Years ago I had a buddy who was and environmental geologist, he told me dawn is biodegradable and “environmentally friendly” it was his go to for cleaning and bathing outdoors. I use it for those purposes and it works well. I’m often worried about smells that potentially could affect fish in a negative way. I am very careful with sunscreen lotions and other potions aftershave etc. and always wash hands so none of it gets on lures or tackle. I even sometimes wash/rinse my hands with mud or moss from the lake, not sure it makes a difference but it makes me feel better and maybe more confidence.
A story I always remember, is once when my Dad, 94 years young West Point Grad Veteran (who I must thank for introducing me to fishing, which led to my career as well as a lifelong passion for fishing) was fishing at lake Powell for stripers about 30 years ago with a buddy with Anchovies (is there anything with more scent smell??)
My dad had caught a dozen or more and his buddy ZERO same boat same bait same technique. They were trying to figure out what could be making the difference.
My dad remembered and could still smell the aftershave which his buddy slathered on LIBERALLY that morning, if I remember correctly Old Spice of some variety. So my dad took his buddies line cut a few feet off, retied it with a new hook baited it up for him and instantly he was catching fish. So for the rest of the day he baited and unhooked his fish so he did not touch the line the caught fish equally the rest of that day. Next day no aftershave and washed his hands even rubbed the with some stinky anchovies!! Lol
I am convinced scents both good and bad CAN make a difference, more for some kinds of fish than others. So I try to have “clean” Unscented hands when handling tackle and lures.
But then I remember an interview of a bass pro that said you can pour gas in my tackle box and I will still catch more than anybody!!
Many Years ago ( maybe 40 years) a “doctor” May have been Dr white, not sure if my memory on his name is correct) maybe even an icthyologist did some research on salmon with scents , he came up with theory that human scent was similar to scents predators gave off and it could repel fish so he was a big believer in eliminating human scent on tackle. Short version, when trolling for salmon in the ocean he used “sterilized unscented “ gear, then some scented with the usual popular scents like anise, fish etc and then just for a flyer dunked some in the stinky dirty oily bilge water. He used under water cameras to monitor the reactions. To his amazement he had lots of interest and hits on the bilge soaked gear as well as the added fish attractants. Less interest in the clean lures??
One conclusion is that smell was an important trigger and as long as it wasn’t something that would repel them it was better that they had some smell, fish would potentially bite it to find out what it was ??
One of the great things about fishing is so many theories and questions it keeps us all guessing and trying to figure out that extra edge. Some things we may never know but we are sure we have it all figured out!!
Lol
Good luck tight lines and great catching to all!
A story I always remember, is once when my Dad, 94 years young West Point Grad Veteran (who I must thank for introducing me to fishing, which led to my career as well as a lifelong passion for fishing) was fishing at lake Powell for stripers about 30 years ago with a buddy with Anchovies (is there anything with more scent smell??)
My dad had caught a dozen or more and his buddy ZERO same boat same bait same technique. They were trying to figure out what could be making the difference.
My dad remembered and could still smell the aftershave which his buddy slathered on LIBERALLY that morning, if I remember correctly Old Spice of some variety. So my dad took his buddies line cut a few feet off, retied it with a new hook baited it up for him and instantly he was catching fish. So for the rest of the day he baited and unhooked his fish so he did not touch the line the caught fish equally the rest of that day. Next day no aftershave and washed his hands even rubbed the with some stinky anchovies!! Lol
I am convinced scents both good and bad CAN make a difference, more for some kinds of fish than others. So I try to have “clean” Unscented hands when handling tackle and lures.
But then I remember an interview of a bass pro that said you can pour gas in my tackle box and I will still catch more than anybody!!
Many Years ago ( maybe 40 years) a “doctor” May have been Dr white, not sure if my memory on his name is correct) maybe even an icthyologist did some research on salmon with scents , he came up with theory that human scent was similar to scents predators gave off and it could repel fish so he was a big believer in eliminating human scent on tackle. Short version, when trolling for salmon in the ocean he used “sterilized unscented “ gear, then some scented with the usual popular scents like anise, fish etc and then just for a flyer dunked some in the stinky dirty oily bilge water. He used under water cameras to monitor the reactions. To his amazement he had lots of interest and hits on the bilge soaked gear as well as the added fish attractants. Less interest in the clean lures??
One conclusion is that smell was an important trigger and as long as it wasn’t something that would repel them it was better that they had some smell, fish would potentially bite it to find out what it was ??
One of the great things about fishing is so many theories and questions it keeps us all guessing and trying to figure out that extra edge. Some things we may never know but we are sure we have it all figured out!!
Lol
Good luck tight lines and great catching to all!
time spent fishing isn't deducted from ones life