Using Scents in Sportfishing
For years, fishermen on my charter boat Mega Bites have been applying this and that to their lures in an effort to catch more fish.
To this day, I still do not know if fish scents work. I know that anglers who dabble in scents catch fish after using it. But was the bite due to the oily mixture? Or did the angler just happen to cast his lure to the right spot at the right time?
A lot of scientific research has been done on scents. And I’m sure most of that was paid for by tackle manufacturers. Companies such as Berkley sell thousands of gallons of fish attractant each year at a price that makes the cost of a gallon of gasoline seem trivial. It’s a big money-maker for them.
I’ve resisted squirting scents on my lures for all my years of fishing. But, I never purchased any snake oil or hair growth lotion either. I am, by all measurements, a skeptical person. But I confess I did try WD-40 once without conclusive results. Then had to ban it from the boat because it made the decks slippery.
Recently, I read some interesting scientific stuff on fish attractants. By observing gamefish in shallow tanks scientists are learning what works and what doesn’t. Their formulations contain many oil-type ingredients and even salt (strange for freshwater fish), garlic and anise (even stranger). All of it is designed to convince the fish to hold onto the bait longer.
They keep running into the same problem, though. As soon as the bait hits the water most of the attractant washes off and is lost. So anglers have to keep applying the stuff on every cast.
And that has spawned another phase – the development of a device to release a scent a little at a time. They are coming to a bait shop near you real soon.
After all that reading I wondered if they tried tossing worms into the water? I’ve done that and I can tell you this: fish go nuts for them. Scientists write that it’s the “earthy” odor of the worm that attracts fish and that is the formulation they are trying to perfect.
All of it leaves me scratching my head. If fish dig worms, why bother with something else? The answer apparently lies in the Field of Dreams theory which simply states ” Build it and they (anglers) will buy.”
The bottom line is that with all the research there still is no conclusive evidence that you’ll catch more walleyes if you use an attractant.
However, I do know this: find a school of Lake Erie walleyes and drag something flashy through it – maybe with a nightcrawler on the hook – and most of the time you will catch’em.
And I think those odds are better than the ones they get in a test tank.
About the Author
I am a retired news journalist who now operates a sportfishing charter business on Lake Erie. Visit me at www.eriecaptain.com
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