MyFishFinder Forum
My Fish Finder Main => General Fishing Discussion => Topic started by: reelcharacter on Mar 25, 2004, 09:33 AM
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Making Scents of it
I've been hunting before and it seems like the Deer always come in by my Brother-in/out-law. Also been ice fishing 3 feet from my friend, with the same jigging lure, but he caught the fish while I watched. Now, I am a clean person; I wash, I follow the instructions for reducing scent, but I'm beginning to think I stink (to the wildlife at least). :)
Help me to make some scents out of this predicament.
Don't get me wrong, I can catch my share of fish, sometimes more that those each side of me. However, I can't help but think I should try some natural or man made remedies for reducing my human scent on the bait or lure I use. Have you ever had a few weak bites and after handling a few fish, started nailing them? Then you have experienced what I have, as I believe, the human scent is replaced by smells and tastes that will not alarm the fish “smelling” his end of your line.
What concoctions do you use to either attract the fish or hide your scent?
Thanks,
-Reelcharacter
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I don't know about helping you with your smelly issues, but I have been in the boat with my father-in-law and three or four others. Mind you, we are only sitting shoulder to shoulder. Everyone is rigged identically and using the same bait. Who catches all the fish while the others watch.... My father-in-law. Everytime. He can outfish most people when it comes to using bait. Maybe it's all in how you wiggle your worm! ;D
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i've posted this somewhere; not sure if here or on iceshanty..a friend of mine who fishes lakers, always wipes his lures down with cod liver oil to mask human scent...now as far a your personal ideas about whether its your particular scent that deters animals and fish...............not likely...........but to be sure.......try cod liver oil in the deodorant aerosol...hope you're single before trying this...your only friend...grump ;D ;D ;D p.s i work with a guy that uses this. ::) ::) ::)
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Are you a smoker? Do you pump gas before you hunt or fish? Do you use your wife's fruity shampoo's? Do you have a car freshner? My dad use to kick my butt in fishing until I discovered that he puts his hands in the water everytime he baits his hooks (minnows) so his scent and his body temp. doesn't effect the bait, or but it in shock.
If you don't drink alot of water, the sweat in your body will be more consentrated, and you will smell like what you eat. But in most cases your sweat has a salty content that usually sparks a fish into hitting the lure, so if you run into this problem again in the boat try salting your plastic jigs and the sent from your body will be masked.
This might sound out there, but out of the box situations call for out of the box tips. ;) Good luck.
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I read an article about L-serine which men produce higher levels of than women and some people produce higher levels and fish find it very offensive.
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Saw this idea on another post somewhere....Use some of the fish attractant that is on the market. Spray it on your hands. Sounds like a good idea any way.
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Use Smelly Jelly on your lures and your hands...works great. Band and Fish Formula work pretty good too.
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Livin4ice......Shhhhh, that was a secret. ;D LOL. I'm going to have to go through all the old post to find out who the credit belongs to. I think he was Grumpy? I'll get back on that.
Steve
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nope!! not me....unless you like the cod liver oil deodorant!!!.....grumpy
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Found it!!!!!! yes, still have some memory. That tip was posted by Strike-zone during a discussion in the "G.O.M.B." welcome to the grumps thread.
Tight lines Ya'll
Steve
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This post was supposed to be about you and what you use for masking scent, or scent attracting, however you look at it. Some believe in scents to attract fish, others believe in scents to mask offensive odors. Instead, it reads like a "self help group" post about me . . .
Boy do I feel humble now. :-[
See if I write in the first person ever again. :-\
Anyways, I was reading a couple of posts somewhere on-line earlier today. That gave me this idea on scents and offered a couple interesting suggestions. One included rubbing Rhubarb or the grasses that grow along most stream banks all over your hands. Each apparently masks or replaces the human scent. The most interesting idea, however, includes microwaving a jar of unscented petroleum jelly for about 15 minutes, 2 minutes at a time. This will liquefy the Vaseline. Add about 2 oz of Garlic juice (for a large jar of Vaseline) and stir it well until mixed completely. The garlic juice should be available at most grocery stores. After about an hour the Vaseline will go from liquid back to solid.
Just rub the new concoction on your hands to mask any scent you have before baiting a line or hooking on a lure. Unless you become addicted to this new hand lotion, it should last for a long, long time.
I like Garlic on most everything else. I just might have to give this scent masking solution a try.
-Reelcharacter
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Trophy369 is correct. L-serine which is produced by mammals including humans has shown to repel fish. The salmonoid family can detect this amino acid in as little as 1 part per 8 billion. That is why some people can't seem to catch fish as they give off more L-serine than others do. Studies have shown that people who give off very little L-serine can stand in fish ladders and fish will continue to move through, whereas those who give off lots of this chemical will stop all upstream movement through the ladders.
Their are lots of masking products availible out there, you just have to find the one that works best for you ;)
Just my 2 sense worth ;D
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A number of years ago when the discussion regarding l-serine was a hot topic, one of the magazines (In-Fisherman possibly) provided a free test. There was an area on a coupon type insert that you would wet your thumb or finger , press the paper, then send to them. I was a little leary of sending my print to them but decided what the heck. I've committed no crimes and guilty of nothing, so what if someone has my fingerprint. Mine came back, fortunately, with a very low level of l-serine. A buddy, who I used to outfish all the time also did the test and his came back extremely high. I'm surprised that this topic isn't covered in more detail these days unless it was found to not be accurate.
On a side note. My buddies wife used to ask me why I always outfished her husband.I made up a story of how I would take salmon eggs, crush them with my hands to get the oil all over, then put on latex gloves and go to bed. I would do this before every fishing excursion. I think they believed me for about a month. :) :)
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reelcharacter..alot of expertise on this post...and a little humor..poke it back when you get a chance!!! ;D ;D ;D grump
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Heh eyedoktr, you should have told your buddies wife that you also shave your private areas with a weedeater :o :o
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Terrygone fishing, she already knew I did that. :D
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Hey Livin4ice and Fatboy, have you smelled fish attractant? It would take a week of scrubbing to get that stuff off your hands.
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Just rub your hands with salt, it removes the smells quickly. Be sure and rinse your hands before you handle small minnows....although sometimes I think it attracts the fish as well. I have a chunk of old kosher salt in a ziplock bag that works very well.
FTD
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Lemon juice will remove the smell of almost anything from your hands.
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rotten worms smell terrible, maybe that would help the scavenger fish , like bullheads, bite if we washed our halds in rotten worms before we handle the hook!! lol
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Hey Reubenpa how old is your little fishin buddy? my little girl is 15 months old she'll be going out this summer! 8)
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Trophy369 is correct. L-serine which is produced by mammals including humans has shown to repel fish. The salmonoid family can detect this amino acid in as little as 1 part per 8 billion. That is why some people can't seem to catch fish as they give off more L-serine than others do. Studies have shown that people who give off very little L-serine can stand in fish ladders and fish will continue to move through, whereas those who give off lots of this chemical will stop all upstream movement through the ladders.
Their are lots of masking products availible out there, you just have to find the one that works best for you ;)
Just my 2 sense worth ;D
Terrygonefishing, excellent post, but you messed something up. Not all mammals produce L-serine.
Bears produce a lot of this, and the salmon must smell it and know that, hey, there is a bear up there and he's gonna eat us! it is the salmon's natural defense against bears.
Also, one of your facts must be incorrect, or you assumed something that is incorrect. You said that the salmonoid family can detect it up to 1 part per 8 billion, but you also said that some people's L-serine levels are so low that the fish will not detect it. Something is wrong with one of these facts, because human beings, ALL, give off more than 1 part L-serine per 8 billion.
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Hey Reubenpa how old is your little fishin buddy? my little girl is 15 months old she'll be going out this summer! 8)
He is 6 months and was out at the water with me yesterday, not fishing unfortunately, just sitting on his moms lap
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reelcharacter..alot of expertise on this post...and a little humor..poke it back when you get a chance!!! ;D ;D ;D grump
Thanks Grump!
I agree with almost everything you post, but to give recognition for expertise here may be a bit of a stretch . . . :)
Be sure to add my two scents to the humor department of this smelly topic, but can recognize when I know I am out-fished, out-smelled and out-matched ;)
-Reelcharacter
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TroutFishingBear: You are right, not all mammals produce this chemical. Bears and seals produce alot. I think the salmons urge to spawn however is driving it further upstream even if it detects some danger. It may take a detour around a high producing person/bear, and vere more towards the low producing person/bear. Yes there is hope for all us high producing L-serine fisherman, and low producers as well.