Masking human scent when fishing?

huddlejonny

Any tips to mask human scent on bait for freshwater fishing? I have heard of spraying WD40 on bait & lures to attract fish or Vanilla extract to mask human scent.

kildare lad

i dont see the point wit bait tbh...sure ur hands are gettin dirty anyway wit bait and muck and river water. Ive never done it wit lures,it might make a difference if u got smelt or mackeral oil and rubbed it on the lure ur using as an attractor. But wd40??? it bad enough to stick hooks in there gob without poisoning them as well..haha

dodderangler

Pair of your wife's knickers does the trick

hiujn

WD 40 doesn't attract fish and has no fish oil in the ingredients it's a myth

http://wd40.com/cool-stuff/myths-legends-fun-facts#fish

Bio Mech

hiujn wrote: »

WD 40 doesn't attract fish and has no fish oil in the ingredients it's a myth

http://wd40.com/cool-stuff/myths-legends-fun-facts#fish

It doesn't contain fish oils but it actually does seem to work. Whether the synthetic oils are attractive or whether WD40 solubilizes the natural oils of the bait is open to debate.

Still though its moderately toxic to fish and the environment in general and shouldn't be used on baits.

hiujn

I don't believe it works as an attracter people spraying it on a spinner then catching a fish is just fishing imo this guy done a proper experiment but i agree it shouldn't be used as it's toxic to the water system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_IN1f7YmyE

huddlejonny

hiujn wrote: »

WD 40 doesn't attract fish and has no fish oil in the ingredients it's a myth

http://wd40.com/cool-stuff/myths-legends-fun-facts#fish

I was thinking more along the lines that it somehow masks human smell as opposed to attracting fish.

hiujn

To be honest i don't know why you are so worried about human smell and if ya are just rub some mud in between your hands before ya start fishing.

what is your target species if ya don't mid me asking?

Bio Mech

hiujn wrote: »

I don't believe it works as an attracter people spraying it on a spinner then catching a fish is just fishing imo this guy done a proper experiment but i agree it shouldn't be used as it's toxic to the water system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_IN1f7YmyE

His experiment is hardly conclusive though is it. Too small a sample size and no sufficient randomization. There were/are a lot of carp anglers in the UK that swore by it.

If its used on a spinner and there is something genuinely attractive there then repeated casting in the same area could create a scent corridor that might pique a fishes interest. But of course the action of a lure is going to be the key facet.

Anyway Its probably best avoided I think we agree.

Bio Mech

hiujn wrote: »

To be honest i don't know why you are so worried about human smell and if ya are just rub some mud in between your hands before ya start fishing.

what is your target species if ya don't mid me asking?

I agree it wouldn't be top of my list of things to worry about. OP If you are still concerned you could dunk your bait in the margins before you cast and then spray any one of dozens of additives to your bait before you cast.

Sensas do a range of sprays everything from chopped worm to shrimp oils to corn/fruit flavoured ones. I have seen match guys rub groundbait on their hands and then discard it before they mix up the groundbait they intend to use. The crumb in the groundbait would absorb oils etc from your hands.

ComfortKid

dodderangler wrote:

Pair of your wife's knickers does the trick

Old friend of mine use to tell me that if a woman puts the worm on the hook it'll attract more trout.

Wonder how that myth came about.

croo

ComfortKid wrote: »

Wonder how that myth came about.

In the UK a woman holds the record for the largest salmon caught on rod... and I think there are a few more records which have women holders. Given that so few women fish (proportionally anyway) this has given rise to speculation that their scent was somehow responsible. A quick google, for example, finds this article.

twin_beacon

imo having a smell on a lure shouldn't make much of a difference, as its the vibrations of the lure that attracts the fish. the smell of my hands only really bothered me in the past when I had insect repellent sprayed all over me, I still caught though.

niallon

I've heard every story about fishing and odours and how they are and aren't linked and I've never found anything to believe to be honest. Some Carp anglers swear on throwing a bunch of flowers into the water to attract the fish, there's that aforementioned Salmon record leading to the belief that it is because women "smell better". Hell, by rights I shouldn't be able to catch any fish seeing as how the smell of smoke apparently drives them away yet I regularly smoke while fishing. Wouldn't worry too much about masking human scent if I were you.