SCENTS: SMELL AND TASTE
by Chuck Bailey
It’s true that some species of fish, like catfish or sharks, have extremely well developed olfactory senses that help them follow scent trails to wounded or dead prey. But bass, walleye, and other popular game fish that prefer live prey, primarily use their sense of sight and hearing to locate food. Once they have visually located, attacked, and crunched their food – no doubt taste confirms the natural bait is food.
Naturally, anglers attempt to mimic live bait in order to motivate strikes. Crankbait fishermen were impersonating forage long before commercial scents hit the market. But do these smelly concoctions actually increase our catch ratios? The debate rages on.
It is a fact that scents can “attract” and “repel”, (just ask anyone who has ever followed the aroma of fresh brewed coffee to its source, or… run over a skunk). And we know the watery environment of fish is filled with scents, including both living and dying forage. But have you ever seen a bass or walleye following a scent trail? No, the first feeding stimulus is either sight or sound. They tend to be “listeners and lookers” not “sniffers.” Of course, once physical contact has been made with their prey, smell and taste will kick in.
In a slow moving artificial bait, like a plastic worm, an unhurried presentation speed permits smell and taste to have a more influential impact on our catch ratio. If most fisherman knew how many times a bass or walleye picked up their plastic offering and released it again without the anglers knowing, it would drive them crazy. This is especially true of beginners who have not yet developed the ability to “line watch” nor feel a subtle bite. Never-the-less, research has proven that most gamefish will hold onto a plastic grub or worm longer if it has had scent applied to it.
But crankbaits are rarely presented at “worm speeds”. The crankbait is usually mimicking a fast moving crawfish, shad, minnow, frog, etc. This means your hardbait is moving quicker and will appeal primarily to a fish’s sense of hearing and seeing – and rarely to smell.
After the strike, it is improbable but still possible for a bass to exhale a slow moving crankbait. But normally a set of exposed and razor sharp treble hooks will make contact and basically set themselves as the fish turns to wander off with the bait, tightening the line. Most strikes are decisive and telegraphed immediately to the angler who is retrieving it.
Are there times when a crankbait fisherman may not be immediately aware that their hardbait has been inhaled? Yes. So admittedly, it seems logical to assume that there might be an occasion where the fish will hold on to the crankbait longer because of applied scents, just as in fishing soft plastics. In other words, scents have “holding on” characteristics after the strike, but smell and taste is hardly ever used to “illicit” a strike with a crankbait! The term “fish attractant” is sadly misleading!
There might be a time or two when a fish has attacked a crank from behind, inhaled, and continues to keep moving toward you. That’s when applied scent might convince that fish to retain that crankbait in its mouth for the additional seconds necessary for the angler to realize something is different. (Usually the vibration of the crank is gone, leaving a mushy or heavy feeling. It never hurts to strike when that happens!)
Now, should that same fish grasp that crank and be repelled by the bait’s scent – it is capable of spitting it out in a nano-second. Here is perhaps the most important use of scents – the masking of offensive smells!
Research has shown that human skin oil, nicotine, certain oils, sunblock, and insect repellent can repel fish. Scent can mask or cover those distasteful ingredients transferred to our cranks by our hands. Many anglers are unaware they are introducing negative scents to their baits.
There is some controversy concerning the effects of gasoline. Doug Hannon, (the bass professor), says he has drenched plastic worms in gasoline and still caught bass, while other researchers claim it is detrimental and repels fish. Best strategy is to play it safe and wash your hands after filling the tank, and putting on a little scent to cover any remaining odors.
I’m not sure how researchers have discovered that big bass have more developed senses of smell than small bass, but most will remind us that bass in general will have the smallest olfactory organ of all game fish. They are primarily hearing and sight feeders. Most pros throwing cranks will rarely put scent on to attract fish, but they may put some on to mask odors that repel fish.
You will often hear fishermen say; “Well, scent can’t hurt!” And that’s true, unless you are in a tournament with limited casting time. Scent rarely stays on a crankbait for long, and much of it comes off during the cast. But you will find very few pros taking the valuable time to keep applying scent throughout the day. (Perhaps they might reapply scent after retying and handling the bait to mask any repellant odors from their hands, but rarely after casting begins).
Why? Pros know: crankbait presentation skills are more important than “scent” almost every time. Besides, fish are not caught when the crankbait is out of the water. It’s simple math; the more casts a tournament fishermen makes in their limited time on the water – the greater the chances of locating and catching more fish. Scent application is rarely worth the time loss. Time is money in a fishing contest.
The only exception to that thinking might come when the fish are extremely inactive or neutral. When fish are aggressive, they smash everything that mimics live forage. But when they are turned down, in a negative mood, or following a crankbait but not biting, then it might pay to add a little scent. When hearing and seeing the bait doesn’t invite a strike, the addition of smell and taste may tip the scales in the right direction. In tough conditions scent can’t hurt, and it may actually help convince a less aggressive fish to take a shot at your presentation.
When to comes to topwater baits, there are some fishermen who believe that most “boils” or “missed strikes” are not that at all. Bass have taste buds in their lips, and the theory is that the fish will sometimes rise to the surface and bump the bait, tasting it to check out its consumability. Then, if it tastes edible, it turns and swallows it! Though there has been no in-depth research to confirm this supposition, it holds enough logical to permit an angler to conclude that topwater baits might benefit by the use of applied scents. Again, it can’t hurt.
One of the most important factors that influences “if” and “how” an angler fishes a crankbait is “confidence”. And if the application of a relatively inexpensive scent makes an angler fish the bait longer and with a greater intensity, then it is a good thing.
SUMMARY:
Bass, walleye, and other similar gamefish rarely use scent in the process of deciding whether to take a crankbait into their mouths. Strikes predominately come from hearing and sight! Whereas flavorings do tend to make bass hold onto slowly present soft plastic worms and grubs longer, this tendency applies far less to fast-moving crankbaits. While scent may not attract more strikes, most angler bow to the possibility that flavors might impact the length of time a bass holds onto a crank or not.
It’s safe to say that scents can definitely mask any odor transferred from our hands that might normally repel fish. Remember; the retrieve speeds of crankbaits make it difficult to keep any type of scent on them, but if using scent gives you confidence or puts one more fish in the boat, you may deem it as a minor but beneficial factor in crankbait fishing.
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