If you don't think scent makes a difference to fish....

[Team M&M]

I saw a program several years ago where 2 fishing guides were arguing about scents and if they really made a difference. I have never used them myself but after seeing that program I am convinced that fish do smell stuff and not just catfish.

The one guy to prove his point took a piece of cloth and cut a small square out of it and dipped the square in some fish attractant. He then proceeded to fish with nothing but that piece of cloth on his line and low and behold he actually caught some fish with it.

The other guys response to that was that fish would hit anything if you wait long enough. So he takes a regular quarter and some JB weld and he welded the quarter to the shaft of a long hook. The hook sort of looked like a regular white perch/shiner hook. One of the gold ones that are about an inch long or so.

Anyway he fished with that quarter and he caught 2 small bass, a catfish, and a white perch.
So his conclusion was that fish will hit anything, be it a piece of scented cloth or a shiny quarter. He still maintained that the attractant didn't make a difference.

However when they used a piece of cloth without attractant they didn't catch a single fish so the first guy argued in return that the attractant did indeed work.

Fact is this: A bass (and many other species of fish) can smell approximately 1/200th of a drop of a substance in 100 gallons of water. Thats insane!!! They can smell your aftershave, soap you used in the shower that day, cologne, sunscreen, even the laundry detergent smell that is on your clothes(yes that gets on your hands).

If you put gas in your boat or your truck on the way to the fishing hole then you got contamination on your hands from the pump and that transfers to your bait/plastic jigs etc. Remember the fish can smell 1/200th so thats a spec so small you can't even see it with your eyes.

If nothing else the scent you put on your jigs at least covers up your human smells that rub off from your hands when you tie your lure or jig to the line.

So I say scent on!!

Now go out there and catch something

["G"]

Fish scent makes sense to me.

[Bob # 1]

Agree that they can smell........
Very good report

[MuskyGary]

Now we also know that humans emit a smell that repels fish. So is the fish attrancant actualy drawing the fish or is it covering up the human scent?

[Buckeyemusky]

Now we also know that humans emit a smell that repels fish. So is the fish attrancant actualy drawing the fish or is it covering up the human scent?

Read a magazine article about new baits comeing out awhile back. One of the Pros (can't recall his name) was talking about the first scented worms for bass were grape scented. He said he believed the scent did more good covering the human scent than it did attracting fish. I agree, Why would a bass be attracted to grapes??

I KNOW the fish in my tropical tank can smell the smallest piece of food as soon as it hits the water. Funny to watch them come tearing out of piece of driftwood the second it hits the water.

[CrappiePappy]

Now we also know that humans emit a smell that repels fish. So is the fish attrancant actualy drawing the fish or is it covering up the human scent?

Does it really matter :p .... and it can, & probably does, do both

It's kinda like putting a minnow on a jig .... is the fish: attracted by the jig & sight/smell of the minnow - attracted by the minnow, alone, and the jig is inconsequential - does the minnow's scent cover up the human smell on the jig - is it just the sight/sound of the minnow that's attracting the fish's attention .... or, in other words, is it one / some / or all of the above
We may never "really" know ... and it could be any one, or combination of factors, that work at that particular time, or even on that particular fish. Best we can do, is to try and keep our "offerings" as natural and appealing as possible ... and hope the fish are hungry or curious enough to accept them as "real", and attempt to consume them

... cp

[Team M&M]

Everytime I swim in the ocean all I can think of is that a shark can smell a drop of blood over a mile away. LOL, I check my whole body for any open scratches, cuts etc before I swim. Those bull sharks don't play around!!

[CrappiePappy]

Read a magazine article about new baits comeing out awhile back. One of the Pros (can't recall his name) was talking about the first scented worms for bass were grape scented. He said he believed the scent did more good covering the human scent than it did attracting fish. I agree, Why would a bass be attracted to grapes??

I KNOW the fish in my tropical tank can smell the smallest piece of food as soon as it hits the water. Funny to watch them come tearing out of piece of driftwood the second it hits the water.

I think aquarium fish are "conditioned" to food being introduced .... I doubt they can smell anything "as soon as it hits the water". They're more likely "hearing" (feeling the vibrations) the food hit the surface, or "seeing" the disturbance of the surface water tension (when the food lands on the water).

The first "scented" worms, that this Pro was referring to, were the Jelly Worms ... introduced by Tom Mann, back in 1967. The purple colored "Grape" Jelly Worm, was the first "plastic" worm I ever used, for Bass fishing. "Grape" flavoring may not have been an attractant, but it certainly wasn't a repellant :p ... as evidenced by the fact that it's still a popular worm, even today, and has accounted for untold numbers of fish caught ... worldwide. Along with anise & garlic, two other "unnatural" flavors, the "fruit flavors" of Jelly Worms are probably not "attractants" to fish ... but, do provide a "scent trail" or "taste" that fish do not find repellant. Whether or not they cover up/mask human, tobacco, sunscreen, or petroleum based (oil/gas) scents ... is debatable. But, at the very least, they don't add to the problem ... and may, in fact, be just enough (of an acceptable factor) to cause a fish to hold onto the bait for a sufficient period of time to allow us to detect the strike & react.

We're not talking about a critter that can reason out what "taste" they're experiencing. They don't know garlic from applebutter :D .... they're predators that rely on instinct. It (our bait) appears to be alive & edible ... even if it's not ... and their feeding/survival instincts tell them to eat it, or at least 'taste test' it, or even to attack it out of anger or territorial protection ... if they're not repelled by it, or it's "smell". Crappie & Bass are sight feeders, primarily ... with smell as a backup factor. Scents, in that regard, can be an attractant or masking agent (against repellant odors) ... and in either case, should be considered a positive factor.

... cp

[Kentucky Lake]

I always wonderd if certain people emmitt scents and odors that prevent them from catching fish.

Perhaps some people have a different chemistry and scent that is undetectable to humans, but fish can scence it.

Maybe that is why certain tournament fisherman can win more tournaments consistantly than other tournament fisherman.

What do you think?

[CrappiePappy]

I always wonderd if certain people emmitt scents and odors that prevent them from catching fish.
Perhaps some people have a different chemistry and scent that is undetectable to humans, but fish can scence it.
Maybe that is why certain tournament fisherman can win more tournaments consistantly than other tournament fisherman.
What do you think?

I do believe that's quite possible ... to very probable.

Take for instance, people that can wear faux jewelry ... vs ... people that put on faux jewelry & turns it black (or has it corrode on them). Different skin pH !!

There are many factors to consider, and this could certainly be one of them. In any event .... using a scent on your bait, or a bait with scent already in it, can't hurt ... especially if it's already proven to work.

... cp