|
|
| I was wondering if anyone uses a scent on their muskie baits? When you see a fish following a bait it always makes me wonder if an added scent might make a difference in closing the deal. Especially when you see one coming in with the gills flared and looking like it is really hungry. I bought one to try this year, but I have not been fishing for these toothy critters long enough to know if it is making a difference or not.
I would really like to hear from someone that has kept a detailed log and could see a pattern between use and non-use of added scent. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | I used to use it on my bass baits and it seemed to help. A little easier to figure that out with bass though as you don't have to fish hours and hours to catch one 
Edited by tacklebooty 2/17/2008 1:03 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Muskies don't have as highly defined sense of smell as bass and walleyes, and are primarily sight feeders. I don't think scent makes much difference, and in fact proved several times you can catch a muskie on a lure dipped in gasoline. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I agree with Worrall. Muskies are either going to hit nor not hit. Musky fishing is pretty cut and dry. They are going to eat or they are going to follow. Scent won't make a difference. I wouldn't waste my time with the mess. And since most baits are hard, the scent would be gone very quickly. Also with repeted casts and moving throught he water the scent would be gone pretty quickly. |
|
| |
|
| I have to disagree with Steve W and Mike H on this one... I think scent does matter and have at least proven it does not hurt... At a minimum it can cover up human and unnatural smell and I believe it will gain you a few fish occasionally.
John
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 51
| Adding scents to bucktails is the reason I'm replacing some flashaboo and bucktail today. The oils must have stuck everything together and I can't get the stuff off. |
|
| |
|
| When you reshaft those bucktails add a piece of felt in line as a scent pad. Land O Lakes makes buck tails already rigged like this as well.
John |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| I have been involved in some labarotory test on the effectivness of scents on various species of fish. Catfish and Carp ar extremely scent orientated. Catfish actually have "taste buds" though out there skin! Trout rank a little below catfish and carp but are still very scent orientated as are walleyes. Bass are less worried about scent and northerns and musky pay basically no attention to scent. I don't think that scents will hurt anything but I also don't know if they will really do anything for muskys.
One would think that scent might be the tipping point to get a musky that is following to strike but research has shown that that isn't really the case. |
|
| |
|
| If a fish will hit on gasoline it will pretty much eat anything I guess (by the way who was fishing with a gasoline lure?) I was just wonderig if it might turn a negative fish or a low slow follow on a little more if it sensed some pheromones? It would obviously take an in depth study to really tell and I haven't been able to turn anything like that up on the internet.
MN_Bowhunter have you noticed a differnece between your sucess and that of a boatpartner?
I've also heard that if you put a gel behind the lip of a crankbait it will last for a relatively long time.
For those of you that use scent what do you prefer?
I've also heard that the scent dispersion will help because a school of minnows that is being threatened will release a lot of pheromones. So it may not matter if it is still on the bait, but that it is in the water and the surrounding predators sense that there is food to be had.
Thanks for the input!
Edited by muskydeceiver 2/17/2008 2:01 PM
|
|
| |
|
| Reelman, I was typing my response when you posted your response. That is interesting. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | John,
Cover up human scent??? Have you ever seen a musky eat??? They come FLYING in at 90 mph and smash their food. I highly doubt they care much that I touched my lure. Look at what they eat...bucktails that LOOK NOTHING LIKE anything I have ever seen in the water. Topwaters that sound nothing like anything I have ever heard...etc...
Sure it might not hurt...but it won't help either, so sounds like a waste of time to me. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | And why would a Muskie be 'concerned' about human scent? What scents might be considered 'unnatural'?
|
|
| |
|
| Mike,
Yes I have seen my share of musky eat. Many long before you were on top of the musky world... Steve and Mike- do you have scientific facts to back you up on this one? Or just personal experience? Well I have had positive personal experiences and will keep using scent. Reelmans response got me interested in where I can find the actual scientific data that shows how pike and musky react to scent. Does anyone know where this can be had? I have seen trips/tournaments where scent seemed to make a difference in a boat scoring big several times or coming away with a goose egg. Lastly unnatural scents to me would be bug spray, gasoline, etc. Scent is not the be all end all... But it is a tool I will continue to use based on my experiences with it.
John |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Esocids use their sense of smell in feeding less than other fresh water fishes, and Pike according to some studies more than Muskies. I remember seeing some research that Pike can; but do not always, survive when blinded but Muskies appear to be even less able to feed when blinded. I'll see if I can find some reference documents for you. I know I've read about this in several sources.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ttiYPWa4YPAC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=e...
I'd think that many things we assume are negative or positive 'scents' neither attract or repel Muskies, and that for more reasons than strictly the olfactory . I'd also suggest many products sold to us as fish 'attractants' are more effective attracting us than the Muskies.
But if attractants offer confidence, then have at it, anything that helps us fish harder IMHO isn't a bad thing.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | I reworked a couple of baits that had a crack in the hard coat and was wondering if the smell of the sealer would be picked up? So from what Steve is saying that a spray of Baitmate or a WD wouldn't matter. I was also thinking of putting a sponge soaked in baitmate above the split ring on a few of the glidebates to see if that makes a difference. This would allow you to put a scent trail back from a suick, undertaker or phantom.
I guess that I've been watching to many shark shows lately....we need open water!
Bruce |
|
| |
|
| No scientific data or anything, but I do have a friend who caught two muskies this summer on Turkey Liver at night fishing for cats. I see both sides of the arguement and why a muskie would pick up a chunk of liver off the bottom is probably an intirely different response than the boatside strike out of nowhere, but who knows they have the brain of a FISH! |
|
| |
|
| I was at the Bass Pro last spring and "Gulp" was there with a huge display that you could walk through and it talked about the different levels of reaction from fish to scent. I was supprised to see like stated ealier that Muskie was around the bottom of the list. I asked one of the guys if they had done any studies with thier product and Muskies and he said he didn't know of any and didn't think they had any plans for developing there product for Muskies. Of coures he said it certainly wouldn't hurt to use their product. LOL
I don't really have enough knowledge of Skies to have an opinion but dragging a piece of Gulp behind my lures has been crossing my mind for a while.
So I guess if Gulp isn't to focused on promoting thier product for Muskie there must be a reason?????
Muskie4Life |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | why would you be surprised that muskies would be at the bottom of the list??? They feed based on sight and feel, not smell. They have those big teeth for a reason, to grab ahold of thier meal when they come flying in at 90 mph and smoke it. Their not smelling it....then swimming up to it...then grabbing it. They are not crusing on the bottom of the lake looking for things to suck up off the bottom. They are muskies not Catfish and Carp.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 135
| I like to add a little orange cheeto dust to my baits before they hit the water. Don't tell anybody...:) |
|
| |
|
| Sharks feed heavily based on smell and yes I realize they are completely different from muskies. I am simply responding to Mike's observation on feeding habits. I think I heard on the Discovery channel they can sense a drop of blood dispersed in an Olympic style swiming pool. Sharks come in, and preform a type of sneak attack on their prey. I think the most amazing video I have ever seen is the Great Whites off the coast of South Africa that will completely launch their bodies out of the water when they attack seals. Not exactly smelling it.........swimming up to it.............then grabbing it. Again, I realize they are completely different, I was simply responding to Mike's statement. |
|
| |
|
| Mike
For someone high in the world of musky, why would you be so closed minded. How do we know if by adding some scent the fish that followed a bucktail, with its nose in the bait, wouldnt get hot because of it. Really think about it. We cant figure what do on a day to day basis not to mention what they are thinkin.. So lets say that by adding some scent you may catch 2 or 3 more a season, or better yet the one you needed in a tourny. If nothing else we all do goofy things because one time it helped or after we did something, spit cope on your lure ect.. we caught a fish. Face we all are Freaks...
AL
Waiting for soft water!!! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | I don't think Mike's being closed minded, he just knows the feeding habits of muskies and the FACT that they DON'T have a very good Smeller
They don't smell to find their food.... period..... Heck Ray Charles can see that.
Jerome |
|
| |
|
| I agree with Muskybudda. Mike is being closed minded. And yes at times muskies are on the move and just clobber baits and attack anything. I'll agree during those times scent may not bring anything to the table. But how about a neutral fish following a bucktail closely....? Could the scent on the lure be just enough to put it over the edge and eat? How about the possibility of it turning a short striker into and eater? I think scent can certainly bring a few "over the edge" during tough times.
John |
|
| |
|
Posts: 742
Location: Grand Rapids MN | Personally the time it would take to screw around and add scent and re-add every so often I would rather have keeping a lure in the water. Besides that I've bought scents before to use for walleye fishing and have had bad experiences with it ruining lures so I wouldn't chance it on $15-25 lures. No one said it couldn't help they're all just saying it's so unlikely because of the muskies nature and physiological makeup that it's not worth the hassel. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I understand your thoughts...but then how do you explain this...
About 20 times a season we will have muskies follow our suckers around...just to follow them. They are either usually 2-4 feet behind the sucker just swimming around with it. No intentions of eating it...just following it just like they lazily follow in a bucktail or any other type of bait.
Now what could smell more natural than a real live sucker swimming around!!!!! |
|
| |
|
Location: Illinois | I spray all of my lures with Drakkar-Noir before each cast. During tough post frontal conditions, I'll dab a little Dulce & Gabbana near the "nether regions" of my minnow baits (especially on ones with the red anus) because as we all know, the way to seduce a musky is through a scented anus! :P
ps- it's not right to call someone "close minded" just because they disagree with you
Edited by muskellunged 2/18/2008 12:20 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | As I said, if you have confidence scenting your lures, have at it. Does it make any difference for Muskies? Not in my experience ( and I tried it, ALOT...)and not by any measure that I can find. That's not closed minded, that 's just what I've been able to find out. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | I would imagine some of the concerns with human scent got started with salmon fisherman. Out here in Oregon most guides use latex gloves while handling lures. The thought is that our hands give off certain odors resulting from proteins that are similar in nature to those found on other predators like sea lions. The gas idea came from a guy testing various scents while salmon fishing with an underwater camera and the scent that turned out best in the test? Bilge water....full of old oil, gas, etc.
Unlike musky, however, salmon use their sense of smell to navigate back to their place of birth which may be a distance of hundreds of miles so it makes sense that they would be far more sensitive to odors than sight oriented species like pike and musky. Out here alot of guys believe in washing their lures in lemon joy before using them and many will keep a bucket with a bit of soap in it to remove human scent periodically. When using kwikfish we often "wrap" a small piece of sardine on to the lure with thread which gives the bait a nice "natural" odor. Here is a picture of one with a wrap on it: http://steelheaduniversity.com/images/elasticstart2.jpg. I will add that for "salmon", wrapped lures consistently outfish those that are not.
As for pike and musky, I would tend to agree with those that claim musky are far less scent oriented. Species like catfish, are often found in turbid waters and feed near the bottom under low-light conditions and thus require an additional method of finding food, smell. Musky on the other hand will feed at all levels of the water column and rely more heavily on their sight, ambush, speed, and a large crushing mouth. And this is what makes them so cool!!
Jed V.
Edited by RiverMan 2/18/2008 12:29 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 100
Location: Bemidji/Cass Lake | Well if applying scent makes you feel better then do it. If you feel it helps you get an inside edge, hey why fight about it then? Being closed-minded is not what any of these guys are being, just simply stating, and catering to what a muskie primarily keys on when eating. I'm not a big "magic" bait fan. I tend to believe properly presenting to the location is what is most important. Obviously type of bait effects what that might be, but I don't get into color schemes all that much, much less scent. As they say, these are ambush type predators, they aint gonna mess around when they're ready. During a follow it may look like there may be a way to trigger a fish more often with something such as scent, but how well you know the "tricks" of the figure 8 will go alot further. The more successful guys doing this are able to trip more fish at boatside than others. Vision and vibration are the centerpiece. Like anything, practicing technique is THE only answer to getting better at anything. Magic items are for World of Warcraft. BUT, I'm always on the side of playing to your confidence, you do whatever gives you that.
Later
Sackett |
|
| |
|
| Thank you Steve. That is all I wanted to hear. Someone that I would say is trust worthy coming out and saying they have used it and giving their opinion on whether they thought it helped or not.
Mike I appreciate your opinion, but I wanted to hear from people that had used it extensively or see some studies that had been done
Edited by muskydeceiver 2/18/2008 1:16 PM
|
|
| |
