Fish Attractants

[Team9nine]

If you feel you need scent to give you confidence in what you're doing and to get bit, go ahead and use it. If you believe it can't hurt and might help, good for you - I'm not that confident in that line of thinking. I find much more power (psychologically) in not using it at all and still catching fish, though I do agree with a couple of the practical uses mentioned above, none of which involves the scent/attraction aspect of the formulas. 

[rgasr63]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

If you feel you need scent to give you confidence in what you're doing and to get bit, go ahead and use it. If you believe it can't hurt and might help, good for you - I'm not that confident in that line of thinking. I find much more power (psychologically) in not using it at all and still catching fish, though I do agree with a couple of the practical uses mentioned above, none of which involves the scent/attraction aspect of the formulas. 

For the most part I totally agree with you.A Example is  the  Pit boss at first it was a Havoc product and now it is a Power bait  product. I caught a bunch of fish when it had no added scent and I catch fish with it now with the scent added. Probably 80 percent of the soft plastics I purchase have some sort of scent added to them before I buy them. Coffee scent, Yum's scent etc. I use them because I catch fish. Now all that said if someone started me fishing with a crawbait with Mega strike on it and I had a really good outing. I would have Mega  strike on that bait again to replicate the success. Without a doubt I put Mega strike on my crawbaits every time. 

[Cgolf]

Let’s put it this way I had my father in law in the boat with me and I caught 5 or 6 in the first hour missing a couple and he never had a bite. Got him to try the scent I was using and within a few casts he had his first hits and not long after that his first fish. Foe those that say it was in his head or a confidence thing, well he was a skeptic till then. I have seen this play out enough to believe it works. 
 

Personally I use liquid mayhem, but there are also other gel scents out there like atlas mikes and megastrike. I had zero luck with pro cure, for some reason the smallies didn’t like it. 

[softwateronly]

4 hours ago, Team9nine said:

If you feel you need scent to give you confidence in what you're doing and to get bit, go ahead and use it. If you believe it can't hurt and might help, good for you - I'm not that confident in that line of thinking. I find much more power (psychologically) in not using it at all and still catching fish, though I do agree with a couple of the practical uses mentioned above, none of which involves the scent/attraction aspect of the formulas. 

 

I feel similar.  The things that give me confidence or keep me guessing are profile, speed, action, and sometimes color.  

 

scott

[ChrisD46]

Depending on the soft plastic - I use the below scents with success : 

Mega Strike Original

BANG (Craw , Shad, Garlic)

Pro Cure (Trophy Bass) 

Smelly Jelly (Bass Feast , Bass Hammer)

[Jmilburn76]

After reading all of this I guess I need to use up that tube I have of Megastrike.

[Luke Barnes]

If anybody has a tube of mega strike laying around just getting in the way I'll take it off your hands!! 

 

I use Bang craw/shad, KVD fish sticks, and Bobby Garland slab jam or whatever its called. I like them and think they help with the fish holding on longer. Yesterday the only thing I got bites on were Max Scent and Gulp products. Tried a ton of lures and colors and actions, but the max scent and Gulp were the only ones to actually get a bite to then turn into a catch. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

Gulp is a confidence bait for me as well. 

[Spankey]

I use them, on some things. Does it help? I don’t know. Does it hurt? I don’t think so. PowerWorms, PowerBaits and Gulp Worms I put nothing on. Crazy as it sounds I think River Smallies prefer garlic but I sure it’s just coincidence. And I use an Anise scent as well. Works, don’t works, might work…….I’ve used it for so long now that it’s on the boat and if the feeling moves me I but some on. 
 

This might sound crazy (yes it is crazy), but what I thinking about doing and trying is picking up some anchovy paste (ground up anchovy and oil). Comes in a tube like tooth paste. Rub it in to some bugs and beavers and see how it works. In another recent post I responded about it being a smart*** but I might try it. Worse case it may draw channel cats or bullheads. 
 

Last season I messed around with some coffee scent on one of my favorite worms a Zoom UTail. I would say it was not a good experiment. They did not get bit. Factory out of the bag no scent added no problem. 
 

There is probably a true science to good reputable fish attractants manufacturing. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Well I fell into the trap. I got some Bang Anise and Crawfish recently. I know what's going to happen. I'll use it, catch a bass, and convince myself that the bass bit because of the scent. Then I'll never want to fish without scent again, and it's just one more thing that I have to worry about and that the bait monkey has to get excited about. He lurks at every corner.

 

But hey maybe it'll turn out to be a good deal.

[Cgolf]

16 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Well I fell into the trap. I got some Bang Anise and Crawfish recently. I know what's going to happen. I'll use it, catch a bass, and convince myself that the bass bit because of the scent. Then I'll never want to fish without scent again, and it's just one more thing that I have to worry about and that the bait monkey has to get excited about. He lurks at every corner.

 

But hey maybe it'll turn out to be a good deal.

 

So to prove it to yourself use it on a slow day when you have someone else in the boat. 1 uses it and the other doesn't, switch the person using it to take out personal retrieve differences, and compare results. When the fish are on a bite it doesn't matter because they will hit anything, it really shines on the slow days.

 

Below is a separate comment that was merged.

 

One thing I have found interesting with the new MaxScent baits, is I am sure there are many out there that say our scents we put on make zero difference, but are searching all over to find these scented baits, because well its that unique flat worm shape and not the scent;)

[Catt]

14 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

it's just one more thing that I have to worry about and that the bait monkey has to get

 

I put a couple if squirts in each sack of plastics.

[LrgmouthShad]

2 minutes ago, Cgolf said:

 

So to prove it to yourself use it on a slow day when you have someone else in the boat. 1 uses it and the other doesn't, switch the person using it to take out personal retrieve differences, and compare results. When the fish are on a bite it doesn't matter because they will hit anything, it really shines on the slow days.

Sounds good to me. I thought @WRB's post on this thread was really good. 

 

Don't often fish in a boat but I can do it with someone bank fishing at a reservoir that is nearly always tough.

6 minutes ago, Catt said:

I put a couple if squirts in each sack of plastics.

I like it. I want it in particular for jigs though. Don't know if a spray bottle was the best thing for that but I figured it was pretty versatile. 

[Cgolf]

12 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Sounds good to me. I thought @WRB's post on this thread was really good. 

 

Don't often fish in a boat but I can do it with someone bank fishing at a reservoir that is nearly always tough.

 

If you can ever get your hands on the Knowing Bass book, it is pretty clear reading it that scent matters. Our library has a system that they can get us books from libraries not in their system. The book had a lot of good info and I am glad I got to read it, but don't think it is worth the price it is selling for. There is other good info in there too. Over time for plastics you may want to try a gel scent like liquid mayhem or megastrike, but I expect you will do well. I have found the gels to be less messy as well than the sprays or liquids like the old Berkley bottles. Fishing from shore though is easier since you don't have to worry about the deck carpet smelling like a crawfish.

[Catt]

26 minutes ago, Cgolf said:

I have found the gels to be less messy as well than the sprays

 

Which is why I spray it in the sack of plastics. I see a lot of anglers hold their lure up like they're spray painting. 

 

When I add more, I hold the bottle about 1/4" from the lure's head & drizzle just enough to reach the tail. To farther avoid a mess I hold the lure over the side of the boat. 

 

The Baitmate I use isn't a mist spray, it's not a hard stream, it's about in the middle. It's quite easy to get a 1/4 pump.

[Cgolf]

12 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Which is why I spray it in the sack of plastics. I see a lot of anglers hold their lure up like they're spray painting. 

 

When I add more, I hold the bottle about 1/4" from the lure's head & drizzle just enough to reach the tail. To farther avoid a mess I hold the lure over the side of the boat. 

 

The Baitmate I use isn't a mist spray, it's not a hard stream, it's about in the middle. It's quite easy to get a 1/4 pump.

 

That makes more sense than what I did with the old Berkley scents. I would get a disposable coffee cup and put a little liquid scent in the bottom and dip the plastic in it. The holding it up like spray painting could make for a bad day if they forget to watch the wind direction.

 

I think my first intro to scents was crappie nibbles back in the day and then a few more in between and once I found Atlas Mikes I was hooked on gels.

 

I like putting a little gel inside a tube or crawbug, with the thought that when they bite down the get a shot of scent, which maybe tastes like the guts of the real thing. That one is probably over thinking it though.

[Catt]

Y'all gotta understand I don't walk around with that stuff in my back pocket. It's in the boat or in the tackle bag when bank fishing. At some point after the first cast I may spray it once or twice. 

[Munkin]

I don't think it attracts bass from my experience? What it does do is make the fish hold onto a bait for another second or two witch makes a difference. 

 

Allen 

[The Maestro]

Been using BANG garlic past 2 seasons.

[MAN]

Stood and watched a guy named Joe take one for the team back around '99 and taste a bunch of the available brands we had at that time.  I think only 1 actually had any resemblance to the smell. The others were very "chemical".  Don't know if that matters or how accurate he was...but it was fun to watch from the sidelines.    

[Luke Barnes]

Something I am going to try is using Gulp Alive juice on non gulp baits. Amazon made a screw up and delivered a jar of 1" gulp alive minnows to the wrong house so they sent me a 6 pack!!! Plus the one that was mis delivered! So I have 7 jars and will take the minnows out of one to make it a soaking/dipping jar. Maybe pour some in a bag or two of soft plastics I use the most. We will see how it does!

 

But i will go to my grave convinced of one thing. When the bite is at its toughest I throw out a 1" Gulp Minnow on a tiny jighead under a bobber and it almost always gets bit and half the time I catch a bass. Biggest ive caught was a 3lber on one and what a fight on a 4"8 UL with 2lb line!!!

 

If they don't bite that I'm packing it up and either moving spots, bodies of water, or going home. 

[Munkin]

I can tell you that if you chew Redman when fishing put the tobacco in your mouth BEFORE adding a bunch of Kick-N-Bass on a jig. Not sure what the bass think it tastes like but it doesn't taste very good IMO.

 

Allen

[lo n slo]

On 3/21/2022 at 8:51 AM, Catt said:

 

Which is why I spray it in the sack of plastics. I see a lot of anglers hold their lure up like they're spray painting. 

 

When I add more, I hold the bottle about 1/4" from the lure's head & drizzle just enough to reach the tail. To farther avoid a mess I hold the lure over the side of the boat. 

 

The Baitmate I use isn't a mist spray, it's not a hard stream, it's about in the middle. It's quite easy to get a 1/4 pump.

a couple years ago my cousin got himself a bottle of Chompers spray and used it all spring and summer. i spent the following winter scrubbing that stuff off the side of my Javelin. 

[txchaser]

On 3/22/2022 at 12:47 PM, MAN said:

Stood and watched a guy named Joe take one for the team back around '99 and taste a bunch of the available brands we had at that time.  I think only 1 actually had any resemblance to the smell. The others were very "chemical".  Don't know if that matters or how accurate he was...but it was fun to watch from the sidelines.    

Megastrike tastes like old butter, with a hint of sweet. At least in small (ugh I didn't wash my hands) doses.

 

 

[Catt]

On 3/23/2022 at 7:28 PM, lo n slo said:

i spent the following winter scrubbing that stuff off the side of my Javelin. 

 

One thing I can absolutely prove Worm juice is good for is carpet removal.

 

For years I used Fish Formula II & one night my youngest son stepped on a bottle & it spilled all out. Everywhere it soaked through the carpet came unglued!