Fish Attractants to Trigger a Feeding Response
Seminar by
Scent Striker’s Don Habeger
Fish attractants are made by many companies and there is no doubt that fish attractants attract and help you catch more fish. That is why when bait is not allowed in Alaska waters, neither are scent attractants. In this seminar, Don Habeger, inventor of Scent Striker, explains how to fish detect odors, the advantages of using scent, and how tie better bait setups to trigger a feeding response in fish. Scent Striker makes a range of fish attractants—both scents, and scent holder devices—to help you capitalize on a fish’s sense of smell.
Fish attractants should target the fish’s sense of smell, sight and sound. This is the bait setup triangle. If you omit any of these elements, you will be limiting the effectiveness of your gear. Scents can be so effective, that one of the tools ADF&G uses to limit encounters with king salmon on the Kenai River during weak runs is to prohibit the use of bait (which includes scents).
Fish attractants such as scents put small, even microscopic, particles into the water that fish can detect. Think of a scent trail as very tiny bits of food being carried by the current. Fish such as halibut and salmon can detect minute amounts of scents and if the scent trail is strong enough, fish are motivated to move in the direction of the odor source.
When using fish attractants, what an angler needs to keep in mind is that though fish can detect minute amounts of bait or scent in the water, because the volume of water is so great, more is always better. Add more scent to your lures or baits. The bigger you can make the scent trail, the more fish will detect it, the more fish will move towards your bait, and the more fish you will ultimately hook.