Should You Really Use a Fish Attractant?

You’ve probably heard of fish attractants – including scents and formulas – that are billed as ways to get fish to not only notice your bait, but to take a bite and, enjoying the taste, hang on to it. But is this really how fish attractants work, and if so, are there any cases where they actually don’t work on certain species of fish? If you’ve ever contemplating using a fish attractant, this article will help you understand them better.

In fish such as bass, they will typically “bite at” a bait and then spit it out after a few seconds if they find that they don’t like the taste. This can be frustrating for people who aren’t using the right types of bait to catch bass. The goal of fish attractant is to get the fish to bite and then hang on to the bait for a longer amount of time, allowing you to reuse a plastic bait, for example.

Any good fisherman knows that the longer the bait is in the fish’s mouth, the better chance you have at setting your hook and reeling in the fish. That’s why a fish attractant that really works can dramatically increase your chances of success in reeling in a good fish.

But how much fish attractant do you really need? For human beings, food that gets soaked in water loses plenty of its flavor, which is why many feel that they typically have to “douse” their bait in fish attractant in order for it to work effectively. But fish live in the water – they’re more sensitive to taste and scents in water than we are. There’s not really a need to “douse” anything, unless you want to run out of fish attractant earlier.

A good way to use fish attractant is actually to wash your hands before fishing and then use the fish attractant on your hands. That way, when you handle the bait, line, and hook, you’re actually spreading an attractive scent on all of your baiting tools – washing your hands ahead of time removed any strange scents that might have repelled a fish. There’s no need to pour your fish attractant directly onto the bait when this technique can work just as well and can save you money.

Remember also that some fish might respond better to different attractants. Attractants can be very popular with bass, for example. But a good fisherman customizes his bait to the different types of fish he plans on catching – which is why you’ll want to ask yourself which fish the attractant is really designed for.

Photo Credits: cmefish

This post involves:

fish attractant, good fish, setting your hook, strange scents, wash your hands

... and focuses on:

fishing, fishing tips

Posted by Hike Camp Fish on September 6, 2009 in fishing, fishing tips. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.