Do you find the various liquid fish attractants increase your catch
of walleye, bluegill or smallmouth ? There are many to choose from..
...so any helpful hints ? THANKS

IF....(which is a very small but BIG word relative to your question on fish attracting scents,) they work based on my experience only, it will only happen in cold water. Any water, again based solely on my testing, over 45 degrees will not "hold" or retain the scent at the level of the fish/bait and will allow it or force it to float to the surface, washing off the lure/jig/livebait etc. immediately. Colder than 45 degres seems to retain the scent to the bait and allows it to suspend whereever the bait hovers or swims. So....in MOST cases or scenarios, my opinion is ....no, they do NOT increase fishing success since the attractant is never where the fish are, unless, of course, they are on the surface.

Kaz, frequent WC poster who spends his summers on Lake of the Woods, by being in a chemical research based business, and being an avid walleye fisherman, created what was, in my opinion, the best fish attracting scent ever....but failed to succesfully market it. Maybe now....
Kaz???? What's your take on this subject???

TJ-Tom- I use Berkleys liquid Powerbait, Walleye formula. Generaly on cranks trolling and jigs/plastic until I start adding minnows when the water temp gets REAL cold (40* and less). I subscribe to the idea that it can`t hurt- if any thing it covers any scent contamination. Maybe a bit of that confidence thing too! Hope that helps. Bob WC#253.

I use baitmaite gamefish formula it seems to work well for me.

STROHS bud wieser and coors seem to work best . just kicking things around ,it's winter gotta have some fun .jim

TJ-Tom.

In my opinion there is a time when scents will be the factor to entice any fish to bite. And other times, when having gas on your lure wont make a difference to them. Its all in the mood of the fish on that certain time/day/hour.

I beliveve when a fish is in a Neutral Mood, thats the time scents work best. When something like a food based scent keys them into action.

They are always using all their senses in their underwater environment, while using some more often than others in certain situations.

We've all fished on those days when nothing is working. The fish are there, you can see them all over your graph, but they are turned off. Other days everything is working, you cant seem to miss. I believe those fish are taking visual cues more than scent cues on those days. All their feeding impulses are in hyper mode then. Its the days when they need more than a visul cue that scents work best in my opinion.

With that said, I use the B.A.N.G. spray on lure scent. Its compact,easy and dont gum-up or eventually remove paint like some others when applied to your lures.

Dan they have that b.a.n.g. formula at franks ?

Jim.
Yup. They carry all three flavors. Shad, Crawfish and Combo. I like the Combo and use it for every specie I fish for, from Walleye to Salmon.

Even outfished the Charter Captain on a Stannard Rock Lake Trout trip 2 summers ago. Thats the big rock reef 45 miles straight out from Marquette in Lake Superior. Captain was using cut bait sucker meat on a 3/4 ounce jig. I was just spraying my jig and twister with B.A.N.G. Left the can with him when we left. He's e-mailed me about 5 times thanking me.

Oh ya, forgot to mention. Remember that day I told you about when I limited out on the Bay with 2 walleyes over 8 pounds. The spray button on the can of B.A.N.G. had gotten depressed on the way out and coated virtually everything I had with the scent that morning. The ice hole iself was eventually layered with a sheen of Combo scent by mid-morning. Nobody else out of the party of 9 around us had more than 2 fish a piece by that evening.

Dan will give it a try know one thing for sure,liquid scent can't hurt. I was out with a couple of guys in the early 90's I was using baitmaite they were not. All three of us limited out but every fish I had was bigger than both of theres. I guess I believe.

I agree with Steve. My observations have shown that scent works better in colder water situations. I also agree that it covers any scent contamination. I'm a strong believer in washing my hands with no scent soap prior to a tournament and then using Berkley walleye scent on the brankbaits. My friends and I have seen first hand the big difference that it makes on LBDN in the fall.

I too agree with Steve that scents can really help in cold water and make little difference in warm water.

I always use scents when ice fishing, as well as the first couple of trips in the spring and the last couple of trips in the fall --

Take care
REW

Exactly! lol