lo n slo Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 down through the years i’ve used several scents, notably Fish Formula in crawfish, Yum F2 in garlic, and they’re both excellent scents, but Megastrike is the best imo. it has the amino acids and it comes in a paste. it stays on you plastics longer and doesn’t make a mess in your boat like the liquids and sprays. it’s also easier to store and carry. you will need to wipe your fingers really good after applying it though. my favorites are the original and the garlic. a $10 tube will last a long time too as you only need to apply a tiny amount each time. Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 On 1/19/2021 at 9:01 PM, schplurg said: Maybe fish like the smell of people? I have no doubt a bass would eat me if it were big enough. Not meant toward your friend (I'm sure a guide knows better, and is in a boat), but I hate seeing gloves littering the banks where I fish. Why can't people just use one old glove over and over instead of half a box of those thin latex ones? I don't think my smell can overpower that of an anchovy, but on that I admit I may be wrong. I never use gloves and I've caught plenty on live or frozen bait. Off topic - I remember snorkeling in Hawaii and being amazed that most of the fish ignored my presence. One day I will go to my local creek and pull some baits around visible bass, both with and without scent. See if I can see a difference in their reactions. Would be fun to try. It's less about human scent itself and more about what other substances you may have on you -- detergents, sunscreen, & deet for instance, can be big turn-offs. A little about this from Berkley: https://www.berkley-fishing.com/pages/berkley-ae-perfume-to-some-odor-to-others 1 Quote
Super User Team9nine Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 Maybe it's just me, but I'm always entertained by the "it can't hurt" opinion. If bass have this enhanced sense of smell that they utilize, then it makes sense that they absolutely know what a natural bluegill, shad, crawfish, etc., in their waters smells like, and that probably varies by literally every waterbody. Why would you think then, that a bass can't tell that whatever scent concoction you just smeared all over your lure isn't the real thing that they smell every single day? If they choose not to bite your lure because it doesn't smell natural, how would you know (that it "didn't hurt")? If everyone is using that scent product, and a bass gets caught while using it, why wouldn't some of those bass eventually learn to avoid other "food items" (i.e., lures) in the future that smelled that same way? Obviously, I'm not a scent believer and haven't used it in something like 30 years - lol - Just curious... 3 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 14 minutes ago, Team9nine said: Maybe it's just me, but I'm always entertained by the "it can't hurt" opinion. If bass have this enhanced sense of smell that they utilize, then it makes sense that they absolutely know what a natural bluegill, shad, crawfish, etc., in their waters smells like, and that probably varies by literally every waterbody. Why would you think then, that a bass can't tell that whatever scent concoction you just smeared all over your lure isn't the real thing that they smell every single day? If they choose not to bite your lure because it doesn't smell natural, how would you know (that it "didn't hurt")? If everyone is using that scent product, and a bass gets caught while using it, why wouldn't some of those bass eventually learn to avoid other "food items" (i.e., lures) in the future that smelled that same way? Obviously, I'm not a scent believer and haven't used it in something like 30 years - lol - Just curious... Astute observation my friend and one that I've often contemplated myself as I drowned a bait with Megastrike for the 5 thousandth time. With that 'enhanced sense of smell' in mind, what if one's tackle box had some type of 'odor' that was quite pungent and unfortunately somehow offensive to bass ? Perhaps from an old ham sandwich accidentally left in there last week. One would never know and might think they were just having a bad day. A-Jay 1 Quote
Super User Team9nine Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 Just now, A-Jay said: Astute observation my friend and one that I've often contemplated myself as I drowned a bait with Megastrike for the 5 thousandth time. With that 'enhanced sense of smell' in mind, what if one's tackle box had some type of 'odor' that was quite pungent and unfortunately somehow offensive to bass ? Perhaps from an old ham sandwich accidentally left in there last week. One would never know and might think they were just having a bad day. A-Jay Which I would argue supports my theory on scents - a waste of time because you cannot know whether they help or hurt, or in any way change the effect of some other scent, so why risk "hurt?" Maybe they like smoked ham but not hickory flavored or sugar cured? I'm not going to change my grocery buying habits trying to figure it all out 1 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 2 minutes ago, Team9nine said: Which I would argue supports my theory on scents - a waste of time because you cannot know whether they help or hurt, or in any way change the effect of some other scent, so why risk "hurt?" Maybe they like smoked ham but not hickory flavored or sugar cured? I'm not going to change my grocery buying habits trying to figure it all out I can not intelligently argue against this stance. But I have caught a lot of bass with that stuff slathered all over the bait. Maybe I'm only catching the ones with defective olfactory receptors. A-Jay 1 Quote
Super User Team9nine Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 4 minutes ago, A-Jay said: I can not intelligently argue against this stance. But I have caught a lot of bass with that stuff slathered all over the bait. Maybe I'm only catching the ones with defective olfactory receptors. A-Jay Maybe you're catching the ones that don't care...which happens to be most all of them I think similarly - but opposite on scent - given the numbers I put up in a year... Imagine how many more I might have caught if only I had added scent to my baits religiously? But I'm happy with my numbers, to the point I see scent addition as a time and money detractor for me. An extra 5 or 50 or 100 fish in a year is not worth it to me at this point. Whatever works for you/me...was just pondering... 1 Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 40 minutes ago, Team9nine said: Maybe it's just me, but I'm always entertained by the "it can't hurt" opinion. If bass have this enhanced sense of smell that they utilize, then it makes sense that they absolutely know what a natural bluegill, shad, crawfish, etc., in their waters smells like, and that probably varies by literally every waterbody. Why would you think then, that a bass can't tell that whatever scent concoction you just smeared all over your lure isn't the real thing that they smell every single day? If they choose not to bite your lure because it doesn't smell natural, how would you know (that it "didn't hurt")? If everyone is using that scent product, and a bass gets caught while using it, why wouldn't some of those bass eventually learn to avoid other "food items" (i.e., lures) in the future that smelled that same way? Obviously, I'm not a scent believer and haven't used it in something like 30 years - lol - Just curious... Yes, and the same argument can be applied to every other feature of a lure -- why not just put a blade on everything because it can't hurt? Or rattles? Or 27 more appendages? When it is convenient for anglers to believe something else might "hurt" --too much action/noise/etc. -- they readily accept this. Quite aside from whether (some) scents enhance strikes (sometimes), or make fish hold on longer, they also pretty clearly work as fuel for superstition: even If they did nothing at all, it would still look like they did the moment you caught a fish after applying them. And if they were harmful, there would always be another factor to blame it on. 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted January 25, 2021 Super User Posted January 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Team9nine said: Maybe you're catching the ones that don't care...which happens to be most all of them I think similarly - but opposite on scent - given the numbers I put up in a year... Imagine how many more I might have caught if only I had added scent to my baits religiously? But I'm happy with my numbers, to the point I see scent addition as a time and money detractor for me. An extra 5 or 50 or 100 fish in a year is not worth it to me at this point. Whatever works for you/me...was just pondering... You're a Mad Man ~ ! #donotchangeathing A-Jay 1 2 Quote
schplurg Posted January 26, 2021 Posted January 26, 2021 8 hours ago, MIbassyaker said: It's less about human scent itself and more about what other substances you may have on you -- detergents, sunscreen, & deet for instance, can be big turn-offs. A little about this from Berkley: https://www.berkley-fishing.com/pages/berkley-ae-perfume-to-some-odor-to-others Ah yes good point, I do try to get that sunscreen off my hands and it's a bear. Maybe use the gloves to put on the sunscreen instead? I'm pretty sure someone brought up the question of whether or not a bait is truly artificial if it's smeared with a scent derived from animals. I have no opinion on it right now but I'm looking it up because I'm bored. What if I made my own scent using a bunch of dead minnows whirled up in a blender? Or rubbed a dead bluegill all over my Super Fluke right before I cast it? Seems like at that point I'm using live or dead bait. Maybe I'll try that in front of a ranger one day just to mess with his head. Quote
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