Bait Scents

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Originally Posted by Crestliner08

Being an avid smallmouth bass angler as well as a crappie/gill fisherman, I can tell you that they can "help" at times. By help, I mean they can enhance your confidence level. That's about all anything can do at the end of your line, right? You choose jigs, plastics, cranks, etc., based on what you believe will increase your success. So if you feel that scent gives you a slight edge, why not go for it? Myself, at times I apply some MegaSrike attractant. Sometimes I don't. Depends on my mindset at the moment.

Just remember, depth & speed control are the absolute defining factors to success. Everything else after that is pure speculative, in my opinion. :)

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If that is the case then depth and speed control is speculative also, its scientific fact proven that fish will feed or strike on sight or scent. There is absolutely no reason to believe that fish will not strike on proven scent they are attracted to or at least hold on to a bait that has an attractant on longer than one without. I don't have any scientific proof myself but have read enough of others that are experts in the field to know there is something to it. I know of another post from awhile back that intimidator added some very good information on the subject.
I fish for walleye saugeye and I know if I add a small pc of night crawler to the jig they are more likely to strike it and hold on , than without it. That is scent.

It amazes me that folks that are serious about Ketchn crappie don't think gulp brand Berkeley crappie nibbles don't make a difference ........some a yawl need to come watch an episode with me for sure
Glo white are my favorite and in these parts the purest call them cheating and the others will tell ya they are crappie cocaine .......they for sure make a difference
not always mind ya ....but for sure more often than not

just common scents, fish will bite on something that smells or tastes good to them, maybe not always for one reason or another like maybe they got heartburn from bad pizza or something , I don't know. The power nibbles are the best I've used at least the body of water I fish.

Ok just read this thread, and I have to add something that may or may not gross some out. Pertaining to the scent part, we were floating the Buffalo the other day and we stopped to do a little relaxing in the water. Well, as I was sitting there I noticed several small minnows would swill up to me and nibble at the hair on my legs. I thought that was kinda weird, but not much thought to it. Well as most people do, I had some dead skin on my feet. So, I started scrapping some off in the water. Them minnows loved it!! I then proceeded to show my wife how the little buggers loved it. I would pick off a tiny piece of skin and let the current take it and boy them minners would attack it. So Im guessing that the salt in the skin was the attractant there?! Oh, I also bit off a finger nail and let it float. They tried to eat it also but dont guess they liked the hardness.

I have used some but would not drive back home if I forgot it . lol :biggrin That being said anything that raises you confidence level is good . Nibbles in clear water seems to help but it maybe the color rather than the scent that helps . I bass fish with crawfish spray on plastic's and like it but am skeptical about the success being because of the smell or better concentration . :juggle

so what your saying the scent makes no difference. I find hard to believe you are a bass fisherman and are saying this., to each his own, . No I would not drive home to get the nibbles if I forgot them either but that does not mean I don't know that scent makes a big difference to the fish.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/texas...e-sense-smell/

found this ,

You will not find me on the water without a scent in the boat. I actually have several different "flavors" in my boat at all times. I'm sold on it. Have been for many years. One thing about crappie fishing, you should try something new anytime you can. I always start a day without scent but it doesn't take long for me to apply some. I'm not a nibble guy. I like liquid scents. I find finicky fish holding a bait longer and in many cases a harder bite. That's my two cents.

I have always followed these types of threads. Being an angler its just seems normal to Want to try something you haven't tried. I had almost written any kind of scent off. But I also pay attention to the CDC veterans. And they don't write the stuff off entirely and a lot use them.
So i pick up a jar of crappie nibbles the other day and wanted to share my experience so far. 1st try at a 9000 acre lake only produced a bass and white perch. Not surprising. I have yet to figure this lake out for crappie.
Next was a little city lake that the wife likes. She always uses worms under bobber and rarely catches a crappie usually perch and bluegill. So the bite was very slow for anything so I put my jig under a bobber and go to work. No scent would get one hit and then nothing. Move and same thing. So put on a nibble and get hit till the nibble was gone. Down size jig and tip with a worm, hit once then again and hooked a crappie. ( small 8") then put on nibble again and another crappie on second hit. Also got a blugill.
So my take is it seems the scent kept them coming back. With no scent they figured out it wasn't food quickly after the first hit.
Oh and the wife caught a couple bluegill with hook and worm. The crappie were in same spot just didn't want only worm....

I fished last weekend and was doing a little experimenting with my fishing partner. We rigged live minnows, Berkleys Gulp! Alive Minnows , and plastic tubes. Surprisingly the Berkleys Gulp! Alive Minnows (3 inch Smelt) were slaying the crappie. The bigger ones seemed to bite on it more consistently. We found that the soft plastics were getting pecked away by the blue gills, and the live minnows caught a mix of bluegill, bass and crappie. The Berkleys Gulp! Alive Minnows seemed to catch more crappie with bigger sizes.

Now I am not a crappie fishing pro by any means. In fact, this is my first year really getting into it, I'm still learning all the techniques on fishing for crappie. It could have just been beginners luck, but that was the outcome.