Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

One of the last things I do before going out to fish is put on my sun screen(my dermatologist said everyone should regardless of their complexion). I have noticed others that are putting petroleum products in to their boats or vehicles, and others that use hygiene and grooming products before going out for the day. All these practices leave a scent on our hands which is transferred to our baits. Washing with ordinary soap and drying your hands on a towel that was washed and dryed with chemicals, is still putting more scent on your hands. Come on guys I"m looking for an excuse here why your catching them and I'm not

Hence, my two sided question:

1. What do you use to clean the scent off your hands?

2. Do bass use their scent glands that much or is it mostly reaction strikes?

after using sunscreen or loations I wash my hands with rubbing alcohol then with a non sented soap I buy at BassPro Shop in the hunting dept. Then before I handle my baits I rub a SMALL dose of Smelly Jelly on my hands. Seems to work for me. (dont lick yur fingers tho !!!)

I use a product call smell repel, itworks great for getting that stinky crawfish smell off your hands from the procure as well.

I got it at fisherman's warehouse.

I sell two types of hand wipes at the Hook. One leaves a faint smell of Anise on your hands and the other has no scent in it. I have tried them both it doesn't seem to make a difference.

In all honesty, I don't use anything to try and get rid of those unwanted scents, other thasn washing my hands..Stop and think for a moment, with all of the pollutants currently in the water from boat motors, run offs from farms and yards and roadways, do you honestly believe the minute amount remaing on your hands that you might transfer to a lure will make much difference to the fishes enviroment..I realize their sense of "smell" may be a lot better than ours, but that tiny bit of additional unwanted scent from you handling a lure is so miniscule in the great scheme of things, it probably makes little to no difference in most of the waters we fish..

mac

Will these take gas smell of your hands Gene?? Remind me next time I'm in to pick up some.

I keep a bottle of unscented liquid dish detergent on the boat. It will cut the grease off and gets the sunscreen off your hands. I have used it for 40 years and really started when I was salmon fishing every weekend in Oregon. It works and is cheap.

I have used Colgate plain white tooth paste or Simple Green for decades to clean my hands when fishing. Some scent attractants are slippery and watching your rod fly out of hands into the water could ruin your day. Whatever you use; tooth paste, soap or hand cleaner, dry your hands off with a towell.
A reaction bite is somewhat difficult to define; bass react to any lure before striking it. I believe Rich Tauber coined "reaction strike" verse a feeding strike. Bass use all their senses; sight, sound and odor to survive.
Tom

mac (Doyle McEwen) wrote:In all honesty, I don't use anything to try and get rid of those unwanted scents, other thasn washing my hands..Stop and think for a moment, with all of the pollutants currently in the water from boat motors, run offs from farms and yards and roadways, do you honestly believe the minute amount remaing on your hands that you might transfer to a lure will make much difference to the fishes enviroment..I realize their sense of "smell" may be a lot better than ours, but that tiny bit of additional unwanted scent from you handling a lure is so miniscule in the great scheme of things, it probably makes little to no difference in most of the waters we fish..

mac

Yes, I do. If you want to know about a basses olfactory system, read the chapter on chemoreception. The whole book is full of great info on bass.

Oh, and I use Smell Repel also.

http://books.google.com/books?id=uKBd85 ... =1#PPR8,M1

I do not doubt, there are situations where it can and does make a difference..All I was saying is that extremely limited amout you transfer to a lure in comparison to all of the other pollutants already in most of our waters is really probably insignificant..I have no doubt there are some waters where it does make a difference, but those are few and far between and getting rarer each day..

mac

THE WONDER BAR... you can get it at BPS... Works for me!!

or the Berkley one (looks like a lil shark) at WAL-MART..works good too!!

Here you go boys, the answer to all your problems.
http://www.lunkerlather.com/

I shower with this stuff.... the bass just jump in my livewells... it's like magic.

Try "dutchcreekbrand.com" , they have some great products...

Mac, if a bass was born and live its life in a system with these pollutants they will undoubtedly consider them to be normal. What would not be normal is what it thinks to be a prey item having any unfamiliar smell/taste.

As the book stated, " Dr John Caprio and his LSU research group have shown that bass can taste a dilution of four ounces of the amino acid L-arginine mixed into 6,000 gallons of water. In all likelihood bass can smell the amino acid at even lower concentrations. Japanese research indicates that organic compounds other than L-arginine can be tasted at one-hundredth the concentration of this amino acid. "

Joe

We shouldn't seperate any one sense, bass use a combinations of their highly developed sense of sight, hearing (lateral line and internal ear) and smell, odors being least developed. Catfish for example use their highly developed sense of smell as a primary prey locator, where bass use sight and vibrations for primary prey locators.
How important is smell or odors?, important enough to mask negative odors with something positive, IMO.
Tom

I agree. I sometimes think that using scent blockers or artificial scents is more for my own confidence than actually making my presentation more appealing to the fish.

I use No Scent Soap from Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle I'm allergic to the oils on fish so I have to wash my hands alot when fishing. If I touch my eyes without washing my hands my eyes swell up. This is the best product I have found and no I'm not sponsored by them I should be. My DR. wanted to tell me to quit fishing but he new better.

TRY OUT THE LOCAL STUFF LUNKER LATHER A GUY IN MY CLUB STARTED ABOUT A YEAR GO IT SMELLS LIKE ANISE.IT IS A SOAP BUT IT ALSO WORKS AS ATTRACTANT ON BAITS!

Anise is actually NOT liked by bass. I just finished reading a book The Science of Bass" By Dr Jones of Berkley. Bass hit your bait so hard that scent may not matter unless its trailing in the water. Basically the gist is they will spit it faster but still whack it.