Xtreme Brown Craw

[WayneC]

Yeah Cy, I do test out this stuff in the field but the only definitive scent data that has been consistent is when scent shuts the bite down.  I'll take a solid smallmouth bite with smaller fish and see if scent can be used to upgrade out of the same school.  Once the scent goes on, the bite shuts off.  That right there is enough to convince me that the scent remains effective after hitting the water.

The thing I'm looking for is that situation when scent turns them on, and it does exist.  In fact, in the right situations it would be a crime not to use scent.  This issue is very much to me like using rattles or even tube trailers.  All can be considered an upgrade technique.  The problem I have during research with scent is that there are "X" numbers of varieties made by "X" number of manufacturers.  You would have to commit an entire season to working this out and then the data would still be incomplete, but you would have many answers.

Here is where an individual's personal experience probably trumps any data that can be presented, at least for now.  Confidence is a huge factor, especially in competitive angling and those who use scent are confident in it.  Even though they will never know how many fish they are missing because of the scent, the ones they do get probably have enough value to cancel out the difference.

It reminds me of the phone call I get every season from the good 'ol boy who asks me, "Are your worms exactly like the Senkos?"  They go into how the bait falls and how many fish they catch and are trying to make a direct comparison in action and feel.  Actually, I appreciate this question except that the person is invariably a true believer and not necessarily a connoisseur of the sport.  Over the years I have tried to explain the differences between the X-worms and the Senko but it always comes down to that they are looking for the exact same action and feel at a cheaper price and larger quantities.  Fair enough. 

My standard response to this now is to tell them that an X-worm is going to catch other fish they are missing by only using the Senko, without going into why this is the case.  They quickly lose interest and hang up as soon as it is convenient.  I'm probably pretty close to right when assuming that they are sure I'm just bragging up my baits as being better than the competition.  Those people who have been around me and come to the seminars know that I believe all baits catch fish.  An angler can truly up their game by knowing why and when each bait produces best and when the bait doesn't.

[skeeterman190]

 I totally agree every bait catches fish. Its the certain situations that you put them into play that they excel. certain sticks sink fast, some float a little more. its kinda a deal you have to figure out the mood of the fish and throw that certain variable at them. Scent?? it cant hurt. i love the berkley Gulp. that explains why i smell everytime i fish with you TCOOK??-skeeterman-

[Lightningboy]

Well, I'm a regular scent user.  All baits, even hard baits. 

But I choose to use it for reasons most don't consider.  I'm not worried about how it smells to a bass.  I'm sure any scent I use may turn off some fish some days.  But bass tend to run from pouty to rabid to any odor on any given day.  I guess the most successful scent would be one that is the least "disagreable" to bass on the average day.   

I consider it more as a "flavor".  Call it an interesting sensation for the bass when it mouths the bait.  Not that it necesarily tastes good to the bass; just that it tastes "different" enough to make him check it out for just a second longer.

I also think that it provides a unique texture to the bait.  I use Megastrike because its a gel.  It gives the bait a greasy feel that may help provide the illusion of a slime coat.

Another thing to consider is something taught to me by an old musky guy.  A musky has a vice-like bite; he lubed his baits to help them slip in the fish's mouth on the hook set.  I like the thought of the same advantage.

I also grease the first two feet of line; I think it helps reduce abrasion from the bottom. 

All these thoughts are to increase my advantage on the tough days.  When fish are reluctant, they give little signal & don't hold on for very long.  I'm just trying to increase the amount of time they hold it, and up my odds of a good hook set.

[skeeterman190]

 I dont think scents can hurt you. but i also feel that its a mental thing with you as a fisherman. if you think its the key. than it gives confidence in what your throwing. im not going to say i dont take place in TCOOKS "bait stew" making, which i do, but some things prolly get out of control. i think alot of things are geared to hook us not fish. i soak alot of my baits in gulp but that is a mental game i have with myself. on things like stik baits and crankbaits i dont think its the key factor. but it cant hurt. as for the line abraision deal id have to see a test im kinda out there on that one. but like i said its mental so if that works for u..were missing out. good post on some new info.-skeeterman-

[Durand Dan]

Here is an interesting artical on Bass' sense of smell by Leo Watson.

http://www.bassonhook.com/leo/leo02.html

[Cheetam]

I'm surprised no one mentioned they use it not as an attractant, but to mask their own scent.  McCarter uses it because bass don't like the taste/smell of Kodiak...

[WayneC]

That is a great point about masking other odors with scent and for this reason...It is a pretty good bet that human odor, gasoline or 2 cycle oil odor or any other odor that is foreign to a bass' environment would have a negative impact on the bite.  Any attempt to neutralize that has to be in the plus column for productivity.

The article link was very well written and balanced, with an acknowledgment at the front end about the authors preferences.  It's the kind of information you can trust.  There is an absence of hard information about the effect that the various scents have which pretty much leaves us at the same place we started at.  Perhaps the other articles that link off of that one cover more along these lines but an article about the kind of specifics that lead to practical conclusions are rare for any product in the fishing industry.  Having said that, the one gem out of the article is the value of using scent in a stained water scenario.

For instance...Take two baits like Canadian Mist and St. Clair Goby.  Here are some specific guidelines that have been developed through my research over the years:

Weather
Candian Mist fishes strong in all weather conditions and is a higher percentage bait during unstable weather. 
St. Clair Goby fishes the strongest during stable weather conditions that last at least a few days or longer. 

Big fish
Canadian Mist is always catching fish, but not necessarily the biggest available.
Even when St. Clair Goby isn't fishing well during unstable weather conditions, it almost always puts the biggest fish in the boat.

Design
Canadian Mist is a standard tube design with a proven track record.  It falls into the family of higher bite percentage small flake tubes.
St. Clair Goby is a laminated tube which carries with it a measurable advantage in the bite ratio, especially in deeper water.  In addition, it is a small flake tube.

Can these rules be busted?  Absolutely.  Personally, I like pizza a lot but couldn't eat it every day.  There are sometimes I'll open up a refrigerator full of food and say, "There's nothing here to eat."  I see bass as being the same biologically with various urges and preferences driving them from one day to the next.  The fact that the choices a bass has are far more restricted than ours.  This probably accounts for why we can get them to bite on the same bait as often as we do.

For the most part, the data I've seen on scent has been primarily driven by manufacturer's trying to establish the value of their product.  There's nothing wrong with it, the information just doesn't rise to a practical level when applying it in the field.  Even data from independent testing has a narrow focus.  It is nearly always done in a controlled environment (scientifically this is good and accurate) but the purpose of the test is usually set in advance to draw certain conclusions.  This leads to a lot of heat generated but little light.  I think controlled testing is a good thing, it just seems to be done more for testing sake than set up to place valuable information into the hands of an angler who is accustomed to managing vast amount of data and bringing it to bear in production in the field.

I prefer to work the data back the other way by using results in the field to hone finer points and stronger and more useful conclusions.  The value of each piece of information is constantly tested over periods of years with the stray results thrown out and productive information tools developed from the consistent results.  All bass anglers naturally use this approach to advance their skills and what works for them may only be "discovered" years, even decades down the road by researchers working in a controlled testing environment.

[McCarter]

I'm surprised no one mentioned they use it not as an attractant, but to mask their own scent.  McCarter uses it because bass don't like the taste/smell of Kodiak...

This is the main reason i like it.  If you stop and think about all the things that your fingers touch before and during an outting and how many of those things are known to be offensive to bass, (gasoline, tobacco, boogers, oils from face, hands, sweat, etc.) it just makes sense to use something that masks those oders.  I have talked to the owner and inventor of mega strike several times.  Mega Strike is not just a scent.  It is packed with elements that are known to trigger a bass to eat including amino acids and proteins found in thier everyday forage.  Bottom line is they think it is real food.  I am just saying what i know becuase i have been using it for about 5 years now and there is certainly a difference in the bite when I have it and when i forget it.  Ask my partner and pal Kevin Lynn Barrows.  He will tell you how well it works. 

Other than the scent and chemical components of it, it also adds a slime coat that lasts a very long time.  Anything a fish eats that lives in the water has a natural slime coat on it.  Minnows, craws, helgramites, worms, larvae, etc.  If it lives in the water, its slimy. Mega Strike is just another way of mimmicking what the fish are used to eating by adding another familliar property of the food they eat.

I use it on my Lucky Craft Pointers and after putting in on once, you can still feel it and smell it on the bait weeks later.  It repels water so it takes a long time to disolve. 

Another cool thing about it that i dont think a lot of people realize and probably wouldnt care anyway, but if you cake it on so it is a little lumpy it will trap air and cause the lure to bubble when it settles on the bottom and is moved.  Where i have found this trait to be most effective is when bed fishing.  Something about that lure sitting on the bed not moving and then letting a few little bubbles go triggers the fish in a mean way.

As far as putting in on the line, whenever i get any on my line by accident i wipe it off the best i can, if its a tournament, i retie.  I dont know everything that is in there so there might be something in it that can weaken or eat away at the line and im bad enough with breaking my line with superhero hooksets as it is. 

This thread has been hijacked so out of fairness to Wayne, lets start a new thread about scents if we wanna keep throwing ideas and opinions around.  Just a suggestion.........Xtremem Brown Craw tubes RULE!!!!!

McCarter himself

[bshaner]

I'm surprised no one mentioned they use it not as an attractant, but to mask their own scent.  McCarter uses it because bass don't like the taste/smell of Kodiak...

Can you blame them?

Wayne,

Very nicely written.  I always enjoy reading your dissertations.  Keep them coming.

B

[WayneC]

Good stuff Brian.  You brought up something that is a true test of effectiveness; if you stop using it (or forgot to bring it) you notice the drop in the bite.  Obviously, you put a lot of thought into these things over a long period of time.

The hijacking didn't bother me and I'm plesantly surprised so many stuck with this topic inside this post.  It would be good to get this going as a stand alone.  I think there are a lot of folks who would benefit from it.

[Fishmael]

I was once a firm believer in scent.  Riverside Lures used to make a product called Real Craw.  They said it had 200 crayfish in each bottle.  Once put on a lure, you could see the oil circle come off for about 15 minutes...it was some pretty oily stuff.  Anytime I wanted to hammer them, I would put the stuff on.  I noticed at least a 25% increase in the number of bites I got, maybe more.  The problem with this story is that they no longer make the stuff and I haven't found an equal.  Who made that decision?!?   

So, to sum up, if the scent is right, I really believe it works.  However some of the products out there I think are a waste of money (as I said, I've been looking for a replacement and haven't found one yet!).

[McCarter]

there is a guy who makes a bunch of different scents and a few of them use real crawfish oils.  You might check him out.  his website is www.upperhandscents.com.  I bought a few to cook into our plastics but it messed with the color too bad so we stopped using them.  I do use the hawg n garlic on stick baits after they are poured sometimes but i still favor mega strike.

But he might have what you are looking for.

his stuff is oily.  and stinky!

McCarter himself

[Fishmael]

Sounds just like what I'm looking for!  However, the wife will never believe that I was out fishing anymore! 

[motocross269]

Berkley Gulp Leaches....Don't leave home without them....

I use a tupperware style soup holder with an Oring seal for my bulk gulp product...It is the only thing that I have been able to keep the stinky juice in the container..Then I put all of my gulp in a plastic shoebox..I lay out a towel on the deck and lay the shoebox on top of that...It sound anal, but I can't stand that Gulp smell but it catches the heck out of smallmouth on the DS..

[dartag]

just don't leave it on a hook to long.  when Gulp dries out it gets like leather and won't come off..

[Lightningboy]

I'm on that gulp bandwagon too.  The 5 inch sinking minnow is a great DS bait.  Can't say I'm too big a fan of the goby.  I think it lacks movement, and the colors ain't much to look at.  Kicked it's arse with Nemesis on several occasions.   

I think gulp has it's best effect when you need to deadstick it in their faces.  But when movement of the bait is key, I do better with more supple plastic baits.

The smell doesn't bother me much; a life time of sinus problems & surgery left me with a much reduced sense of smell.  Now if you want a real odorous scent, let's talk Kick'n bass.  Stinks to high heaven, plus sticks like dried concrete to whatever it lands on.

Ain't allowed on my boat...