Bass attraction sprays and jelly. Do they work?

I'm pretty sure this has been asked before so if it has I'm sorry for bringing it up again. I got some baits mate classic bass and smelly jelly bass feast. I was wondering, do you guys belive in this stuff or no? I'm sorry if I get annoying to you guys about bass fishing. I'm just trying to get as much advice as I can from every one. You guys are a big help.

I believe in it especially coffee spray. I think it is more of something to make it stand out and cover up the smell of us.

I believe in them

I was reading about this subject last night and as everything else about scents for bass, it was inconclusive. Basically the author said it works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. What I did find interesting is how much KVD uses scents, and that's a good enough reason for me to start using them more.

Probably help a little.

Kinda like Hydrowaves, Color C-lectors, lures with flashing lights in them, camo line and on and on.

I'd also be interested to know from the guys who have ridden with pros how much they have seen scents used in big tourneys.

Waiting on shameless plug...

Do you believe in the tooth fairy????

I think they give you that extra millisecond to feel the fish before they spit out your lure. If I spray crawfish scent on a jig, and Larry the Largemouth hold onto it for another second, that's a little longer for me to recognize the bite and get him.

If it gives you confidence, use it.

They hold on much longer, i proved that at the fish tank at BPS.
Had a 19 lb swim around with a plastic worm in it's mouth
for count of 45 seconds, huge crowd watching.
They like the taste.

Lots of studies have been done on this. Unless your fishing an area very slowly and for a long period of time there is no "attractant effect." That is to say most fisherman don't sit in a spot long enough for a scent to diffuse enough to actually draw a fish in. In fact, very often the fish may wind up being attracted to where you were and not where you are. Now in terms of getting a fish to hang on longer, I believe certain scents can definitely help achieve this. Are they worth it? I think it might give you a slight edge, but when you consider costs and time lost it is probably pretty close to a wash. All that said, my biggest fish did come on a bait dipped in some sauce.

I have the Minnow, Night Crawler, Crayfish and Craylic made by a Biotech that test scent on the aggressiveness of all species of fish as a job. He works for the Government, go figure. Ha.. He absolutely knows what the Bass like and don't like.

He is surprised that we catch any fish after handling our lures that are not scented. The human odor is the most deterrent of all scents even over pollutants like gas and oil. The most abundant and natural pray in that lake is what they like the best and come to it fastest to check it out. Bass strike these chum bags as mentioned above more often than other scents available and then some. Always use scents to mask the human odor if nothing else. It just makes sense to me to use what they like best and they are listed in the order of preference.

I use all of them and supplied the Craylic to replace one of the best Crayfish and Garlic scents that we can't find any longer. I use the minnow on all my fast moving baits like spinner bait skirts, the Night Crawler on all slow moving plastics and finesse worms, and the Crayfish on my pitching, flipping plastics and on my jig skirts.

You know that Night Crawlers are not an abundant species in lakes; but it is like candy to all fresh water species when the lakes are high and they move into the shallow to find them.

It doesn't hurt.

I'm a believer in this stuff

Sorry, just could not resist. BUT, I will not comment further!

I can't say it helps but I don't think it hurts. I wear gloves so I will actually put some of the ProCure scent on my fingertips to mask my scent if nothing else when I put on a bait or adjust my bait. ProCure is supposed to be ground up bait so it's all natural but I don't know that for sure.

If it a pure extract then it is the product of the that forage. Having it on your hands is a good thing. It just makes it hard to eat your sandwich at lunch. Ha.. Keep a boat towel and hand sanitizer handy when time to eat.

I don't think scent makes a bass more willing to bite. However, I do believe that it helps mask human scent and helps the bass hold on longer. I stick to the good ole' BANG garlic scent and shad spray. I use those 2 the most. Berkley GULP Alive spray works really well too. I've tried the BioEdge potion wands in the crawfish scent, but I didn't like it because it melted too much in the sun. I try to stick to the aerosol sprays or spray bottles. I keep it simple: garlic for anything crawfish or bluegill and shad scent for anything "shad-like". It definitely doesn't hurt to add scent.

Have tested it myself with spinners in very clear ponds. Throw regular inline spinner, maybe a fish or two chase after it. Throw one after spraying it and there is a small crowd of bluegill and young bass next to the shore where I pulled it out of the water. Same spot, different spots, first cast, cast immediately after....doesn't matter.

Bass have scent glands, they use, and it's not to sniff flowers...

Eric

no

"I don't think scent makes a bass more willing to bite."

So I guess all those on the market should take the word, Attractant, off the label.

Let me start out by saying that the guy that makes the ones I use works for a Gov. Facility where all studies recorded cannot be released to the public in any way. I would love to see a video of this. This is what he has told me and I have no reason to doubt him.

In a 100 ft. test tank with no outside interference like wind and currents all test are run on the fresh water species. 12 chum bags, one including the human odor, are hung. Release the fish at the other end and they go directly to the bags and start striking. They strike the natural extracts first and they get twice as many hits as all the rest.

Put a puff of extract through a tube 100 ft. away then open the door and let in a Bass. Within 15 seconds it is all over that area and looking excitedly. Run a scent snake through the water putting out a slight trail of extract; traveling in a zig zag pattern and a Bass will follow that trail exact. Timed test have also been done on each of these with all kinds of scents. A Bass will cut that time of travel in half if the scents are natural scents. Shad is in the top 5 but not number one. Garlic is up there but not in the top 10. Insect Larva is in the top five.

I still believe in what my Grandfather taught me

If they aint bitin, Spit on it,

I will dunk my baits sometimes in coffee that got cold, sometimes it works sometimes it don't.

I was told by a classic champion that he believes scents don't work.

They work and at times can be the difference. I have seen fish and pitch to them and they don't even give it a look. Spray some scent on it and they kill it. The scent will make a fish hold the bait slightly longer giving a little more time to detect the strike.

Seems like it's a pretty inconclusive subject, but as others have said, if it gives you confidence, run with it.

Confidence is not inconclusive.

Also, I have always been a big fan of the Berkley crawfish and worm baits because they do a very good job of "baking" scent into the bait.

I don't really use scent, but I do like to use baits that have it included.

I just really don't like having to mess with it, and I guess, I just don't put enough stock into it to deal with the extra hassle. I have caught a ton of fish on Zoom baits, and they don't have anything at all added to them. Zoom baits smell like fresh plastic.

Contrary to Mr. Harper's second hand information on studies which cannot be released publicly, Keith Jones PhD. studied this topic extensively at Berkeley and the information was made public in a book he published called, "Knowing Bass." Summarizing a bit, as I previously stated, scents can increase hold time (night crawler being most effective), but in most practical fishing applications they do not act as an attractant because scent does not diffuse through water very quickly. Where it might work is if you decided to throw out a chum bag of the stuff and then proceeded to cast your scent soaked bait to the same general area for the next hour. Most bass fisherman don't fish that way. Also, as others have previously stated, perhaps more important than anything is masking the scent of odors which could act as deterrents. Bug spray, sun tan lotion, and tobacco being near the top of that list.

A bass is a predator, Sight,Scent,Sound are his three key elements in catching pray. Scents works and I think if you can add all 3 of these to any bait it will increase you catches. IMO

Sprays do not last as longs as jelly's or rub on time baits so I like Smelly Jelly best. Craw fish,garlic,shad are just three of the best but a few others work also.

I have never tried night crawler scents like DH mention but he is correct on flooded lakes where night crawlers are present for sure. I am sure it work most of the time just because it is a natural scent.

Most soft plastics have some type of scent
already "baked" in the plastic.

some guys used to swear by WD40.

First time I tried WD 40 caught some nice fish. I quit using it in fear the fish might grow a third eye or something freaky ! LOL

It worked anyhow.

Interesting posts. The actual science concerning scents seems rather limited.
So in that case I have to go with my own experiences. I believe at times scent did make a difference.
A few times I caught a big bedding bass by totally soaking the bait in crawfish attractant over and over- the surface had a film buildup- lol!- I think a few times it helped to trigger her to bite but I can't be sure. Also, I have been jig or worm fishing very very slowly for non spawning bass and noted an increase in big bass bites using attractant- esp crawfish, shad, or night crawler. Once again, can't be sure but it seemed to get more big bites. When you are sitting there forever waiting for something to hit your lure any little bit of confidence helps!

I know from my testing that insect repellant with DEET, sun screen SPF-50, grease, outboard oil, gasoline, and a few others I tested do not deter wild bass from taking a soft plastic lure. They may in a laboratory environment with trained bass.

I knew some old timer bass fishermen that would spit tobacco juice on their lures to get more bites. Same BS that some think WD-40 is made of fish oil and is an attractant.

Wayen, my Grand Father chewed Bull-Of-The-Woods Plug Tobacco. He would spit juice on my wad of worms when fishing for Catfish. We always seemed to catch the bigger fish when he did this.

Haven't heard any mention that WD-40 is made of fish oil; but it has been know to work.

We all have done test on our personal baits hoping to get better results. I have always had a hard time telling what works and what doesn't in our lakes because of the few bites that one gets in one day. I could have just got on some fish in that spot; who knows. I like testing these scents in Mexico where the catching can be up there around 100 Bass per day or more. Also half of those can easily be over 5 lb fish. We use counters to click each fish caught so it is quite accurate. Each trip I prepare 6 gallon bags of Brush Hogs and Lizards each containing a different scent. The boats that are fishing with Minnow, Night Crawler or Crayfish will always come in with more and bigger bass than the other boats. Those boats easily have 100 per day and the others run about 70 per day.
We fish 6 days; so by the 3 day no one wants to use the other bags...Go figure. Ha..

I think it's more of a cover for our scent I used garlic spray most of the time,even Pam cooking spray has worked for me

Ive read studies that say minus a chum bag, attractants do little to move fish towards a non moving bait. Once they take a lure, they quickly hold on or spit it out depending on texture or taste. Oil and gas don't bother them but deet does. I will spray mine occasionally not as an attractant but as a cover scent but can't tell that it actually helps. Plastics, I did the tail in a garlic flavored dye. I seem to catch more fish with it but who knows. I feel that it gives me a little longer to set the hook. I have confidence in that so I use it. It definitely doesn't seem to hurt and the tiny bottle lasts forever.

I believe the eyes and lateral lines play a more important role in the fish biting

WD 40

http://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf/msds-wd494716385.pdf

I saw the coffee flavored plastics a few weeks back in BassPro, and came up with the idea for a new plastic. I'm in the process of making it now...combining these two will be an absolutely killer lure! It may even be banned from most tournaments. I'm calling it "coffee black, cigarette" and you should use it right at sunrise for best results who knows, it may even mend your broken hearts

Grease and gasoline are not water soluble, so they would be undetectable to the taste receptors in a basses mouth. Deet on the other hand, is water soluble and is an extremely strong bass repellent. Again, I'll point you in the direction of peer reviewed repeatable scientific studies. In laboratory settings with bass that had never seen lures (let alone been trained) Keith Jones showed that strikes rates and hold time decreased dramatically for up to 45 minutes with lures exposed to deet. Again, this is published information by a biologist with a PhD. But by all means though if you did a backwoods study and want to douse your baits in insect/fish repellent go right on ahead! That'll leave more for me.

Fishermen are much like golfers in that if they think something will give them an edge, money is no object. Being both I've seen first hand how it works. Fishermen will buy every lure, scent, line, etc. available if they think it will help them catch fish. Golfers are notorious for buying drivers they think will help them hit the ball farther. With over 40 years of doing both, here is what really works. Fishermen, want to catch more and bigger bass? Hire a guide as a teacher and spend all the time possible on the water practicing what you learned. Golfers, want to learn to hit the ball farther and straighter? Hire an instructor and spend lots of time on the range practicing what you learned. KVD didn't win all those tournaments because he uses scent on his lures. Tiger Woods, forget that one, Jack Nicklaus didn't win 18 majors because of the driver he used. I credit my success as a fishermen to hiring Dreabon Joiner when I decided to get serious about bass fishing. The 14.19 I caught was a direct result of his teachings and time on the water. My success as a golfer came as a result of the lessons I got from various instructors and the many hours spent on the range.
If you want to spray something on your lures help yourself, but if there are no fish around it probably ain't gonna help. Just my 2 cents, spend it wisely.

I was on the bubble, but after this weekend on Choke I have to say that scents do make a difference.

I don't know that I get more bites with a scent, but I'm convinced that they help me catch more fish. With Megastrike on my lure, they don't spit it back out. If I don't feel the bite, I still can still catch them because they don't let go of it.