Fish Attractants

[BigBossMan]

I was reading a post on the Texas fishing forum. The person asked the question, "what fishing attractants do you use?" People responded with their personal preference of fish attractants. But there were some that were different...
-WD-40?
-One person asked if anyone has used "Nouc Mam" (Vietnamese fish sauce)? Its made from pure fish (anchovies?) and is very salty.
-Bannana flavoring from the grocery store (used for cooking)?

Has anyone used these as attractants and what do you think? Is there any other "special" attractants that you would be willing to give up?

[Smile_n_Jax]

Heard about WD40 some years ago as a great attractant. But, if I recall correctly, it's illegal to put in California waters because it's a petroleum product.

[joshm]

Yeah, my great grandfather swore by WD-40-he called it Panther Piss! I know he always used it while trolling for trout, but I don't know about bass. As for the others you got me.
Josh McCurdy

[flipthatjig]

i dont know about the other stuff but WD-40 works hella good for cat fish. not sure about bass but hey anything will work for cat fish one time a band camp i used leftover chick and caught a 9 pount cat. yeeee

[Andy Giannini]

I use rat urine. But only on my Watson's Wrats. When I big fish bites down on a real rat, they piss like anything. I figured it would help convince the fish that the Wrat was the real thing.

When I first started out, it wasn't working too good. Couldn't use domesticated rats for the attractant. Seems the rodent feed pellets gave it a funny, unnatural taste or smell.

Eventually, I trapped wild native Delta rats, and after extensive testing and urinalisis came up with an enhanced natural rat urine formula.

It works real well, but you have to careful not to get it on the boat carpet.

A.G.

[jack morris]

Yes wd-40 is a great fish attractant. In fact some of the original power baits had wd-40 in them. Now it is illegal to use. O well back to the drawing board.. In the past I used it for sturgeon, stripers , catfish and salmon and it worked quite well... Jack

[B Becker]

I used wd-40 when I was using bait, like anchoives......the wd-40 would create a barrier on our hands so that they didn't stink so bad.....I never sprayed it on lures though.....I know petroleums are different, but 90% of the fish attractants on the market are petroleum based.....just look at the oil slick in the water when your bait is dunked....I think most attractants work because they mask the scent of you or what you do (ie. smoke, fuel, etc) I can't see how wd-40 would be much different than fuel.....but who knows?....I know there is science behind garlic and anise....I used to make my own out of cod liver oil and anise....it was actually pretty expensive to make.....but again, water and oil don't mix.....I love my Lunker Sauce...

[BigBossMan]

A Texas Bass guide posted that he uses cod liver oil as his atractant...

[Phil]

OUR ONLY ATTRACTANT IS A CLOVE OF GARLIC IN OUR POCKET TO RUB OUR HANDS IN AND WITH DURING THE DAY...THIS ONLY KEEPS OUR SENT OFF OF OUR LURES, WONT DO ANY OTHER DAMAGE TO ITEMS ON OR IN BOAT OR LURES.......TRY IT, IT WORKS....

JIGS

[B Becker]

that is a great idea Jigs.....but you are actually doing more than you think....scientists have found that the amino acids in garlic and anise are the same found in baitfish and crustaceans.....since bass don't have a sense of smell, all they pick up are the amino acids that their forage gives off...and since garlic and anise are inexpensive, the make great attractants....when I was a kid and we got done cleaning fish (usually crappie), I remember that anise grew wild up by Berryessa and Nicasio (spelling?) and we would rub our hands on it to get the fish smell off....funny how that stuff grew so close to the lake.....I use the Lunker Sauce because it uses the actual amino acids found in the scent that I'm using (ie shad, crawdad, shrimp, etc)....just an extra confidence thing, and I really have outfished people in my boat with it....not always, but more times than not

[Phil]

MY WIFE PEGGY TAUGHT ME ABOUT THE GARLIC......UNTIL THEN I WAS USING BERKLEY POWER BAIT SENT ...BUT HATE TO SPILL IT ON CARPET OR OTHER THINGS,,AND PEGGY WAS OUTFISHING ME AT TIMES TO BE HONEST !! SO I LEARNED .

JIGS

[MIKE TREMONT]

I just got one of those emails last week, one of those you read and delete. It said the base ingredient in WD was fish oil?

[Andy Giannini]

If I remember right, ATF years ago had some whale oil in it. That's how the whole oil thing got going. Whale oil wasn't used anymore, so regular petroleum oil was put on baits, and it seemed to work too. Along comes WD and it was in a spray can, so much easier.

And for some reason the urban legend part of me, wants to say the nutty guys putting whale oil ATF on baits were sturgeon guys.

Now if somebody Googles whale oil and Automatic Transmission fluid and it doesn't pop up, my whole theory is blown to smithereens.

.02 and half urban legend,

A.G.

[TWinger]

*NM*

[jack morris]

The oil slick you see on the water from scents is from the oils in the base,shad,crawfish,ect. I do not think they would dare use petroleum. Jack