Scent On Flys? Does It Matter ?

[craneguy]

i am a bit concerned about odor on my flys.

i am a smoker, yeah, yeah i know . i do not fish for trout as much a fish for pike and i only tie my own pike flys. i know pike are pretty aggressive and not too picky, but i believe when targeting big pike and slow pike they do become picky about what they eat. i heard that cigarrete odor on fly's and lures can turn fish off. am i ruining my hundreds of dollars of tying material by smoking in my home ? does anyone de-odor flys, is that possible ?

 

thanks guys

[regdunlop]

I've heard that the scent from cigarette / tobacco smoke does indeed have a negative effect. I would think this would be more the case in stillwater where the fish has longer to inspect the fly.

Not sure how to deodorize tying materials though.

[Ricinus]

I'm sure that the scent is detectable by fish, but as an ex-smoker, I can't say definitively if it made any difference. Now Anise...

 

Regards Mike

[maxwell]

ive met a few people who use that "un-scenter) deer hunters use then why tie on tehre flies.. not sure if it help mask or kill odor... they do swear by it tho.. i smoke and slay a few fish so im no too concerned... but it might help in situatinos like u described...

[Bowbiker]

ive met a few people who use that "un-scenter) deer hunters use then why tie on tehre flies.. not sure if it help mask or kill odor... they do swear by it tho.. i smoke and slay a few fish so im no too concerned... but it might help in situatinos like u described...

 

Hey Max,

Do u think if I started smoking again, I could catch as many fish as u?

 

Happy New Year,

Dick Seymour

[jack]

Most freshwater fish have a very well developed sense of smell/taste. Basically, smell and taste are caused by chemical molecules in the water. The olfactory rosette is the organ in fish that detects the chemicals. Saltwater rays and sharks have the most developed rosette and can small/taste as low as 1 part per billion. Most species of trout have a sense that will sense around 5-6 parts per million. That's my info from an experienced freshwater fisheries biologist, with 32 years experience.

j

[Jayhad]

I question if it matters, your fly tying material all ready smells of something that isn't in the fish's food chain.... the dead animal it came from, the cleaning/tanning agents used, the dye, the hands of those that put it into the bag and the bag. A little smoke.... who knows. I wouldn't smoke while tying but aside from smoking in your house, i personally wouldn't be concerned. Plus there were a lot of anglers smoking and tying thru the 1920-1980s.

 

I guess someone who is a smoker will have to run a test.

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

i used to think about this when started fishing and was not catching but over the years i have not found it changed a darn thing.

[Flyfisher]

No worries. Tobacco juice masks the smell of human amino acids which are present on our skin. Human scent can put a fish off a bite.

 

A very, very good angling pal of mine who invariably out fishes just about anyone including me is a regular smoker. I keep threatening to steal his smokes to make some tobacco juice or dope to scent my flies with.

[maxwell]

u got it fly fisher! fish enough and they get addicted too nicotine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wolfie]

one method of ..removing the odor off your hands which work very good by the way is to rub ceder or pine, spruce needles between ur hands, this works...give it a try. The natural acid from these trees counter acts that tell tale foul odor from smokes, any fish can detect that odor, remember their senses are acute.

[humblefisherman]

Personally, i think it can have a fairly major impact on your fishing success. The trick to neutralize the fly is to rub it in the lake mud or river bottom. Cleans it right up. I was a smoker for years and at one point read a section in a Bernie Taylor book with some statistical info on tobacco smoke as well as suntan lotion getting on your flies. Very interesting stuff. Big Streamers, like bunny hair leech patterns, are the worst for retaining and absorbing odour.

[ironfly]

As I'm sure any non-smoker will attest, cigs smell alot more than tanned hide or human amino acids. I think I've run a pretty comprehensive test on this subject. Thorough enough for me anyway.

 

I carry a bar of unscented goat-milk soap with me, and wash my hands after I have a smoke. But sometimes I forget the soap, and the difference is definitely significant. I've seen the contrast in dozens of different waters, one of which I fish a dozen times, or more, per month. There's no question in my mind; smoky flies result in lower catch rates.

 

As far as materials in your house go, I guess you could try Febreeze, or Nilodor. I hate the stuff, but it works. An easier way, which I think would work fine, is to carry a little unscented soap, and wash your wets. Any good dry fly floatant (Aquel) is designed to also mask scent, and dries don't disperse smells through the water the way wets do anyway, so I think you're good.

 

For the future, if you continue to smoke in your house, consider sealing up all your materials. After enough years residue can really build up. My mother recently passed away, and we were cleaning a few things from her room. It can be really hard to get 15 years of cigarette smoke residue to come off of porcelain, let alone softer stuff, so forget about getting it out of hackle or deer hair.

 

Rick

[beedhead]

I smoke and don't worry about scent...I have thought about it from time to time...I have fishin buddy's that don't smoke, and we all seem to have about the same catch rate when the bite is on (most of the time ) Thats including a lot of still water fishing....So I don't really think it makes a diff...

 

Cheers...Jeff..

[DonAndersen]

There is no question that scents effect fish takes although this is more apparent in still waters fished with sinking flies.

 

Do recall and experiment done in Washington state with regard to the migration of salmon up a fish ladder. Only two things stopped the salmon cold, sea lion hide and man scent.

 

Further, when I used to ice fish - have watch some guys catch nearly all the fish - didn't matter which hole they used - up the fish came. Even trading poor producing holes with others had the same result. These guys caught them when other didn't although baits and presentation were similar. Seems like the more successful fishermen smelled better or worse to the fish. That may explain for many of us why we do lousy when others around us are hitting on all eight. We stink!!

 

Read of a bow hunter who switched to a all veggie diet about 2 weeks prior to the season opener. He contended that carnivores extruded different scents than herbivores.

 

Jack Shaw of BC still water fame always took care not to have scent on his hands. He paid attention to gasoline and oranges. Washed his hands with pure Ivory hand soap.

 

The bow hunters are a big clue. They have scent absorbing clothing + masking scents that they use on their boots. Stealth is a large part of their success.

 

So what do I do - have used scents added to flies - didn't seem to help a lot + it is illegal in waters that do not allow bait. I carry and use a soap that contains anise oils. Anise oils are occasionally available in pharmacies or grocery stores.

 

And keeping with the beginning of the Shack Nasties Season, it could be argued that washing your hands with a scent masking soap constitutes bait fishing.

 

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

[danhunt]

I grew up fishing with my Grandfather who was a 2+ pack a day man for years, and when the fish were taking naturals on the surface as often as not they'd also rise to the butts he'd flipped over the side of the boat after they had drifted down wind a ways. I think scent can have an effect on fishing success, but I'd also argue that it is a relatively small part of whole picture when it comes to making a fly/lure/bait appear natural enough to fool a fish. Speaking for myself, I think miss more angling opportunties due to poor presentations and/or poor wading than all other factors combined.

[SilverDoctor]

Just an additional point to Don's excellent post. Some fly tying materials I have received including a Pheasant skin I picked up last year had been treated with mothballs to keep critters from attacking the skins. The streamers I first tied (to imitate baitfish) got no hits at all till I clued in. I did a quick dip of the flies, half a batch in vinegar and the other half in baking soda and water. The vinegar did work for scent removal but baking soda was far superior. The other thing noticed, and again this is personal observation only, was that keeping a bit of Borax instead of moth balls kept the bugs at bay as well as preserving and did not repel trout.

 

I would recommend a dip in baking soda, as a general way to remove scent. Have used it for years on waders and vests.

[craneguy]

thanks for the input guys!

i think it does affect my fishing, i have not done much fishing this past year, but i was pretty unsuccessful when i did go out. allot of my materials now have been in my apartment for 2 years. a few months is no biggie, but i think eventually enough odor sinks in. i guess ,well if this int a good excuse to quit smoking i dont know what is

[DonAndersen]

craneguy,

 

 

I don't think that smoking matters a whol e lot. A friend who smokes regularly kicks my butt.

I'd suspect that it is the pheromones that all ofus excrete and mark us as individuals matter most of all. Whether or not pheromones could be "adjusted" by diet or life style changes I haven't a clue. Certainly the bow hunters think that it can.

Think lettuce and you'll catch more fish.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

[jonn]

craneguy,

 

 

I don't think that smoking matters a whole lot. A friend who smokes regularly kick my butt.

I'd suspect that it is the pheromones that is of us excrete and mark us as individuals matter most of all. Whether or not pheromones could be "adjusted" by diet or life style changes I haven't a clue. Certainly the bow hunters think that it can.

Think lettuce and you'll catch more fish.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

 

 

 

maybe thats why I haven't shot my monster bull yet, gotta eat more lettuce!

[robert]

I'm a smoker too, and I can't say it's had any effect on my fishing or catch rates. Goes for trout, pike or anything else, they don't seem to care.

[chiasson]

I've been diligent about cleaning sunscreen off my hands before touching my line, leader and flies as well.

[alhuger]

Hmm, very interesting thread. It's obvious they can smell it but I cannot imagine on most fish it plays a big role. At least not with smoke (tobacco or otherwise). Almost everyone I fish with smokes one thing or another when we fish and it does not seem to impact their fishing. Same with me when I smoked. Still water might be a different beast and Jack Shaw was not someone I would lightly contradict. If fish love the small of wd-40 I just cannot see smoke bugging them all that much.

 

 

al