A Rose by Any Other Name…
The effectiveness of adding scent to a bait or lure is one of those things on which a lot of folks differ. Some don’t believe in it. Others swear by it, and some folks don’t really care.
In my decades of fishing, I’ve come to the conclusion that whether or not adding scent is a good thing depends on different factors.
It does depend upon the species of fish. Some fish seem to be sight feeders more than they are drawn to scent. Others depend upon scent a lot—if there is no scent, whether it’s from a natural bait or added to the lure, the fish is less likely to strike.
It also depends, I think, on the life cycle as well, particularly in anadromous fish—salmon and steelhead in this case. While I don’t have the science to back it up, it stands to reason that fish which depend upon their sense of smell to home in on their natal streams, indeed the particular stretch of that stream, will be more susceptible to scents as they head home.
And if those scents remind them of the food they ate as young fish in the stream or in the ocean as growing adults, so much the better. Experience has borne this out with myriad fishermen who swear by wrapped plugs, tuna balls, tipping jigs with shrimp and simply by adding various scents to roe they cure.
Enter ANSporting, a Tigard, Oregon, company that manufactures scent products that take product and application to a new level.
Why? Well, to start, ANSporting uses only natural ingredients in both the scent and the carrier for the scent. For instance, Scent Sticks use a natural wax to hold the tuna and 10 other natural scents in place.
Think of a Chapstick applicator that holds a scent product designed to be rubbed on a lure, and you’ve got the Scent Stick nailed.
In a strange aside, I’ve been trying to figure a way to change out one of the sticks for my sister-in-law’s lip balm. If I do, I’ll let you know how that comes out…
“I tried everything,” says company owner Jered Hayward, “from beeswax to other natural waxes to find one that didn’t have its own scent. I found one, and that’s the one I use.
“It isn’t paraffin, as that is a petroleum-based product, and I don’t believe in using any petroleum product in a scent. Since I run a skin-care company also, I am familiar with a lot of different products, and I finally found one that works well for the Scent Stick.”
Hayward takes pains to make sure that fishermen understand that his products are “100 percent pure and all natural”.
Once you see (and smell) the products, you’ll understand.
The Scent line has 10 offerings. The scents are made from natural baits—sand shrimp, herring, tuna, krill, herring, sardines, nightcrawlers and crawfish. Some scents are pure and others combined. Also, Hayward includes anise in the mix and offers a two-ounce bottle of anise.
“What I do is dehydrate everything so that there is no water in the product I’ll be mixing,” he says. “That way I don’t have to use any preservatives. The gel I mix the scents with doesn’t have any water, either, because water screws everything up when it comes to scents.
“I only use a natural gel; it’s not synthetic, and it’s definitely not petroleum based. I won’t say what it is, but I will say it’s a natural product.”
While the Scent Sticks and Scent gels bear some resemblance to other products on the market, the Bait Powder does not. There are three versions of Bait Powder currently available: tuna, sardine and sand shrimp. Each is made from the critter for which it is named that is then dehydrated and shredded—and that kind of reminds me of the wood chipper scene from “Fargo”, but I digress.
The Bait Powders are designed to be used with bait cures to add extra scent. Hayward was definite in saying that these are not a cure of any kind but rather a scent product that should be added to a cure.
However, I’m thinking that if there was some kind of device that could hold the bait powder on the line in front of or on the lure itself, then there would be a killer scent trail developing.
Having said that, the powders need to marinate for at least four hours and preferably eight before use.
The ANSporting line of scent products is different from what you’re likely to find on the market now. It is extensive and covers the range of natural baits that salmon, trout or steelhead seem to prefer.
For more information, go to: www.ansporting.com.