Fact from Fiction about Spray scents on Post below

[Bobby Uhrig]

If it comes in a spray and is an oil base= it is basically worthless.What fish can smell must be a part of their natural environment. Nature does this not me.In other words it must be water soluable. Oil molecules are much to large to fit into the chemo receptors of the fish. It would be like a tennis ball rolling over the top of a wine glass. It must fit into the receptor in order to be tasted otherwise it basically goes undetected.Thats why some people in the know call them cover scents or masking agents. What these oil sprays do is block the receptors from the negative tastes from being tasted. The fish hits a bait out of reaction. If it looks like a minnow -acts like a minnow -swims like a minnow -it must be a minnow-RIGHT. After the fish strikes the artifical bait -it will hold on to it for a little while. Then its natural defense system kicks in and tells the preditor that it is not real and expels it.. Berkley labs have timed this to happen in some cases as fast as 1/4 of a second. Way faster than most fishermen can set a hook.As for the crawfish scent. Dont believe it. It is not real crawfish. I know these companies who make it. It is actually called a fragrance or an essence. It has no food value what so ever. It sells fishermen. Anise oil has nothing to do with catching fish . Neither does garlic-salt or pheromones. Pheromones are used to attract animals for sexual purposes. When a deer is in rutt or same with a bass.The last thing they are interested in is food. They are interested in one thing-pro creation.As for the WD40 theory. Same thing -it blocks the receptors. What we did at megastrike 14 years ago was break down what the fish eat. 99% of what they eat are smaller fish.We broke them down to the proteins. Then we broke down the proteins. The building blocks of proteins are the amino acids. There are only 20 different amino acids in the world. 10 essential-10 non -essential. They have been around since the beginning of life. Bass need amino acids just like every other living creature.We also know the Aminos stimulate nerve ending in the receptors. They actually send electrical pulses to the fishes brain telling them whatever I am eating is real. We use the aminos that build skin cells -blood cells-replenish their protective slime coatings -build body mass and muscle and help their digestive systemAmino acids have flavor and smell to them. Some actually smell pretty bad. The fish know what they are and they will eat them. Its been happening since the beginning of time.There have been massive studies and research done in the past few years in Europe using amino acids as part fish attractants. Hmmm I knew about them 14 years ago. go figure.I wrote this in a hurry and we could go on about it for days but if you have any questions just ask. Remember "THE ONLY STUPID QUESTION IS THE ONE THAT ISN'T ASKED"

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Very educational Bobby.  I wonder if you'd be willing to put that in article form for our archives?  Awesome stuff.

[dman]

dang,  where was this 2 days ago when i ordered CB's Hawgsauce Crawfish spray from recomendation.  But,  to let you know a few weeks back I saw Dicks as a Vendor for Megastrike and my local Dicks did not have any.  CB's takes Paypal so I wound up going with it.  I will eventually try Megastrike though,  maybe I can find it on ebay

[roadwarrior]

I will eventually try Megastrike though, maybe I can find it on ebay

Why not buy it directly from our sponsor?

http://www.megastrike.com/

Bobby,

Thanks for the post.

8-)

[WhiteMike1018]

Thanks Bobby for thr article. I must say I am a proud user of MegaStrike and am having success with it. I also use spray scents to mask any unwanted odors sometimes, such as BANG and Baitmate.

Even though Baitmate is oil based it is still said to contain amino acids..how is this different from megastrike?

Also is there any information on what berkley is actually using with their baits?

I know berkely products are unbelieveable at times, it has to be in the scent and taste because there are some days where powerbait just outproduces other plastics hands down.

[Bobby Uhrig]

Berkley is a great company. They have all the resources they need and are growing every day.I pretty much know what they are using. Something in theory different than what we use. Their attractant is water soluable but what happens with attractants like that is it dosent last long. It washes right off. We have it so it lasts and is actually dispersed by water temp.As for being in plastics-My theory is anything below the surface is wasted.Im not a fan of their plastic baits. I like Yamamoto or Zoom.Its just a different consistancy.I'm not here to badmouth any company. What I like to do is separate fact from fiction. Like I said Berkley is a great company and their products are also.

[dman]

I will eventually try Megastrike though, maybe I can find it on ebay

Why not buy it directly from our sponsor?

http://www.megastrike.com/

Bobby,

Thanks for the post.

8-)

I tried,  but they dont accept Paypal.   :'(

I am credit card free.

[Catt]

Bobby, since you and others have stated anise oil has nothing to do with catching fish then maybe you can explain why does it works so well?

[Yodie]

Catt, I had the same question about anise oil...

It has to do more than just mask my scents, or else it work just the same as any other "mask"

Just curious...

IK.

[AnglerNFuego]

Dman,

Trust me you didn't go wrong with CB's Sauce.  

[The_Natural]

I've always used spray as a masking agent...I buy the cheapest areosol I can find.  I've always thought 'attractant' was not an accurate definition of bait scents.  There was a study done a couple of years ago with cotton pellets...fish were fed in a tank with pellets, and then after a while they went to cotton pellets enhanced with anise, garlic, salt, and a couple of other things.  Anise bought you almost no extra time.  Garlic was several seconds.  Salt solution was around 10 seconds.  There were a couple of others tested as well.  I just gave a feeble attempt at googling it...I'm on my lunch break.  So I wouldn't say salt impregnated lures wouldn't buy you extra time...

[.ghoti.]

I'm in agreement with the natural. Attractant is the wrong term.

I've proven to my satisfaction that some scents/flavors work by masking odors and flavors I've added during handling. Power Bait works. Salt impregnated baits work. Anise works. Garlic works, except for crappie; they seem to hate it. And yes, megastrike works.

Salt added baits are a waste of time and make a big mess in my plastics bags. If the salt is not impregnated in the bait, it's a total waste of time. Adding salt to the bags is a good way to insure that I will not buy them.

I do know that I very seldom gut-hooked a bass until I started using Power Baits and Yamamoto baits. There are times when you have to be quick on the trigger, when using these two baits,  or you'll be removing hooks from guts.

Cheers,

GK

[flechero]

I tried, but they dont accept Paypal. :'(

I am credit card free.

There are a couple places that sell it that take paypal but my suggestion is to get a debit card... taken anywhere a credit card is.  I live by mine!

[Bobby Uhrig]

CATT, I'm not here to insult anyones intelligence. Just to separate fact from fiction. Anise oil dosent work. Anise oil in its purest form is poison. It freezes at 52 degrees F . It is an oil and cannot and will never be tasted by the fish. The same as the garlic. It is put into so called attractant as garlic oil. Again goes undetected by the fish. When it is airborn. The smell is detected but not underwater. It is all heresay. Just like gas and oil. .The sunscreans are water soluable-the bug spray ingrediants are water soluable in some cases.Thats the stuff ya have to stay away from.The fish pick up the baits out of reaction. They hold on for a while with those so called attractants(they dont know any better)Some knucklehead sets the hook and catches the fish before it expels it and says "Hey this is the greatest thing since sliced bread" . Don't believe it. Its just coincidental.

[Matt Fly]

The real kicker isn't whether they work or not, it the mental edge they give.    If you think they work, thats all that counts.

I don't see how rubbing anise oil on your hands to mask scents is gonna hurt anything.    

Confidence goes along ways.

Matt  

[grimlin]

Something about this stirs me the wrong way....

I'll stick to my CB hawg sauce....

[Catt]

Bobby, I've use Fish Formula II or Baitmate (clear) with a ½ oz of 100% pure anise oil added and have caught tens of thousands of bass with this spray. I know for a fact it does not freeze at 52 degrees because I keep a 1 ounce bottle in my attack bag in the boat at all times.

If it in fact anise oil doesn't work why is it added to many plastic types of bait sold on today's market?

I to am not here to insult any ones intelligence but you response sounds like so many other sales pitches for their product.

Pictured below is a bass caught on a V&M 9 Super Ringer worm which is enhanced with pork fat and anise oil already cooked into the bait.

[Yodie]

I to am not here to insult any ones intelligence but you response sounds like so many other sales pitches for their product.

Kinda what I was thinking but didnt know how to word it without offending anyone....

I have no stock in any scent, or attractant, or mask, or whatever you wish to call it...I dont use them...But I do know that my baits that say they are infused with the Anise oil I catch a lot of fish on days when similar baits w/o Anise wont catch jack.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Dirk blows his cigar smoke on his bait for good luck. How much you want to put into this depends on how much time we have to go in circles.  He has been catching fish alongside me for 20 yrs now,....neither one of us does significantly better than the other. (and we even smoke different brands,lmao)

[grimlin]

Dirk blows his cigar smoke on his bait for good luck. How much you want to put into this depends on how much time we have to go in circles.  He has been catching fish alongside me for 20 yrs now,....neither one of us does significantly better than the other. (and we even smoke different brands,lmao)

So in another words it's pretty much about presentation/temptation to the fish to bite that lure.

bass here have a thing for hotdogs....i'm not kidding they love hotdogs here.

[senile1]

Dirk blows his cigar smoke on his bait for good luck. How much you want to put into this depends on how much time we have to go in circles. He has been catching fish alongside me for 20 yrs now,....neither one of us does significantly better than the other. (and we even smoke different brands,lmao)

So in another words it's pretty much about presentation/temptation to the fish to bite that lure.

bass here have a thing for hotdogs....i'm not kidding they love hotdogs here.

And sometimes it's not even about presentation.  There is one lake where I live that contains religious bass.  Sometimes they will fast for days.   :

[GAMEOVER]

Hey Bobby could you fill us all in how you turn your product into a gel like substance. I could of sworn I heard it was a liquid with oily propertys in its pure form.

[grimlin]

Dirk blows his cigar smoke on his bait for good luck. How much you want to put into this depends on how much time we have to go in circles.  He has been catching fish alongside me for 20 yrs now,....neither one of us does significantly better than the other. (and we even smoke different brands,lmao)

So in another words it's pretty much about presentation/temptation to the fish to bite that lure.

bass here have a thing for hotdogs....i'm not kidding they love hotdogs here.

And sometimes it's not even about presentation.  There is one lake where I live that contains religious bass.  Sometimes they will fast for days.   :

well that explains the lack of bite... ;D

[Bobby Uhrig]

Would somebody please read a SDS(Safety Data Sheet)on Pure anise oil. I do this all of the time with Chemicals. We have to. The Anise oil theory or folklore has been around since the fiftys. It is an oil . It is not soluable in cold water nor hot water. It cannot be smelled underwater nor can it be tasted.It goes undetected by fish-PERIOD THE END. Berkley has provided numerous controlled data forms on this theory its proven.. Its not about hype -our pushing a manufacturers product. Its separating fact from fiction,(The subject heading)People -the worst thing we can do as fishermen and human beings is close our minds. I know that the asnise oil can be smelled by being airborn. Tasted by humans and animals but not fish. Most of the so-called pure anise oil in barley that. It is what is called a food grade. The pure stuff will knock your socks off. If you put one drop on your tongue -it will be there tasteing wise for 15-20 minutes.  If you inhale it for a while in deep breaths -talk about high -whew Thats the real stuff. At 52-62Degress you will see crystals forming. It is also combustable. Dont play with it-it is flamable.The reason its in baits or plastics is to have a sweet smell for fishermen and to lubricate the plastics. Thats it. Do you know what good Ol'Mr Yamamoto adds to his baits???? Amino acids. He also spent a lot of time studying how and why the fish use them.As for the salt-its for weighting purposes only.As for the porkfat-same theory of soluability in water.As for MegaStrike underwater. Our base is an oil. We figured out how to put water soluable amino acids in this base and break up the molecular structure underwater. Trade secret NO BS

[jb_adams]

I have a "stupid question" about scents and gel scents in particular.  I think it was "kickin bass" or something like that my buddy has laying in his boat.  I put it on a jig & when I took the jig off later (after many casts), the gel stayed on the lure and had a gummy feeling and it caused the skirt to look like I put hair gel on the skirt (lack of better description).  I had to wash the jig with soapy water to get the gel off later so the skirt would flare like it's supposed to.

Is that a common trait with gel scents?   It's the only one I've ever used.