anyone use scent?

[sniksoh 0]

i was wondering if anyone used scent spray on thier flies and if you do what kind of scent do you use. never tried the stuff but the thought just popped in my head.

[kodiaksalmon 0]

No!!!! I don't wanna sound opinionated, but since you asked. No!!!!!!

 

I'm pretty liberal with my flies; I use rattles, blades and diving lips, but I won't be caught dead using scent.....since you asked. But to each their own.

[Fred H. 0]

No , It's a personal choice for me . I want to see if I can fool the fish with what I get them to see from what I've tied.

Now when baitcasting with conventional tackle in the past ,I have used everything from Alka seltzers to WD 40 and every commercial scent sold. And in saltwater I can tell you the line of gulp baits with their built in scents work.

When it comes to my flies I am more concerned with keeping them from picking up any odor that my might turn a fish off. Keeping them from smelling musty by keeping my fly boxes clean and dry. And making sure there is nothing on my hands when I handle them.

Fred

[Guest rich mc]

i dont spray it on the flies but have been known to place some flies in a packet of scented plastic worms for awhile . it was mostly to cover the scent of sally hansens hard as nails. rich

[aftershock 0]

i am guilty of using scent at times....some scents ruin the fly ie:rubber legs, zonker strip. i dont have a problem using scents but i am just a bass fisherman

[dafunk5446 0]

The only scent I have ever used is the mud and algae at the shore, I believe Whitlock was an advocate of thoroughly working muck into your flies to mask the smell of chemicals used in fly tying materials, and I am convinced it helps.

[JSzymczyk 0]

i was wondering if anyone used scent spray on thier flies and if you do what kind of scent do you use. never tried the stuff but the thought just popped in my head.

 

 

HERETIC!! BLASPHEMY!!! Oh, the VULGARITY!! How could you even think of putrifying the delicate and pristine art of fly fishing by introducing STINK to your fly???

 

Just kidding, of course. This is a very divisive topic... By and large, fly anglers shun the use of scents, and ALL OTHER types of fishermen use scents as a matter of course on their lures. I know several folks (non-fly fishermen) who put scents on live bait! And, they catch a ton of fish doing it. Partlly it is a cultural thing, especially if you tie your own flies. I think there is a deep desire to catch fish on your own creations, without any "help" such as possibly offered by scent. Additionally, most scents seem to be oily, and make feathers, fur, and fibers matted and bad looking, at least OUT of the water. There also seems to be a major divide between trout/salmon (coldwater) and bass/panfish/etc(warmwater) fly fishermen.

 

I think it's also a rather recent idea, say since largemouth bass fishing began to turn into a billion dollar industry. Fly fishermen openly and secretly decided to distance themselves from the broomstick-and-truck-winch crowd, trying to put themselves up on an imaginary pedestal. It may be partly true too, since fly fishermen (in my experience) usually take more pleasure from FISHING than other folks- by that I mean tying flies, casting well, studying nature, etc. NOT always true, but it seems to be common.

 

I don't normally use or carry scent with me when fly fishing. I'm not opposed to it either... especially if I think it will help obtain a fish dinner for me and my family.

 

I know one thing- 25 years ago, before people started calling carp "Golden Bonefish" (for heaven's sake, ) I used to catch 10 or 12 in an afternoon with my fly rod in a local river- and people would hardly believe it. The Big Secret was a #8 brown woolly-worm soaked with crawfish scent. Find a carp feeding, drift that by his nose, and hang on! At the time, I didn't think it was any big deal. If the smallmouth were not cooperating, I could almost always find some carp.

[BigDaddyHub 0]

guilty...as bad as I hate to admit it, but I have used scents, especially for batifish patterns when the largemouth action begins to slow days before they hit the nests....never really noticed any difference with the productivity...I can remember only one or two occassions when it seemed the scenting of a fly gave me an advantage. I haven't scented flies for any other species, but when bass fishing (especially with flies) it seems the whole attraction to the fly ( at least in my opinion) is the action and the color, not necessarily if the EP Fiber Minnow actually "smelled" like a minnow...Not opposed to it at all, especially for largemouth or carp...With carp, it's not always about the fly...Sometimes it's about hooking and playing one of these monsters. If scenting gives a carp angler a better chance of hooking up with a real brusier, I say scent on, my man, and have fun with it! (The purist in me just became nauseated, but the "good ol'boy" in just grinned ear to ear!)

[ibian 0]

I've tried it on spoons, spinner and plastics with no success except a real stinky tackle box when they leak so I won't be using it on my flies.

 

Ian

[Chase Creek 0]

As soon as I saw the title of this post, I thought "OH OH" this is going to be a lively one!

I commend everyone for their gentlemanly responses.

I agree it's a personal thing. It certainly isn't illegal, and the scent police won't haul you off,

but my opinion is that it "violates the intent" of fly fishing.

I don't use scent, but that's my option.

[kodiaksalmon 0]

I think it's a fair question to ask, and I think that as long as you're not looking to stay within IGFA standards or state laws, it's not a big deal. If you want to use scent, use scent. I know I'm already shunned, but some even on this board because my muskie flies use blades and a lot of "hardware" and they don't look like an 18 Adams. I still cast them with fly rods and fly line, and I'm happy with them, so it's not their business. Just like if someone wanted to spray something on a streamer or bugger for carp or bass. I say do what makes you happy because that's why we're out there in the first place.

 

And I know I was adamant about not using scent...but that's just flyfishing. I have no problem at all throwing a nasty worm on a hook and catching bluegill and rockbass at Mom and Dad's house and filling the cooler! I was speaking only in terms of flyfishing.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I think it's a fair question to ask, and I think that as long as you're not looking to stay within IGFA standards or state laws, it's not a big deal. If you want to use scent, use scent. I know I'm already shunned, but some even on this board because my muskie flies use blades and a lot of "hardware" and they don't look like an 18 Adams.

 

 

I think a lot of people would benefit by reading some historical literature about "our" sport. By that I mean some REALLY GOOD fishing stuff by Ray Bergman, Charles Waterman, Ted Trueblood, and many others; written in the first half of the 20th century. Using spinner blades, spoons, and YIKES even bait on the fly rod was not only accepted, but considered just a normal part of the sport. If scents as we know them were available at the time, I'd be willing to bet those guys would not have hesitated to use them.

 

At times I have seen the use of scent make a large difference in the catch rate, especially for bass and panfish, NOT on fly tackle, but on spinning and casting gear using soft plastics especially. And take a look at the 17.4Trillion different kinds of soft plastics out there on the market- a whole bunch of them have scent built right into the material.

 

It's a personal choice, nothing more.

[Hairstacker 0]

I think it's a fair question to ask, and I think that as long as you're not looking to stay within IGFA standards or state laws, it's not a big deal. If you want to use scent, use scent. I know I'm already shunned, but some even on this board because my muskie flies use blades and a lot of "hardware" and they don't look like an 18 Adams.

 

 

I think a lot of people would benefit by reading some historical literature about "our" sport. By that I mean some REALLY GOOD fishing stuff by Ray Bergman, Charles Waterman, Ted Trueblood, and many others; written in the first half of the 20th century. Using spinner blades, spoons, and YIKES even bait on the fly rod was not only accepted, but considered just a normal part of the sport. If scents as we know them were available at the time, I'd be willing to bet those guys would not have hesitated to use them.

 

At times I have seen the use of scent make a large difference in the catch rate, especially for bass and panfish, NOT on fly tackle, but on spinning and casting gear using soft plastics especially. And take a look at the 17.4Trillion different kinds of soft plastics out there on the market- a whole bunch of them have scent built right into the material.

 

It's a personal choice, nothing more.

 

I don't but to each his own I say. We each must define for ourselves where the lines exist, if any, between fly fishing and conventional approaches, flies vs. lures/bait, etc. For me, that means no bait or scent on the end of the tippet.

 

JSzymczyk, although a few notables might have used bait on a fly rod back in the day, outside of these few it was not considered a "normal" part of the sport, particularly in the 1st half of the 20th century. In fact, no doubt many (if not most) would have considered it shady, the result of a seriously deficient upbringing, evidence of the lack of good breeding, and in any event, would have concluded the practitioner was manifesting a most disturbing and unacceptable character flaw.

[Old Hat 0]

I don't use scent but I believe it is important to cover our scent tracks on our flies. Glue, material cleaners, musty tying room, our own grimy hands all can be detected by a fish's keen sense of smell. Whether a certain smell turns them off or on that up to the fish. I am faithful in rubbing all my flies, yes even dries, in the dirt before I fish them.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I have used scent when salmon and steelheading I guess I carry a small tupperware box with some salmon eggs in it and throw my egg pattern flies in it before I tie them on the line so I guess I will be shunned by all but oh well sometimes it keeps me from going home skunked