Impact of scent on bass

[Pat Brown]

13 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Really got in to attractants in the 1990's. Fishing buddy read some research comparing sense of smell....

• Human's can smell drop of vinegar in two litre bottle of water...
• Hunting dog can smell drop in a 55 gallon drum...
• LM Bass can smell drop of vinegar in an olympic sized swimming pool(!)

I don't remember the study, or the researcher...but that story has stuck with me for 30+ years. 

 

Another quote from back in the day: "All things equal, women will out-fish men...make-up contains fish oils...women get makeup residue on their hands...touch lures / lines...attract fish." 

 

True? I dunno. There were times when the former Mrs. Daubs would out-fish the men. 

 

I haven't used attractants in years. Maybe it is time to try again. Heck, anything to help me boat more fish!

 

 

 

So what you're saying is buy more salt and vinegar lays potato chips before boat trips!  😏😏😏😏

[DaubsNU1]

2 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

So what you're saying is buy more salt and vinegar lays potato chips before boat trips!  😏😏😏😏

 

Sounds like a d**n good plan to me!!   : )

[gim]

15 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I use heavy Deet, so I want something to help mitigate that.  

 

Deet (bug spray) and sun screen are two scents that I try to avoid on my hands before I touch fishing lures or plastics.

 

I do use both somewhat frequently though, so I try to mitigate that.  I don't really use the scent as an attractant, more as something to block those two others I mentioned.

 

I deer hunt the same way.  I get my blaze orange stuff out of the bin about 10 days before I use it, air it out, and spray it with scent killer.  I'm only rifle hunting so I don't need to get super close like an archery hunter does.  Archery hunters are often paranoid about scent.  Many of them use doe in estrus or buck scent or whatever.  I don't use that.

[Mike L]

21 minutes ago, WRB said:

You become a believer when your fishing partner is kicking your butt using the same worm and you put the scent he is using and start catching bass.

I don’t agree with Dr Jones on everything but it’s hard to argue with Berkeley’s success!

Tom

This stuff will ruin your olfactory sense for days… everything smells like Smelly Jelly. I had a plastic jar break in the boat locker oh my🤬

Tom

Yeah,  I’ve had that kinda stuff happen to me too more than once wth color, rof, plastic size and style, presentation, casting angle etc. 

 

It can be said about almost anything if one guy is being successful and his partner is not then he mimics what he’s doing and everything changes. 
I get it. 
 

I’m not saying that You and Berkeley are wrong, far from it.
Experience and Success are the best teachers 
I just wanted to mention a different angle to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Functional]

1 minute ago, Mike L said:

Yeah,  I’ve had that kinda stuff happen to me too more than once wth color, rof, plastic size and style, presentation, casting angle etc. 

Mike

Yup, agreed here. I can think of one particular instance recently I was catching and my father wasnt so i literally cut my bait off and gave it to him and he still couldnt catch. Way we fished it was just different enough to kill the bite for him.

 

Agreed with Tom though in some instances I can see that happen for sure as well. 

 

Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesnt. 

[Catt]

6 hours ago, WRB said:

it’s hard to argue with Berkeley’s success

 

Berkley Saltwater Gulp is extremely deadly!

Edited September 24, 2024 by Catt
Fingers faster than the brain

[Texas Flood]

 

Giving this bad boy a try tomorrow on the lake with some sweet beavers

[Spankey]

I can’t say whether these fish formulas work or not. Maybe I have them in a can’t hurt category. 
I don’t put gas in my truck or boat on my way to the lake or river. I don’t mess with bug sprays very often or on a regular basis while out. Don’t want to take the chance of these offensive chemicals interfering with my baits. There is unscented hand soap in the boat that I do/will use and is there if someone else needs it. 
If I’m using Berkley, Zee, Xzone or 6th Sense plastics I’m not adding anything to them, they get fished with their factory added formula. Types like RoboWorm that are hyped up about their salt infusion I can’t recall ever putting anything on them. 
I have Kick-N-Bass anise and garlic scents out there with me, use to be Fish Formula or Baitmate years ago. Don’t see them sold anywhere these days. I’m not convinced that they should be put on any pedestal. Probably good for masking human hand scents.

A few years ago when all the hype about coffee scent was the rage I took my best producing Zoom finesse worm and put 3 in a zip loc with coffee grinds and let them set in a bag for a week. I think the experiment was a failure. They failed to get hits let alone a bite. But I realize at the factory the scent is infused into the plastic. 
Back a few years ago I took 3 of my best producing 4” cut tail worms and ribbon tail worms and soaked them for a week in Baitmate Garlic. That next fish day was a real plus fishing that worm. BUT maybe it was a just that I was in the right place at the right time. Maybe there was a higher concentration of smallies in that spot. Maybe something that Mother Nature had control over caused the great bite that day. 
I’ll keep bait scents in that can’t hurt and might help category. And I might be convinced that on the right day, Smallies do like a little garlic with a cut tail or ribbon tail worm. 
 

[LrgmouthShad]

@WRB it’s a good kinda stank. Smelly Jelly adheres strongly to my baits and doesn’t wear off after a few casts. I believe it gets me more bites and makes fish hold on longer. 

[FishTank]

Impact of Scent on Bass? I think I know the answer. 

 

 

I've tried a few. I'm still not sure it makes a difference but the Geecrack softplastic scent does seem to get the fish to hold on longer. Stuff stinks though. 

 

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

55 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

 

Giving this bad boy a try tomorrow on the lake with some sweet beavers

Monkey has been riding me for months about buying some "taku powder" 😁

[Scott F]

Years ago, my partner and I were getting bites on every cast using Senkos. As it happens with Senkos, they were really getting torn up and we were running out of them. We did have a bag of one of the scented Berkley Gulp worms. We watched as the bass would swim up to the Gulp, get close, then swim off. When we put Senkos back on they’d hit it every time. I doubt that the same thing would happen in every case, but I only had to see it once to see scents can have a negative effect. 
My other experience with scents is having some spill on the deck of my boat. Scents are no longer allowed on my boat!

[Texas Flood]

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Monkey has been riding me for months about buying some "taku powder" 😁

I wasnt even going to buy it until the monkey pulled a gun on me. 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

19 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

 

As far as negative smells go, I really to my absolute best to avoid exposing my baits to unnatural chemicals

I’m definitely the same way, I’ve got my OCD that makes me extra careful about avoiding unnatural stuff around/on my tackle, or makes me worry about a negative scent that I probably don’t have to 😂

[Catt]

4 hours ago, Spankey said:

use to be Fish Formula or Baitmate years ago. Don’t see them sold anywhere these days

 

Academy 😉

 

 

[GRiver]

18 hours ago, Mike L said:

I firmly believe it’s the taste that makes them hold onto it longer once they grab it to give the angler an advantage in everything that implies. 
 

A certain smell of anything you add is not a short cut.
You still have to make an accurate cast, present it to get its attention, make them bite, feel the hit, set the hook and land her….In that order.

X2 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

On 9/23/2024 at 7:12 PM, WRB said:

I use scents not as an attractor but to cover negative odors 

 

What scents do you use?

On 9/23/2024 at 7:16 PM, A-Jay said:

I'm with @WRB

Except I use Megastrike on everything and have been for several years.

I don't even think twice about it anymore.

It's just part of it now.

Done.

Can't say for sure if it gets me more bites, 

but I can't possibly believe it's hurting me either.

My results speak for themselves.

YMMV

A-Jay

Everything including hard baits?

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

On 9/24/2024 at 11:59 AM, Catt said:

 

Berkley Saltwater Gulp is extremely deadly!

What makes it “saltwater” specifically? Do you still use in in freshwater?

[Catt]

1 hour ago, August said:

What makes it “saltwater” specifically? Do you still use in in freshwater?

 

I only use two Berkley products, Big Game & Saltwater Gulp.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, August said:

Everything including hard baits?

Yes, EVERYTHING.

Including topwater baits and anything with a trailer.  It makes every bait it's applied to 'slippery'.  This, IMO, is a good thing.

Especially with soft plastics.

When a plus size bass clamps down on a bait, it's crushes are designed to kill it or at the very least immobilize the prey. In this case my lure.  If you've ever had a bass on for a bit, then she throws the bait back in your face, you're experienced this.  A slippery bait could allow that split second needed to over come that tight hold, and get a decent hook into her.

Either way, I've caught so many big bass using it, there is no way I could go back now.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

This spring a 7 lb smallie ate a jerkbait that was coated in Megastrike.

A-Jay

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Yes, EVERYTHING.

Including topwater baits and anything with a trailer.  It makes every bait it's applied to 'slippery'.  This, IMO, is a good thing.

Especially with soft plastics.

When a plus size bass clamps down on a bait, it's crushes are designed to kill it or at the very least immobilize the prey. In this case my lure.  If you've ever had a bass on for a bit, then she throws the bait back in your face, you're experienced this.  A slippery bait could allow that split second needed to over come that tight hold, and get a decent hook into her.

Either way, I've caught so many big bass using it, there is no way I could go back now.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

This spring a 7 lb smallie ate a jerkbait that was coated in Megastrike.

A-Jay

Hold up a fish like that and I’ll believe anything you say!! 😂