Soft plastic odor

[bpm2000]

" The smell of tobacco or rather the nicotine that is in the smoke that gets on your hands just make bass run the other way."

See, I've never had that experience. I smoke when I fish a lot of the time and the bite is not any more diminished in doing so.

When I smoked cigarettes, I didn't notice anything either. But since I always smelled like tobacco, I had nothing to compare my success rate against. I have only been a non-smoker for a couple of months and this year's results should provide some insight.

There's really no way to know exactly why fish do what they do]not[/b] to bite I usually don't even know that it happened -- let alone why. Until the effect of tobacco scent is proven in a controlled environment (like a laboratory), it's just a theory. This is also true for other factors like color, size, sound, flash, vibration, etc.

The folks at Berkely (Pure Fishing) do lots of controlled experiments, which is why many of their new products work so well. "Gulp" eggs are excellent. I've had more success with them than with powerbait or nightcrawlers.

Yea I hear ya - Ive done my fair share of smoking/nonsmoking fishing so I have a pretty good idea in that sense at least. Like anything, its just one of the many variables that is to be considered.

Even within a controlled experiment you can only determine so much since the fish aren't responding to so many of the other variables it might encounter in its environment.
Then there is a bias/angle that pure fishing is going to work - i mean they ARE trying to sell the product so it'll get a positive spin no matter what. The Gulp! freshwater series (at least for bass) doesn't seem to have taken off very well even though the saltwater series are really popular. Maybe it has more to do with the mess/packaging than the actual scent... I know I don't want to carry around a frickin bucket with gulp! goo that I have to plunge my hand into every time I want a minnow lol!

[quickfish12]

Wasn't trying to make anyone upset. I was just stating my opinion that I don't think there is any need to baking sodaize your bait. If you want to give it a try more power to ya.

[iPodrodder]

Yeah I know you weren't. No hard feelings. I'm just a what-if guy. Like if I get skunked, I'll be kicking myself for not baking soda-ing the baits, and if I de-scent them but still get skunked, I'll be kicking myself for effort wasted. Murphy's Law.

[Shad_Eating_Grin]

too much over-analysis and overkill worrying about the smell of plastics... they're bass ... they don't care about the smell. the only thing dumber than a bass is a steelhead. these same plastics have been catching bass for years.

if you're really that overly concerned about the smell, just lay out your plastic on a table for a few weeks/days. a lot of the smell will go away or evaporate. no mess, no fuss

[HillbillyGeek]

the only thing dumber than a bass is a steelhead. these same plastics have been catching bass for years.

Steelhead and bass are dumb? Steelhead and bass don't use their sense of smell? Give me a break!

Talk is cheap. I am from the show-me state, and this spring the proof will be in the pictures. I look forward to seeing photos of you holding all of the "dumb" fish you caught this year...

[bpm2000]

the only thing dumber than a bass is a steelhead. these same plastics have been catching bass for years.

Talk is cheap. I am from the show-me state, and this spring the proof will be in the pictures. I look forward to seeing photos of you holding all of the "dumb" fish you caught this year...

haha nice!

[fishnislife]

Bass and Steelhead I would argue to say, are probably some of the smartest species of fish, if not one of the smartest.



fishnislife

[platinumroof]

I got Smelly Jelly on my lip once.
It actually tastes worse than it smells.
Tried Sniper Lures? They are very heavily salted and leave a cool oil slick when you drop them in water.

[A9]

they're bass ... they don't care about the smell. the only thing dumber than a bass is a steelhead. these same plastics have been catching bass for years.

Oh no.....
Steelhead are incredibly smart fish. It aint easy to survive for a few months in a river, to live for a few years in the ocean, come back without getting caught/netted/killed by a predator, and return to the same river they left from when they were much smaller and much younger. Then do the same thing multiple times in their lives. Some of these fish return to Idaho and other inland states, and know how to get to the exact same tributaries...That's several hundred miles of rivers they are navigating...