Non-Fly Bait scents: bullshit or not?

[Shad]

Can't say for sure about the bananas on a boat being bad luck, but I eat a banana every day before I go fishing, sometimes two.
I eat at least one every day even on non fishing days.
SF

That potassium is good stuff! Cures all kinds of aches and pains....

Just eat them before you get on the boat... so they say.

 

[headduck]

What about aminos?

They are the basis behind the Gulps.... as well as their fancy spongy material.

Thoughts or considerations?

 

[klickt]

To add to this comment, according to the WD40 company website: https://www.wd40.com/myths-legends-fun-facts/

"A QUESTION OF LUBRICATION
Myth: WD-40 Multi-Use Product is not really a lubricant.

Fact: While the “W-D” in WD-40 stands for Water Displacement, WD-40 Multi-Use Product is a unique, special blend of lubricants. The product’s formulation also contains anti-corrosion agents and ingredients for penetration, water displacement and soil removal.

WHAT A FISH STORY!​

Myth: WD-40 Multi-Use Product contains fish oil.

Fact: Consumers have told us over the years that they have caught some of the biggest fish ever after protecting their fish hooks and lures with WD-40 Multi-Use Product . We believe this legend came from folks assuming that the product must contain fish oil since it appears to attract fish. Sorry Charlie®, it just ain’t so.

WD-40 Company has taken steps to respect and conserve the environment, and encourages its users to do the same. While WD-40 Multi-Use Product can be used to help protect fishing equipment from rust and corrosion, WD-40 Company does not recommend using WD-40 Multi-Use Product to attract fish."

IMHO, WD40 is a pollutant. I'll stick to other environmentally safe "scents" to mask my heathen hand odors. And for sure I'm not going to put it on my rods or reels despite what the company website says.

 

[Tom Butler]

We only fish fresh water (Columbia and Snake) but here's my .02. My son firmly believes in scents. We fish Brad's stuffed with tuna. He makes these stinky mixes. Plain tuna catches as many, and I feel unstuffed is about as good. Naked Kwikfish work as well as wrapped. He uses scents for steelhead, I don't. I catch more. The blue gloves and being careful of human scent, to me it doesn't matter. We don't have a lot of experience, but enough to make some observational conclusions.
White power bait is no more effective for trout than a white marshmallow most days. If I have a smoke while rigging my 3 flies and slobber on the knots, and use wet fingers to shape a fly, well I think the fish like it. Usually hook up right away. But really doesn't matter, works unscented too.
I worked at KFC through high school and Shoreline CC, and when I sobered up to put myself through Renton. I couldn't eat it for 20 years, now I enjoy it again. Is it possible a scent could just as well put off a fish as attract it?

 

[CRO]

I remember a charter captain at wesport in the 60's that wouldnt allow his customers to get their own bait out of the bait bucket. His reasoning was he didn't want any cologne or aftershave on the bait. Rock salt was the only thing added to seawater to brine bait. Water for the bait bucket had to be collected outside of the boat harbor.

 

[speedbird]

when i first started fishing spinners for summer runs over 50 years ago i was taught to remove human scent by washing the lures with ivory soap bar after tying them on. There were so many fish in those days that you would see fish before they hit. It was not uncommon to watch a fish follow for over 10ft and either strike or not. Always felt that no scent was better than human scent.

I’ve heard this before and considered experimenting by only wearing gloves when handling brand new gear, vs handling gear as normal. But I wonder: How is a salmon supposed to know what a human smells like? You could argue that the thing that scares them is an unfamiliar scent, but then there are scores of unfamiliar scents on lures to scare them. The smell of plastic, the smell of the metal on the hook, the smell of the lead you are using.

I also wonder how much a salmon would care about an unfamiliar scent, considering how happy they are to strike the wildest looking flies and lures once they reach the river. That said, some runs are more aggressive than others, and I wonder if eliminating that human scent really would make a difference on the more lockjawed ones

 

[SeaRunner]

Not so much a story, just data from a lot of non superstitious, experienced salmon fishermen and guides who say that the oils and smells on fried chicken are salmon repellent.

Caught a lot of summer steelhead after eating fried chicken. We used to throw the bones in the run we were fishing and then fish through again. I can recall multiple trips where a formerly fishless run produced after getting the chicken treatment.

 

[JACKspASS]

My opinion on the matter is there are times when scent is 100% effective and times it is not. Back in the day, a buddy and I regularly fished summer steelhead all summer, we had the drop on some fish in this weird slot that didn't look like good steelhead water but was holding fish. Never seen another fisherman at this spot. I got off work one late July day and hauled ass to the slot, we fished float and jig alot back then and I had a black and orange jig on with no scent, I casted into the slot 100 times without a touch, my buddy comes pulling up, walks the short trail through the woods after I'd been pounding on it for an hour and asks if I tried sandshrimp, told him, "nope," he says very matter of factly, " well, I'll make a believer out of you," first cast with same float, same length leader, same jig, and bam! Chrome bright 6lb hatchery, I continue casting the same setup sans sandshrimp, he tags fish, rebaits and nails another 11lb buck hatchery....lesson learned...

I've had it go the other way too, especially over highly pressured fish, no bait was the ticket, and I'd damn sure never leave home Chinook fishing without quality bait...