing I do not think that scents attract them but they may help. Bass use different methods of finding their prey and scent is low in the ranking. That said I think that while other triggers make a bass strike a lure scent will make them hold it for a second or two longer than without. I only use scents in the cold water and on really tough days as it attracts other fish like catfish to the lure. 

 

Allen

[813basstard]

Don’t spray sun block on the bait. I would surmise it has more to do with where and how your fishing then your smell. Get that out your mind 

[fin]

7 hours ago, 813basstard said:

Get that out your mind 

Easy to say, harder to do. Sometimes it's easier to just go ahead and spend the $5 to prove it to yourself it's not the solution.

 

I've been catching a lot less fish this year than last year this time. I'm fishing the same place the same ways and also trying new things. The water has been a little slower to warm up this year compared to last and is probably a major factor, but it's hard to know what's really going on down there. Sometimes you just have to wait for it to get better.

 

In the mean time, you can try new things, or you can stick with something you know works for you. It's hard to know which is the right way to go sometimes.

[Dens228]

I use Megastrike on my plastics and jigs.  I don't know if it helps but for $5 that lasts half the year it doesn't hurt either. 

[fishballer06]

Whatever you do, DO NOT put sunscreen on your fingers. I have seen this turn off a bite really quick numerous times. 

[NYWayfarer]

Megastrike is great for masking scent.

 

Also any Strike King baits that have the coffee/salt scent on them (Ocho's, Dreamshots, Coffee Tubes, etc) If you handle one of them the scent stays on your hands for quite a long time. I carry an Ocho in a Ziploc bag just for that purpose.

[OnthePotomac]

Let me add that I read an article by a bass pro sometime ago and his position on scents is that they do not attract bites, but sure keeps them hanging on longer for a hook set.

[Harold Scoggins]

I use this on frogs, creatures, trailers.

[HenryPF]

16 hours ago, OnthePotomac said:

Let me add that I read an article by a bass pro sometime ago and his position on scents is that they do not attract bites, but sure keeps them hanging on longer for a hook set.

 

I feel this is my case with I use megastrike.

 

I also remember someone saying this: " you may not have faith in the scents attracting fish and that's OK, but think of scents masking YOUR scent on the bait itself"

 

This is how I feel about scents, not as an attractant but a scent coverup for my scent.

[Cgolf]

On 5/20/2019 at 8:56 PM, Munkin said:

In my 35 plus years of bass fishing I do not think that scents attract them but they may help. Bass use different methods of finding their prey and scent is low in the ranking. That said I think that while other triggers make a bass strike a lure scent will make them hold it for a second or two longer than without. I only use scents in the cold water and on really tough days as it attracts other fish like catfish to the lure. 

 

Allen

I always wondered this too while using it, but a few things changed m6 mind. First shoulder shrug moment was during a tough bite, if the scent wore off no bites. 

 

The two that sealed it for me was dropping a crappie slider with no scent and deadsticking in a school of panfish and watching the, sniff it and bump it, but not try to eat it. I put the scent on and deadsticked it again and the panfish aggressively attacked the bait and hooked themselves. I really wish I had video of this, opened my eyes for sure. 

 

Second was out with my father in law and I caught 5 bass in a hour and he never got a hit. I finally convinced him to add scent to the bait, and in 3-5 casts he had a hit and landed a bass within 5 minutes. 

 

While not scientific evidence this definitely changed my thinking about scents. I personally recommend gel scents (never had any luck with liquid scents), I use Liquid Mayhem, but others like Atlas Mikes, Megastrike are out there too. 

[Dogface]

Many years ago I read about a fishes ability to detect scent. Since that time I have been trying to keep my hands clean when handling bait and lures. It is not always possible but I try. I keep scent free soap in the bag and if I touch something like gas or sun screen I wash my hands. Does it help? I think so and it cannot hurt. 

 

Others have said that scent does not attract but it may cause a fish to hold on longer. I agree. I put it on hard baits occasionally but always on soft baits which I believe can absorb odor. 

 

BTW I need to warn you....Smelly Jelly does not go good with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. ? It stinks and is hard to wash off. Keep it out of the sun because it gets watery when warm. It is my favorite cover scent.

 

 

[Team9nine]

Don’t use scent(s) as an excuse for not catching fish...and don’t believe that while they may not help, they certainly can’t hurt. Also, don’t confuse scent/smell with taste - they are two separate processes in the feeding mechanics of bass. Finally, “cover scent” sounds cool, but I’m not sure there is anything to back that theory up.

 

Having said all that, spray away ?

[Daniel Abram]

Well today I had garlic on my hands. And well I baited up and 3 cast later pulled in a 17" 1.42lb LM. Before the garlic nothing. but when I baited up with it. there was the bite. Caught 2 miss a few more 

Cant get pics on here says they are too big. 

[Munkin]

6 hours ago, cgolf said:

The two that sealed it for me was dropping a crappie slider with no scent and deadsticking in a school of panfish and watching the, sniff it and bump it, but not try to eat it. I put the scent on and deadsticked it again and the panfish aggressively attacked the bait and hooked themselves. I really wish I had video of this, opened my eyes for sure. 

 

 

Panfish seem to rely on smell to find food, not as much as say a catfish but way more than bass. This is just my observation with no statistical data to prove it.

 

Where I like to use scents is in really cold water not because of it attracting them but helping me detect bites. What I mean by this is when we are fishing hair jigs in the winter water temp is 33-39 degrees usually. Numb hands and gloves make detecting bites hard so in my experience the scent makes a bass hold on to that jig just a second or two more increasing my chances.

6 hours ago, Dogface said:

BTW I need to warn you....Smelly Jelly does not go good with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. ? 

 

 

Let me just put this out there as a public service announcement. If you chew Redman when fishing put it in your mouth BEFORE you adjust that jig trailer doused with Kick-N-Bass. I cannot emphasize enough the sequence of events!

 

Allen