In this article I will address a common question between angler beginners: What is the purpose of fish scent attractants?
Fish scent attractants are designed to enhance the appeal of both natural and artificial baits. They available in gel, oil, and powder forms and can be used across a wide range of venues. Freshwater anglers across the country have been taking advantage of fish scent attractants for decades. However, only in the last few years have saltwater fishermen really started to reap the same rewards.
There are many reasons to use fish scent attractants in you lures. In a day fishing, your hands can come into contact with some smells that are unpleasant to fish, like bug spray, sun lotion, cigarettes, gasoline, sweat, etc. When dealing with lures, the smell on your hands can be easily absorbed by the lure, causing a fish to refuse to bite. Applying a fish scent to a lure will mask these undesirable smells, leaving the bait smelling attractive to fish.
Fish scent attractants are available in countless flavours ranging from herring and tuna to crab and shrimp. In the shallows, I regularly add shrimp or mullet flavor gel to my soft plastics and swimming plugs and while I’ve certainly caught plenty of fish without it, I’ve noticed a measurable difference in my catch ratio. For example, trout and redfish like enhanced baits more aggressively. Fish also tend to come back for a second swipe if they miss the lure the first time. When fishing structure, I also add flavor gel to my vertical jigs and have noticed the difference there as well. It seems that big amberjack can’t resist these things.
Flavour oils that totally dissolve and penetrate the water colour or the latest trend are regularly used to enhance chumps licks by those seeking smoker king mackerel hungry bottom fishing, of course, savage sharks. It’s a proven fact that fish oils are detected by predators olfactory receptors so why not take advantage of the added appeal.
While these products don’t guarantee any level of success and you are certainly going to catch plenty of fish without them, the added appeal definitely doesn’t hurt and often provides that slight advantage that can change everything.
When choosing a scent, I recommend you to decide the species that you will target first, then find out their favorite flavour. If you decided to opt for naturally flavored scents, it is a good idea to choose those made with real ingredients.