The more a bait looks, tastes and smells natural, the greater the catch rate. I am sure you have seen a fish follow a lure and then turn away just when you thought he was going to blast it. More times than not, the fish smelled or tasted something unusual. Many lures have an unnatural synthetic scent. They taste and smell like plastic, not a natural forage. Adding an attractant may result in a fish being more enticed to strike and hold it in its mouth longer, allowing for more time to set the hook.
Many fishermen overlook the importance of taste and smell. The scientific evidence today strongly suggests that fish attractants can have a positive impact on your catch rate. If you use it properly, fish attractants can entice an encourage fish behavior in many species of game fish.
I’ll be the first to tell you, they are not a magic potion or a cure-all. They cannot compensate for improper lure selection, presentations or produce fish where there are none. But attractants can and will increase your chances of success.
The smell and taste nerves go to different parts of the brain, which means that smell is more long-range or distant sense, while taste is a contact sense. Example: A fish may be drawn from several yards away by a particular smell of a food item, however, it doesn’t taste it until it’s in his mouth and by then, it’s normally too late.
In closing, let me say once more that there’s proven evidence to show that the sense of smell is incredibly involved in a fish’s life and this is why you’ll improve your catches by adding a fish attractant to your lure, especially when fish are inactive.
What are your thoughts on scents and the use of attractants while bass fishing?
Can you talk a little about stickups?
Stickups don’t provide very much cover for a large mouth bass, but they are significant structure in the spring when the bass move into the shallows to spawn. At that time, the fish are willing to sacrifice habit and ignore cover. One reason is that bass require sunlight for spawning, at least to keep the water warm so the eggs will hatch in the normal time frame. Rather than just stay out in the open, the bass will shoulder up to a stickup. Stickups on hard bottoms such as sand or gravel are usually more productive.
A plastic worm or spinner bait is relatively hang-proof and is an excellent choice for this type of fishing. The best way to cover a stickup is by casting to the left side, right side and down the middle. If a bass is nearby, the lure will be seen.
Since stickups are in relatively shallow water, a quiet approach is necessary; any noise from a motor or noise that is transmitted through the hull will chase the fish into deeper water. However, since the fish are either spawning or guarding the nest when they are among the stickups, they are very aggressive and will come back quickly.
