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.
What can you tell me about fishing stumps?
Of all the objects in the water, none seems to arouse the confidence of a bass fisherman more than an exciting-looking stump. For some reason, we all associate largemouth’s with stumps. On the other hand, some stumps can be more productive than others. As an example, a stump that sits on the edge of a drop-off will usually be better than a stump way back up in the shallows, if the depth is correct. When I say usually better; I mean on a consistent basis rather than a single experience.
Remember that the shady side of an stump, or any object for that matter, is normally better than the brighter side. At one time, bass fishermen always tried to drop a lure right on an object they were fishing. If the object was a stump, they would try to hit the stump on the cast and let the lure fall alongside. By doing this, they passed up a lot of productive water behind and alongside the object, and the sound of a lure falling over the head of a bass could spook the fish into deep water.
I prefer to make my first cast on the side and beyond the stump or object. Sometimes a bass won’t be right on it, but near it. By casting in this manner, I can cover the back, side and front with a single cast. Once the lure passes the stump and is well on its way toward the boat, you might as well crank it in and cast again. Big bass will seldom follow a lure any distance. If they want your offering, they will hit it as it comes by.
You can fish a variety of lures around stumps. Top waters, spinner baits, worms, jig-and-eels, swimming lures and diving lures can all be good choices. You are going to have to experiment to find out which ones are best for you. Keep in mind that you may have to vary the retrieve to catch fish. I have seen times when I can cast a spinner bait past a stump and buzz it by quickly; a bass would nail it before it even reached the stump. The next day in the same area the bass wouldn’t hit a spinner bait unless I buzzed it up to the stump, stopped the lure dead and let it fall. They would have it in their mouth before it dropped a foot.
The second cast around a stump should still be beyond it, but the lures should brush the object as it passes. There is no guarantee that a bass will hit your lure on the first or second cast, even if the fish is there. You may have to cast six or eight times before you get a strike, and change lures in the process. That is bass fishing and there is no shortcut to success.
