fish attractants

[sublux]

We don't have a lot of Walleye water close by so I consider myself uninformed on much of the facts on them. Mostly what I have learned has been from this board but I don't get to apply it very often until I get to the upper Ct river and to my occasional trips to Lake Champlain,..(where lamprey seem to be getting the upper hand again)I'm hoping our eastern fish act like yours,.. However I was wondering,...do any of you use these spray/dip fish attractants or do you think they are a waste of time/money?

[Starfish]

Most of the time I don't bother with them for walleyes-- though a few times the fish have seemed to prefer baits dribbled with Berkley walleye attractant. But for salmon and steelhead I consider them essential. I've often seen specific scents make the difference between being skunked and getting 4-6 big chinook or steelhead in the boat.

[Tideye]

I have had some success in certain, usually tough, conditions using scented shad or twister plastics on a jig, lindy rig or spinner rig with no live bait. This seems to work once in a while when the eye's won't hit anything else.
I have had good success fishing smaller rivers casting northland jipsy jigs(teardrop jig with mylar sparkle feather-like tail) dipped in a walleye attractant and a small piece of crawler. I'd cast them upstream to the front of a hole and let it fall to the bottom while the current sweeps it along all the while reeling keeping the line tight enough to feel strikes. I think the scent sweeps downstreem just a little faster than the jig and allerts the eye's food is coming.

Good luck.
Jim

[Cangl]

Well unless you count on washing your hands and lures, with soap and water often yes. Bug spray? Acids? Cigarettes? I never caught anything on a cigarette butt. Have seen fish eat soap though. Scents are easier as you a masking and not splashing.