A funny experiment with scents....

[Tin]

We are looking for smallies on the graph last week. See one, drop the tubes down, nothing. So one of my buddies whips out Megastrike, the other to be an ___ loads up his with some Bullfrog SPF 40. Mind you both have the same line, same colored tube and the same size weight. They drop at the same time and of course, SPF 40 takes it. So then we cut them off, tie new ones on, this time we try Smelly Jelly. Look around for one, find one, they switch rods, drop the tubes down. And SPF 40 takes it again. So now I'm like ok watch this. Get out the JJ's. Do the whole process again. And it broke my heart when that smallie chose the SPF 40. So just forget about scents, all you need is sun screen.

[burleytog]

Hmmm, time to go find some of this bullfrog stuff.  I guess my problem has always been the Coppertone.

[Big Tom]

Whoa, that goes against everything you ever hear fisherman say.  Thanks for sharing.

[fishizzle]

Cool experiment

are they one of your sponsers? ;D

[Tin]

Whoa, that goes against everything you ever hear fisherman say. Thanks for sharing.

I'm really beginning to think we over-think a lot of we do on the water. Keeping it simple is the way to go. Except every now and then when you get dialed in.

[Paul Roberts]

Interesting.

I remember some early tests on bass in which anglers caught bass on plastics doused in gasoline.

Seems scent should work at some level, but just what these concoctions actually represent to fish is what I've always wondered.

[Uncle Leo]

Wow that's amazing. I always worry about sunscreen and only use spray on type and try never to spray in the boat. Go figure

[Tin]

I'm thinking of trying Bug Spray next time. Just for schlits and giggles.

[fisher of bass]

very interesting, gonna try it,

i remember back in the 80s my dad used to use a brick soaked in kerosene for lobsters and the traps were always full.

[CRFisher]

Wayne P. did a similar thing with a coppertone/insect repellent mix and had pretty much the same results.

[CRFisher]

One thing to remember though, what you use as a scent eventually disipates into the water, so don't use anything too nasty/pollutive.

[Bobby Uhrig]

HMMMM You'll have to prove that one to me . They will hit a bait out of reaction but will not swallow it or hold on long. When smallies are schooled up they are very aggressive . If bullfrog is an oil base (which I believe it is) then the fish never really tasted it at all. The bait was hit out of habit or reaction. It seems like coincidental strikes and its how I truely believe fishermen started using "FISH ATTRACTANTS" in the beginning-. Believe me there is nothing in WD40 that would attract a fish either. WD40 used fish oil as a main ingrediant but unless it is broken down molecularly it goes undetected

[catchnm]

Beechnut, RedMan, or Union Standard. There's a scent experiment I'd like to see someone try.  ;D

[Tin]

HMMMM You'll have to prove that one to me . They will hit a bait out of reaction but will not swallow it or hold on long. When smallies are schooled up they are very aggressive .

They weren't schooled up, random middle of no-where fish. And they were not really reaction bites, the tube was on the bottom for a little while.

[Paul Roberts]

HMMMM You'll have to prove that one to me . They will hit a bait out of reaction but will not swallow it or hold on long. When smallies are schooled up they are very aggressive . If bullfrog is an oil base (which I believe it is) then the fish never really tasted it at all. The bait was hit out of habit or reaction. It seems like coincidental strikes and its how I truely believe fishermen started using "FISH ATTRACTANTS" in the beginning-. Believe me there is nothing in WD40 that would attract a fish either.

Yes!

Keep in mind, as amusing as this "experiment" was, it could easily be due to luck of the draw. Don't try to draw any conclusions here.

Another point worth adding to the equation:

A while back Ralph Manns was feeding wild bass in a pond over the course of, I believe, two seasons. He used dead shad. It took a while to train them to recognize the dead shad as food. But once they learned, they were on them instantly. What is relevant here is that, while training these bass, he said that bass are primarily visual and they had to get within 2 inches of those dead shad that had settled to the bottom to realize they were edible. Apparently there were no "scent trails" for bass to "home in on"; They had to be right on top of the shad and within a couple inches to smell them.

Also, scent feeders like catfish, and carp, have unique adaptations for scent feeding -barbels coated with taste receptors, and for cats, even external taste receptors on their skin. Bass lack these.

Scent may, as Bobby mentions, be more a flavor than an attractant, for bass. Is that right Bobby, or is there more to it?

[Muddy]

HMMMM You'll have to prove that one to me . They will hit a bait out of reaction but will not swallow it or hold on long. When smallies are schooled up they are very aggressive . If bullfrog is an oil base (which I believe it is) then the fish never really tasted it at all. The bait was hit out of habit or reaction. It seems like coincidental strikes and its how I truely believe fishermen started using "FISH ATTRACTANTS" in the beginning-. Believe me there is nothing in WD40 that would attract a fish either. WD40 used fish oil as a main ingrediant but unless it is broken down molecularly it goes undetected

20 trips on the water this year. Me and the other Mook in the Boat using Trigged 5 inch Purple Trick Sticks We mixed 1/8 ounce of pure Anise oil in a 2 ounce srpay bottle filled the rest of the way with mineral oil. 10 trips I used the Anise and 10 trips the other Mook  used it. In both cases the fella with the Anise had 25% more stikes and more hooks up total. Take all your theroies, this has actually been my experience through years of fishing. I don't give a hoot if Bass can't taste it or smell it IT WORKS, I learned it from a guy in New Orelans in the late 70's and it works.

Well I am off to the Chunk for an evening of fishing 2 Mooks in a boat style, and the Anise is in both our bags SeeYA

[J_pontius]

Blasphemy!!!!!  All of you take out your fishing bible's and repent!  REPENT!  

As your penance you must all buy one bottle of every scent out there.  Do not disgrace your bait monkey!

REPENT!  

LOL!  Sorry fellas, it's been a long week and I need out!  Being couped up in the office all week is getting me out in the morning.  On a high note, I have bullfrog spf 36 though!   :

[CRFisher]

Scientists recently stated they've discovered that people have a sixth taste - calcium - on top of the previous new discovery of the fifth - unami or savory.  These go along with what we knew for ages - sweet, sour, salty and bitter.  

http://www.livescience.com/animals/080820-acs-calcium-taste.html

If we were unable until recently to know this about people, who are able to communicate what they sense, I find it highly improbable that we have any true idea what a bass can or can't taste or smell/can't smell.

[CRFisher]

Also, we don't know what's going through it's mind.  I could be, "yum, that smells good let's eat it" or "my god, that smells rancid, let's kill it" when it strikes something.  It could also not sense any smell at all and see a trail in the water from the scent wearing off and mistake it for blood/fluids emanating from an injured creature.

[Wayne P.]

Bobby megastrike, I have Bullfrog and Coppertone sunscreens. I check the list of ingredients before I buy them. Neither has any oil as listed in the ingredients. Both companies do have a line that contains an oil, but I don't use that type since it makes my hands slippery.

[wagn]

I'm thinking of trying Bug Spray next time. Just for schlits and giggles.

I was at BPS the other day talking to a Pro (I can't remember his name), after he had done one of those tank demo's and he kept recommending a certian bug spray to use as a scent. He swore by it up and down. He didn't seem to be sponsored by them. So who knows maybe bug sprays and sunscreens will be the next wave in bass tackle ;D