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Do "Scents" Really Make Sense?
By:
"The Bass Coach" – Roger Lee Brown
Fish
formulas and attractants are a very big product in today's angling
market, but are they really worth using? I seem to get at least a dozen
emails (along with phone calls) each week from anglers who specifically
ask me if a fish formula (or fish a attractant) is worth purchasing. I
usually respond with my answer as being yes! I personally wouldn't be
without a fish formula if I was to go fishing (I'll explain in a
moment.) Then some of these anglers will ask; "What kind of formulas
(or attractants) should I buy, or which one works the best for catching
fish?" To this question, I am a bit more hesitant in my answer because
of all the different brands, scents (or flavors), substances of the many
different formulas (liquids, spray-ons, jelly types, etc.), along with
the costs per container, and because of having their own individual pros
and cons when used. Personally, I use only three different formulas (or
scents) that covers all of my bass fishing needs, and they are Crawfish,
Shad, and Garlic formulas. The reason for these three is that they're
the most proven and tested by anglers like yourselves. Then finally many
will ask me what kind of applicators would be best to use for the
application of these formulas (or attractants?), mostly because of the
problems with some products ruining boat carpets when spilling formulas
(or attractants) on them, some gumming up on the fiberglass or metal
finishes of a boat when dripping formula on them, but most of all
wasting formula by pouring it over a bait while most of it runs off into
the water, or even some spraying formula onto a bait allowing the wind
blow it all over everything (including themselves)… (Sound familiar?)
Hopefully I can help some of you anglers that haven't had a chance to
ask these questions as well as to help with some of the problems
mentioned above.
The answer to the first question about formulas (or attractants) of
being an importance to an angler is a bit more than one would seem just
a simple yes or no answer. First, we'll try to clarify a "myth" about
formulas (or attractants.) One thing to keep in mind is that there is no
such thing as a "Fish Attractant!" except when it comes to "chumming the
water, usually done while salt water fishing." Fish Attractants do not
attract anything except for the angler who buys them off of the self or
orders them from their favorite bait and tackle outlet, and a "Fish
Formula" is no more than a "cover-up" for an unwanted taste that had
probably contaminated your bait from something you may have had on your
hands or what ever the bait was kept in (the old musty smell?) A fish
formula is much like when the deer hunter puts scents on his clothes to
"cover-up" his human scent so the deer won't smell him walking through
the woods. The same principal goes for the formulas that are made to use
for fishing, they're simply just a "Cover-up!" but they're still needed
because if a fish accepts the taste of a scent (or flavor) it will hold
on to it a few moments longer than if the fish didn't like the taste, in
which it would spit it right out in a split second (if it bites the bait
at all.)
Let's say for example that you were going to go fishing one day and on
the way to the boat launch you stopped to gas up your boat. While you
were putting gas into your boat you spilled some gas on your hands and
didn't have a place to wash them after you paid
for the gas. Next, you put your boat into the water and go to your
favorite spot. When you get to your fishing hole you grab your rod and
reel, pick up your plastic worm (just for a bait example) and put it on
your hook and cast it into the water. When you do all that you find
yourself just sitting and waiting for quite some time but you can't
figure out why the fish aren't biting the bait, especially when you know
that there are fish in the area (why?) or the fish just short-strike the
bait and let go (could this be a cause for the short-strikes?)
Probably the biggest reason for this to happen is because you have
contaminated the plastic worm (or whatever bait you may be using) with
the scent of the gas on your hands from putting the gas in your boat on
the way to the ramp. You see, a
bass (and many other species of fish) can scent approximately 1/200th of
a drop of a substance in 100 gallons of water. Now if their sense of
taste and smell are that acute, they can surly taste the gas that rubbed
off of your hands and got on the bait you cast into the water or any
other foreign scent or residue that may have been on your hands such as
sun lotion, ingredients from something you may have ate, a after shave
lotion (or perfume hopefully used by female anglers), rust, must, mold,
or just about anything you can imagine. This is why many companies have
scented or salted products made to help prevent this problem, but even
these can get contaminated…..Here's a money saving tip for you; if you
buy the expensive formulated baits that can get contaminated from
something on your hands, why not buy the inexpensive "more for the buck"
plastics and just put formula on them? You will get the same results!!!
The next question we'll cover is which formula to purchase…. To this
question I really can't tell you exactly which company product to buy
because there are so many different manufacturers of fish formulas on
the market and most of them are all very compatible and work great, but
I can tell you from experience that the natural scents work the best. I
always use a Crawfish formula for plastics and jig & pig combos, Shad
Oil (or scent) for actions baits such as spinnerbaits, jerkbaits,
crankbaits, and top water baits, and a Garlic scent when things slow
down from the Crawfish scented baits. Here's a point you may want to
remember... a Crawfish is ALWAYS!, ALWAYS!, the number one food source
of a bass, even over baitfish!
Now that we've went over some of the "Pros" of formulas, let's eliminate
some of the "Cons" that can really bother anglers when applying formulas
to artificial baits, and this goes for fresh water as well as salt water
baits. For over the past 25 years up to approximinately 4 years ago,
I've tried just about every applicator that can be used for applying
fish formulas. I've tried the spray on types that just sprayed formula
over everything when it was windy (which usually is 80% of the time.
I've tried the dip tubs, where you pour the formula into a little tub
and dip your baits into it, but found myself dripping formula all over
my boat. I have even tried just pouring formula on my baits right out of
the container just to find that I was pouring most of it into the water
(when it missed my boat carpet.) I got so frustrated at times because of
problems with formulas gumming up on my boat when dripping on it
(especially the pain of using a scouring pad on my boat to clean it
off), ruining my boat carpets (when my students, charter clients, as
well as myself spilling formula on the carpet), and just flat pouring
more money (formula) into the water than I was getting on my baits. I
literally must have gone through at least 7 or 8 containers of formula
per season, and you know how costly that can be. Then finally over the
years I discovered a method of using the formula like a hand lotion
which I even wrote a article a few years back on "Fish Attractants" that
mentioned this method of just rubbing formula onto your hands so that
anything you touch while fishing artificial baits, the formula would rub
off on the bait as to eliminate contamination (the ole cover-up!)
Now, the good news!, just shortly after I had authored the "Fish
Attractants" article that was nationally exposed I received a email from
a fellow angler by the name of Darryl who was also a avid bass angler.
Darryl had asked me after reading my article I wrote about the
attractants if I had ever heard of a product called the Scentbox (which
he had invented), and I replied back to him and said that I never heard
of the Scentbox or ever seen anything like it (after looking at it on
his website), so he said that he would send me one to try and for me to
let him know how I liked it. Now, I can say without hesitation that I
have came across many different products related to angling (some good
and some bad) over my career, but this product (the Scentbox) became a
part of my life. If I had to describe how valuable this product can be
to an angler (whether fresh water or salt water angling) and how
important of a tool it can be, it would be like a carpenter needing a
hammer for his work. I have used the Scentbox every time I have been in
my boat since it was introduced to me over four years ago, I won't be
without it because of many different reasons: 1. It saves me lots of
money each season because now I only use one container of formula per
season, no more waste! 2. It won't allow formula to get on you, your
boat, or spill on your carpets, and especially saturate the water
because it's literally drip free (you don't even get any on your
hands.) 3. It actually became a "Tool" to me for my angling
profession. It is so unique that "Every" former student of mine that
had attended my 3-day bass fishing school as well as my bass charter
clients had to get one for themselves after using mine.
I have authored many articles in the past to help anglers, the general
public, and even tournament anglers learn more about angling with
helpful hints, pro tips, unique products, and even a understanding about
the fish themselves, but when a product like the Scentbox comes along
that can solve many problems, save lots of money (it literally pays for
itself in 1 season of use), and themost important! .. allows more fish
to be caught.. I felt that I need to share this product because of it's
importance in many areas for anglers of all types such as the simple pan
fishermen (or woman) who fishes for crappie, blue gill, perch, etc. or
bass anglers whether they be beginners, novices, or even touring
tournament anglers, and even the salt water fishermen (or women) who do
the artificial lure fishing. I even know of certain bass lures that the
cost for one is more than the whole cost of the Scentbox. The Scentbox
even comes in three different sizes for all angling. They make a smaller
size for pan fish, one for fresh water fishing, and one for salt water
fishing.
The last time I talked about a certain product I didn't mention how to
get one or how to contact the company that manufactured the product
which caused me hundreds of Emails of inquiry. The Scent box can be seen
at
www.scentbox.com,
it's made by the Lake Champlain Bait and Tackle, Inc., and you can call
Toll Free at: 1-(800) 331-2188 for further information.
I hope this article helps many of you from going through what many of us
have in the past as far as pros and cons concerning fish formulas. I
honestly feel that this tool (the Scentbox) will revolutionize the
angling industry because of it's simplicity and helpfulness for all
artificial angling whether it be fresh or salt water angling. If you
wish to write me about the 3-day bass fishing school, or bass charter
service on the worlds famous Lake Champlain and Lake George, located in
upstate NY. You can visit my sites at:
www.capital.net/~rlbrown
or
www.fishing-boating.com/basscoach
or you can email me at:
rlbrown@capital.net
or even call me at (518) 597-4240…
Until next time!... Take Care & God Bless!... "The Bass Coach"…Roger Lee
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