Bass attractants... something to invest in?

[Catt]

I use "worm juice" for two purposes first as a lubricant because I fish in grass a lot and the "worm juice" helps my plastic baits slide through easier. I use Fish Formula II or Baitmate (clear) with a ½ oz of 100% pure anise oil added; this is to mast any odor my plastic may have pick up.

 

I spray some in my sacks of plastics with no ill effects!

[Brad Reid]

Quiz: What really stinks? What smells "fishy?" What has a salty taste? What come coated in oil?

 

For anyone out there wanting to make some homemade fish attractant, buy a tin of sardines in oil. If you enjoy eating sardines, buy King Oscars (yummy!), but for our purposes you can buy the cheapest ones available. They stink to high heavens!

 

I use an old plastic coffee container, pour/scrape the contents of the sardine tin into it, then add a measure of cheap vegetable oil to it. Sardines are so soft, you can then take the back side of a fork and just "blend" the oil and the fragmented sardines together. It creates sort of a paste. Use the fork to mash this up. The result is more liquid than solid.

 

Do this outside to avoid being served with divorce papers.

 

So, out in my kayak, I just open the plastic canister and dip my plastics in it. There are techniques I use to not get it in my kayak but this is true of any stinky fish attractants. My stuff holds quite well. Even after a few casts, if you drop your plastic into the water alongside your vessel, you'll see the "oil spill" effect as it is still releasing the stinky oil. You will see an oil slick.

 

Yes, one could filter the oil out from the mushy solids but I don't bother.

 

So, the math: fishy smell + coffee remnant smell + oily feel and smell + salty taste = more bites.

 

Give it a go, let me know how it works for where you fish!!!

 

Cheers!  Brad

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Brad Reid said:

buy a tin of sardines in oil. If you enjoy eating sardines, buy King Oscars (yummy!), but for our purposes you can buy the cheapest ones available. They stink to high heavens!

 

Put sardines in my boat & I'll throw your ass overboard!

 

[Brad Reid]

4 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Put sardines in my boat & I'll throw your ass overboard!

 

Ha! But, see, it is already moving me closer to the fish! 

 

Yes, many of these attractants are very stinky. If you drop a single drip of Spike-It Garlic scent inside your home, it'll smell like an Italian restaurant for a month!!!

 

Cat anglers are looking at each other: "What's all the fuss about?" They set world records in stinky baits.

 

Brad

[greentrout]

spike it ... i like it ... detriment ... changes the motion on the fall when weightless ...

 

good fishing ...

 

 

 

 

 

[WRB]

When Smelly Jelly first came out it was the hot item so I bought jar. I was using it my Scrounger/sluggo combo with good results until one day the plastic lid on the jar crack open in my boats locker. Wow that stuff smells for a long time soaked in carpet! Change to Pro Cure gel Rainbow Trout the past 20 years and works without the strong smell.

Back in the 60's we tried a lot of scents including coffee grounds, bacon, fish oils and finally came up with pure anise oil and glycerin that doesn't turn rancid or harden soft plastics. 

Like Catt I believe it helps lubricate the soft plastic helping the lures slide through stuff and the bass don't split it out so why not use it to mask odors like gasoline or whatever you get on your hands fishing.

Tom

[OCdockskipper]

15 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I use Megastrike ~ on everything.

A-Jay

 

your poor wife...?

[Fishinthefish]

I use JJ's Magic, personally I'm not entirely sold on the smell attracting more fish, and I rarely need them to hold on longer because hook sets are free. The reason I use JJ's is because it's a dye as well, so I can add colors to my soft plastics to change them to be just different enough than what is typically thrown to the fish by people who all throw the same couple of brands as me in the same areas I do. I believe more in the color difference than I do in the smell difference. 

[The Bassman]

I heard Tom Mann once say that fresh fish smell was the best fish formula there was. I'd take that to mean that as you catch fish your lure is scented on its own.

[Fishinthefish]

1 minute ago, The Bassman said:

I heard Tom Mann once say that fresh fish smell was the best fish formula there was. I'd take that to mean that as you catch fish your lure is scented on its own.

I've heard that as well, I interpreted it as you picked a lure that worked so keep fishing it lol.

[OkobojiEagle]

I did an eleven year stint working in the Berkley PowerBait factory... now I swim off the end of my dock for a few minutes and tonight's supper is only a couple casts from the plate.

 

oe

[The Bassman]

9 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

I did an eleven year stint working in the Berkley PowerBait factory... now I swim off the end of my dock for a few minutes and tonight's supper is only a couple casts from the plate.

 

oe

I bought one bag of max scent Generals on clearance and couldn't wait to use them up. Fish or no fish, I can't stand the smell.

[N Florida Mike]

Y’all ever hear of Jack’s juice? It’s a garlic scent. Gonna try some this evening.Ill report back after the trip.

 

I used it today for a good while and had 1 blow up, and the fish let go..

Caught 15 without it. 

[fin]

18 hours ago, WRB said:

I also added 100% anise oil and fresh ground garlic to my pork rind trailers and still use that scent to this day, it works.

Be careful with fresh garlic in oil. I know you're not eating the stuff, but there's a risk of botulism which can result in paralysis or death. I wouldn't want to get it on my hands. I don't know if fish are susceptible to botulism, but it would be a shame if you were poisoning your catch.

1 hour ago, The Bassman said:

I bought one bag of max scent Generals on clearance and couldn't wait to use them up. Fish or no fish, I can't stand the smell.

Same here. Just the regular powerbait stuff is nasty to me. I bought a pack on clearance and never use them. Sometimes I pass by fishermen in stores and smell fish attractants or stink bait on them. People who don't fish probably assume they have bad hygiene.

[roadwarrior]

MegaStrike

 

 

 

[LadiMopar]

22 hours ago, pondhopperNJ said:

What does it do exactly? Make the bass more likely to strike because it smells like a natural prey baitfish or craw?

 

Well, that's the general idea behind using scent but remember that bass are for the most part visual hunters. They primarily rely on sight and their lateral line (which generally picks up vibration in the water) to locate a meal. 

 

That being said, scent also plays its role in the process, and back in the day Berkley used to push their Strike brand attractants by claiming it was the "scent trail" that got a fish to your bait. I still have bass attractant in my arsenal, but use it only as a last ditch effort on hard baits. So many plastics now come saturated with scent, salt etc., it hardly seems worth it. Also, I figure the more we as anglers use these products the less effective they will be over time.

 

If you're interested in reading what the biologists think about this subject here's a link you might find useful. https://www.bassmaster.com/tips/biologists-look-bass-senses-part-3

 

[lo n slo]

i throw alot of plastics. down through the years i’ve used scent, Fish Formula, Yum and now, Megastrike. i’m not so sure about it attracting fish to the lure, but it may cause them to hold onto it a little longer once they grab it. i don’t know. i also dip my green pumpkin tails in chartreuse Spike it.

[WRB]

2 hours ago, fin said:

Be careful with fresh garlic in oil. I know you're not eating the stuff, but there's a risk of botulism which can result in paralysis or death. I wouldn't want to get it on my hands. I don't know if fish are susceptible to botulism, but it would be a shame if you were poisoning your catch.

Same here. Just the regular powerbait stuff is nasty to me. I bought a pack on clearance and never use them. Sometimes I pass by fishermen in stores and smell fish attractants or stink bait on them. People who don't fish probably assume they have bad hygiene.

Botox and pork rind who knew

 

[ww2farmer]

Berkley Products like Powerbait, Gulp, and Max Scent...I add no additional scent to. They already have it.

 

ANY other soft plastics, Yum, GYCB, Zman, etc....get Megastrike.

 

I don't use very many Strike King plastics with their coffee scent, but when I do, I don't add any additional scent.

 

When I dip a plastic in dye, I use Spike-it. #1 reason is it's NOT as potent as JJ's, plus it fades away in short order if spilled, and requires no special handling precautions. It has not had any adverse effects on any brands of plastics I use. 

[Mobasser]

I've used Baitmate spray quite a bit over the years. I like the shiny, slippery finish it gives my plastic baits. Still not sure if it really " attracts " fish or not, but as others have said it may help mask odors on your hands.

[FishingGeekTX]

I ordered a big bait monkey package of like 20 items from tacklewarehouse, and it had a powerful, artificial smell when I opened the box.  First thing I saw was Sunline Defier boxes, I assumed it was some awful formulation of chemicals they use that gave off this horrible odor, probably getting cancer just smelling it.  I put them in quarantine.

Next day, smell was still going strong.

 

Turns out it was the Lake Fork Shad...garlic scent.  Good gods, they are in a ziplock bag now.   Poor sunline, it has no smell but I always look at it funny now.

 

I suppose I have to go buy some fish stinky stuff given everyone that uses it.  Fishing outings are too precious to miss out on even one fish

[fin]

I once caught a carp with a Zoom motor oil worm which has a smell that’s very different than any other Zoom worm. I know that color has a different smell, maybe others do too, and that difference in smell is why some colors are more successful than others. Far-fetched, I know, but I don’t think anyone can say for sure about this stuff.

 

Berkley says oil based scents only mask scents and are not attractants:

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley-ae-fish-attractants-leave-the-oil-at-home.html

[Bobby Uhrig]

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Ive seen this topic for 20 years -Its the most controversial subject in the fishing industry. Do they work or don't they. Believe me I have studied how fishes chemoreceptors work along with their olfactory senses. Here is what I have deduced after almost 20 years.

HMMMM -what  the gentleman said about sardines. -If you use sardines right out of the tin-yes you might get some fish to look and eat a bait -as for the oils-they are not water soluble--they can rarely be detected by the fish--The molecule structure has to be broken down or use an anticoagulant or emulsification process. .If that sardine goes rancid-its over Charlie- Bass are not scavengers nor vegetarians--They are fresh /flesh eating carnivores  

-What we smell and what fish smell are from  two totally different worlds -waterborne  and airborne molecules-  They cannot smell what we smell underwater -so throw that whole concept about smelling garlic and other airborne smells  out the door- However -there are 2 amino acids in garlic that bass find very attractive-

The use of certain amino acids -Hmmm water soluble - Certain aminos stimulate the search and feed mode in fish. Certain ones turn them off - Finding the correct formulation of them without overloading or saturating them is key.

As for "attracting"-- these aminos disperse in water -kinda like putting salt or sugar in very hot water- -they break down on a molecular scale to fit nicely into the receptors triggering searching and feeding modes.

No "attractant "is going to bring fish closer to your bait from a distance of 3 feet or more- the attractant dissipates to quickly by the retrieve of the bait. Its the job of the angler and lure itself (lure-get it!) to trigger the strike-  The issue is ,when the fish gets close enough to the bait-the dispersion can help trigger a somewhat weary fish into striking that may not have otherwise.

Spinner baits-buzz-baits crank baits are reaction lures- best use for "attractants"  are  for slower moving baits such as soft plastics.

Ive video and studied fish underwater for almost 22 years. Those bass can inhale a bait and spit it out faster than you could ever set a hook. At times you don't even know you have a strike.  The real attribute of an "attractant" is the ability of once a fish strikes a bait-is to get it to hold on to it long enough to detect the strike and set the hook..

Tournaments such as the BassMasters Classic are  won at times by ounces- I cant tell you how many times Ive seen anglers set the hook only to come up empty. If the fish would have held on to that bait for a little longer-we might have crowned different champions.

So oil based "attractants" are fallacies--they clog receptors-so don't even bother- The WD40 thing -nope not happening either.

The word instead of "attractants" should be "ENTICERS"

 Anglers use these "attractants thinking that they are miracle wonders. . The fish are not going to come half way across the lake to get to a lure that has an "attractant" applied to them . You have to be near or on the fish to even have a chance to catch them PERIOD.

So use your heads --think logically about how things work in the waters world-Its not rocket science-

By using different  ingredients I have learned to stimulate the fishes senses chemically. The lures stimulate them visually-Lure movement stimulates them through reverberation -  Its all part of a puzzle-whoever puts the puzzle together more often-catches more fish- Its all about  time on the water-

 

 Have a great day .

 

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[Choporoz]

15 hours ago, lo n slo said:

..... and now, Megastrike. i’m not so sure about it attracting fish to the lure, but it may cause them to hold onto it a little longer once they grab it..

I, too, am convinced of this.  In fact, there are days when I stop putting Megastrike on Rage Bugs and Menaces, because the 'gills get a hold of a flapper and won't let go until they tear them off.

[bowhunter63]

I really like Strike Kings coffee scent. They seem to hold it longer.