The biologists at Pure Fishing study fish, and many years ago, Dr. Keith Jones determined that although worms aren’t part of a bass’s natural diet, they will still eat plastic worms. Even a rough minnow shape attracts them, even though they don’t seem to look for the most natural objects when it comes to eating. Sometimes bass bite out of curiosity, says Jones, but they are less likely to bite the same thing twice just out of curiosity – there has to be some confirmation or stimulus of food for them to keep after it. Those things can be softness, scent, or taste and all of those things seem to be taken by the bass and generalized to similar objects. So yes, bass learn.
Pure Fishing biologists did studies where crankbaits were run around and around a tank past bass, and the fish would bite them, but by the fifth time around, they had learned that those weren’t food and they quit going after them. Two weeks later, they still wouldn’t bite. Even three months later, the results were the same. Dr. Jones says he thinks they learn for life. However, spinnerbaits and crankbaits seemed to be the easiest for the fish to remember, and it is harder for them to make generalizations about soft baits.
I know a guy who used to have a big bass in a tank at his house. He used to test lures on that fish now and then, and he could get it to take a plastic worm, but it’s incredible how fast the fish could spit it back out. It makes you wonder how you ever catch one. But then he dropped a PowerBait in the tank, and that fish swallowed it. Ate the thing! We were all amazed, and guess what we bought the next time we were at the tackle shop? After talking to Dr. Jones, I realized that probably the only reason the bass didn’t eat the other worms was that they didn’t have the taste or smell he was after.
Improving On Nature
Back in the day, a guy named Jim Jared was the universally recognized king of jig fishing in Arizona. He would give free seminars at tackle shops reasonably often and always had a packed house. I specifically remember him telling us about his “juice jug.”
He loved fishing jigs with pork; you must keep them wet, or they’ll shrivel. He kept a jar of homemade scent on the front deck – a plastic jar with a lid that doesn’t screw on. He’d rig up several rods with jigs and pork, use one for a few casts, put it on the deck with the jig in a separate jar of solution, and pick up another one. In between uses, those jigs stewed in that scent on the deck. He always said he didn’t know if the fish liked the smell or if it covered up his smell, but he never fished a jig without scent, even though he always fished with a natural pork tail.
As soon as he got a bottle of his solution ready, he’d put two jars of Uncle Josh’s purple pork in it (#11), juice and all. The liquid has preservatives; apparently, the purple pork may be fluorescent to fish.
Jared would prepare eight jig and pig combos the day before he went fishing, putting them in the juice jug to marinate. That takes the bitter taste off the rubber skirt, he says. He changed baits every fifteen to thirty minutes while fishing, taking the used one, putting it in a different jar of solution, and taking the new one out of the marinated stock. He also scraped the pork the day before, like curling ribbon (ask your wife). He also trimmed the pork, slicing slits in the fat part perpendicular to the tails to absorb the scent better and give it more undulating action.
If he were flipping heavy cover, he’d slice a bit of the round part off the sides of the front to give the pork a bit of a point. If he wanted a faster fall, he’d slice off some thickness. He’d slit the pork between the tails just about a quarter to half an inch for more action so the legs could wave more. He never used plastic pork. Ever. He told me he’d won $10,000 on brown jigs with purple pork. That was a lot of money back then, and he still won tournaments.
Answers From Anglers
I asked a bunch of avid bass anglers whether they used scent, and the overwhelming answer was “YES.” Rob Thelen said he has always used Bang on soft plastics – he thinks it helps during the spawn with bed fishing. Bang is popular because it comes in a can, and you spray it on the bait, which is fast and easy. Hold the bait out over the water, so you don’t get spray all over the carpet. James Furminsky and Stephen Jackson also said they use Bang, and Jackson also likes Spike-It garlic and gamefish scent.
Spike-It comes in a small plastic jar, and you dip the lure into it. You can also get Spike-It with dye, and many guys like to add red or chartreuse to the tail. With Spike-It, you can kill two birds with one stone, adding scent and color simultaneously. They also have scented markers. You need to be careful with Spike-It dyes around the carpet in your boat when you’re putting it on. It dries on the bait quickly, but you don’t want to spill it on the carpet or seats. I use it over the side of the livewell if I’m not fishing a tournament.
Angler Swik Mo says he uses Pro-Cure Threadfin Shad Super Gel on everything. This gel comes in a bottle with a squeeze top applicator and is super sticky, so it clings to the bait. It’s made from 100% natural baits, UV enhanced and packed with amino acids for a natural taste and smell. I haven’t used this particular one, so I’m not sure if it stains or sticks to carpets or seats, but as with all scents, I recommend you use it over the side or keep a plastic tub in the boat to work over when applying scent or dye.
Doug Coplan Jr likes Bass Dynasty Craw on his jigs and some plastics because it is sticky and doesn’t wash off in the water. For everything else, he uses a yellow bottle of PowerBait Scent. He is convinced that fish hold on to baits longer if you apply scent. Bass Dynasty is another one that comes in a squeeze bottle, and they have a variety of flavors, including Stocker Trout, which I would imagine is excellent for swimbaits. I haven’t been able to locate Berkley PowerBait Scent lately, but I know that John Murray used to put his Yamamoto baits in a bag with his Power Worms so they’d get the smell.
Troy Reece says he likes KVD Fish Sticks because they aren’t liquid and stay on longer. It is a stick like a lip balm or sunscreen stick that you smear onto the bait. Richard Bennett says he’d use scent even if it didn’t make a difference in catching, just because many of the scents lubricate the bait, so he gets fewer ripped baits. He doesn’t like the smell, though; some scents are a bit messy and can get on your hands when you apply them, making you smell like garlic, fish, or something unknown. It pays to be careful when applying scents.
Richard Anderson dips the tips of his Texas rigs in Garlic SpikeIt Dip-N-Glo, then sprays the whole thing down with Bang. This gives him extra color, a glow in dark water, scent, and taste. One thing you should be aware of is that sometimes if you put a plastic worm back in the tackle box after it has had scent applied, it will sort of melt into the box's plastic and make a mess. The best thing to do is apply the scent right when you tie on and keep a plastic bag in the boat for used baits. Just throw them out rather than try to keep them for the next trip.
Besides the scents mentioned by the anglers, I’ve also used Kick’n Bass, which is excellent – made from pure fish oils and available in Anise/Shad, Crawfish, and Garlic. I’ve used Bang a lot, but we were always careful to bring the cans inside – we didn’t like to leave pressurized cans in a boat when the temperature can get to 115 in the summer. Kick’n Bass is in a squeeze bottle. We’ve also used Yum Scent, a pump spray bottle that says it’s a biological enzyme attractant that simulates live prey and masks fish-repelling odors.
Tackle Warehouse has a variety of scents, including Bang aerosol, the Spike-It Dip-N-Glo scented marker, Dip-N-Glo Dye by SpikeIt, and Smelly Jelly – which is a paste that comes in a small jar, and the KVD Fish Stick Lure Enhancer. No matter how you like to apply your scent, they’ve got you covered at https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/.
Years ago, we used to like the Mega Bass scent from Yamamoto. It came in a tube that you’d squeeze onto the bait, then spread around. Of course, it got on your hands, but we considered that a plus since we figured it masked our scent on the weights, etc. I can’t find that stuff anywhere anymore, and I’ve been looking for it. It was convenient. The tube was big, so it lasted a long time, and the fish seemed to like it.
The bottom line is this: most of the anglers I asked about scent say that they think the fish hold on to the bait longer when they use scent on it. That goes along with what Dr. Keith Jones said about bass and scent or flavor. Anglers aren’t sure whether the bass like the flavor, as in garlic or baitfish, or if it’s just the scent, or if it’s just that the scent covers any possible human scent on the lure. Whatever it is, there seems to be no good reason NOT to use scent – why not give yourself every possible edge?
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