# Scent?



## BASmead (Jan 11, 2008)

So in watching all these tv fishing show jokers i noticed alot of them use spray bottle scents on their lures. I've never subscribed to this theory. I do believe in the powerbait infused baits, it always just seemed like the spray bottle stuff just comes off as soon as you drop it in the water. Maybe this year i'll give it ago. What are your experiences with scent? Any particular brands you guys swear by? It's all BS? Just Roland tryin' to make a buck as per usual? Must be somethin to it. Roland does get behind some whacked out products though. The magical color tester for selector for instance. Have you seen this? But i digress...


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

I've used the spray a few times on my musky lures. Never noticed any difference. I think you're right, the stuff just comes off when it hits the water.

ps My name is BBSmead - Good to know that there are other fishersmeads out there.

Brian


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## Tiny Tim (Sep 19, 2006)

I use a garlic scent made by Venom called Grab. I put my plastic baits in a bag and squirt the liquid on them and leave them soak sometime for months at a time. I dont think it makes more fish hit the baits but when they suck it in they hold onto it longer. I use it on anything from worms to grubs. The spray kind I dont much care for.


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## sisezz73 (Mar 9, 2007)

I beleive if you have confidence in using scent then use it if not dont. it never seems it helps but thats hard to say i dont catch alot of fish.lol.gel style scents seem to stay on longer,sometimes you have to wipe it off.just my thought


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## liquidsoap (Oct 22, 2005)

I have never been a fan.
But I do not see how it could hurt anything using it.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

i like lots of worms that come with scent, and just as many that dont, i never bother with scent sprays i think they are gimmicks. i use a bait for its actions and color, scent wont hurt but its the last factor in my bait decisions.


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## c-orth513 (Feb 1, 2008)

I found scents to bring more hits, but they never made that big of a difference.

I use Nitro Gravy: Bass and Yum: Crawfish

The latter is endorsed by Kevin VanDam, and it was really good.


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## Thick Rick (Feb 3, 2008)

I use Bang Garlic spray. And believe me, it is some serious garlic. It is oil based. The oil keeps it on a long time. I don't necessarily think it attracts more bites, but it just might mask human smell and not prevent a bite. Maybe? Who knows? I do, however, believe that the oil and garlic on the bait might just make a fish hold on to the bait a second longer.


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## young-gun21 (Mar 14, 2006)

I became a believer in Carolina Lunker Sauce (garlic) this past season...
I believe that nothing has ever made me want to jump out of the boat faster!!

Seriously though - I don't think it hurts anything. It can help a fish locate a bait in dirty water and it makes them hang on longer. KVD said on a show recently that he uses it consistently on baits that he fished slowly...if it's good enough for KVD, it's good enough for me!


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## lateral_line (Jun 9, 2005)

scents work great as lube on plastics like frogs and other baits you'd fish around weeds and pads.


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

It covers up human scents from handling your bait. I use it for that reason. In some instances i feel the fish will hold on a little longer.


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## seapro (Sep 25, 2007)

Mr. Twister use to make a banana scented tail. It caught me alot of fish! 
Put it to the test once throwing same tail scented and unscented, the scented one caught fish and the unscented one didn't - made me a believer! 

They don't make these anymore so I'll marinate worms ect.., in banana extract that you can buy at any food store. Anise works well also, especially for bass. 

Put a soft jerk bait on marinated with anise and one without and test it for yourself. Certainly won't hurt you to try and you don't need to spend the money these advertised concotions cost. 

Don't ask me why fish like the banana scent but they do!!!


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

i think that scents definitely help you get more bites !! for one the fish are attracted to scents and also as mentioned on here it also helps mask any unwanted scents that you may have on your hands !!!


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## BASmead (Jan 11, 2008)

Cool, thanks for the thoughts everyone.


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## elkhtr (Oct 23, 2006)

Strike King just came out with coffee scented tubes. Of course they say they are deadly. Watched a show a few weeks ago where they caught a bunch of bass on them. Why not just throw some fresh coffee grounds in with some tubes for a week and try it? Same idea as what seapro mentioned.


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## CARP 104 (Apr 19, 2004)

I have had some success on those coffee tubes, but didn't really catch any more than I normally do on tubes.

As for scent, like Marshall said it's mainly to mask odors on your hands. If you pump gas before you go fishing, try filling the tank the night before and washing your hand pretty good to let the smell of the gas come off your hands, trust me this helps, the fish CAN smell it.

I use a gel scent with amino acids in it. It doesn't just float off in the water, and it masks unwanted scents with its own scent pretty well. It also has made a difference in my hookup ratio, I have noticed that a lot of bass hold onto it a little longer.


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## Bass_Hawg (Apr 12, 2004)

I use the Bang Garlic spray. Do I get more hits or bites. . . . NO. Visual presentation is what gets you bit in my opinion. Why do I use it. Because when I get rewarded with a bite from a good presentation I really want that fish to hold on as long as I need it to before I set the hook and that is what the spray does for me. Hit keeps them holding on longer.


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## leftfordead88 (Oct 22, 2007)

i was told by someone awhile back that if you wrap a small peice of pipecleaner around the base of your treble hooks on crank baits you can spray those with scents and it will hold real well...i havent tryed it myself but its worth a shot...any color would prolly work good


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## jignut (Feb 14, 2005)

I have tried numerous scents over the years with no noticeable improvement, but the one time I decided to try some bank fishing for carp I took a radio and some beer and a reclining lawn chair. I was spring and I thought I would lay around and get a tan. I had some coconut suntan oil and rubbed it on before baiting up. The oil was still on my hands and I rigged up a night crawler and casted it out. Grabbed my other rod to rig it up and the 1st rod almost went in the river, 15 lb carp ! this went on for an hour then slowed down. I put more oil on and rebaited one of the rods and BAM !
I finally caught on it was the oil or the coconut scent, but since then I always keep a bottle in the boat.
I showed a friend one day, bass fishing, and he laughed at me until I caught 9 keepers to his 1. After he tried it he started catching.
After awhile he said "no wonder my wife outfishes me", she uses coconut oil when they fish together.
A month later he was fishing a Budweiser tournament with a buddy who was a pretty good tournament fisherman and they were both throwing spinner baits. My friend was fishing out of the back of the boat and caught 5 keepers in an hour. He had rubbed some oil on his hands before they started but never mentioned why he was outfishing the other guy when he asked him what he was doing different. Same bait same color.
Try it some time, I use it when the bite is really slow.


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## Columbusslim31 (Sep 1, 2007)

CARP 104 said:


> I use a gel scent with amino acids in it.


Mega Strike???

I won't lie, I was seduced into buying this product. (Damn Roland Martin!) 

Cost me over 7 bucks and although I caught my biggest Saugeye yet (17") using it, I'm still not convinced it was worth what I paid for it. 

I still crack up the first time I went fishing with seethe303 and I offered him some Mega Strike. Looked at me like I was crazy! LOL! We both used essentially the same lure yet he outfished me, sans scent.


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## CARP 104 (Apr 19, 2004)

Columbusslim31 said:


> Mega Strike???
> 
> I won't lie, I was seduced into buying this product. (Damn Roland Martin!)
> 
> ...



Yes! I use Megastrike on ALL my jig trailers and never have any problems or have ever thought it disinterests fish. I have ended the tournament season in 07 with a profit and had some 1st place finishes this year, and every tournament I've done good in I've caught fish on the jig.

I'm not sure why you don't like it...I can 100% assure you it doesn't hurt to say the least. I know for a fact it has made many bass hold on longer which is exactly what a scent is intended to do. 

Maybe the species you fish for finds this scent less attractive? If you don't want yours anymore send it to me


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## Bubba bass bigfoot (May 8, 2006)

I tried some scent spray and did not see a difference. After a couple trips using I stopped. I stick with the scent that is on the plastics already. Whatever ZOOM and Berkley use is good enough for me.


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## CARP 104 (Apr 19, 2004)

Yeah I don't apply scent to anything that already has a scent on it either. That I think could turn fish away since the scent will become 'strange' once you mix two strong scents together.

Maybe this is what you did columbusslim?


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## Tiny Tim (Sep 19, 2006)

I am the same way. If the bait already has some kind of scent on it or in it ( such as powerbait ) I dont use anything. A lot of the plastic grubs that I use Garlic scent on dont have anything on them. I rub or chew when I am fishing and I think it just makes the fish hold onto the bait longer if they taste something that is close to the real thing for them. I dont figure they would like Copenhagen very well. LOL


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## Columbusslim31 (Sep 1, 2007)

CARP 104 said:


> Yeah I don't apply scent to anything that already has a scent on it either. That I think could turn fish away since the scent will become 'strange' once you mix two strong scents together.
> 
> Maybe this is what you did columbusslim?


Not at all. I use it on grubs. And I've tried it on senko's (to no avail). I'd like to that I'm smart enough not to put scent on something that already has it. But then again I once gave a ride to my girlfriend and her "cousin" who I later found out was the guy she was cheating on me with.  So who knows...

CARP 104, I don't wanna give up on the product yet. (Cost too much.) I'll give it one more season. If I have no success and I have any left, we can make arrangements.


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## seethe303 (Dec 12, 2006)

Columbusslim31 said:


> Not at all. I use it on grubs. And I've tried it on senko's (to no avail). I'd like to that I'm smart enough not to put scent on something that already has it. But then again I once gave a ride to my girlfriend and her "cousin" who I later found out was the guy she was cheating on me with.  So who knows...


damn dude, that is pretty harsh!!!


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## young-gun21 (Mar 14, 2006)

Tiny Tim said:


> I dont figure they would like Copenhagen very well. LOL


Shhhh...that's the secret!!! Copenhagen straight long cut!


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## Tiny Tim (Sep 19, 2006)

You got it !!! Hope I didnt let the cat out of the bag. LOL


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## WoodenShips (Aug 5, 2004)

I use YUM GARLIC and CRAW scent.I really believe it works.
I agree with MARSHALL said...........it takes YOUR scent off the lure. JMO


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## dKilla (May 1, 2007)

Columbusslim31 said:


> But then again I once gave a ride to my girlfriend and her "cousin" who I later found out was the guy she was cheating on me with.  So who knows...


Probably was her cousin...you gotta stay away from those hillbilly girls.


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## dKilla (May 1, 2007)

BTW....about 9/10 of you scent users are backing some sort of garlic scent. You catchin italian bass or what??


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## bassin101 (May 16, 2005)

Hey BASmead,
I'm a big user of the scents. It might not make the fish bite but I feel it makes them hold on just a little bit longer. I use Yum garlic and crawfish. I never leave home without it.


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## fishinjim (Aug 9, 2006)

you guys got me. I've never used a scent but I'll definitely give it a shot this year. The coconut tanning oil sounds like an idea. maybe I'll pack some pina colada's too!


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