Do artificial smells on your fly turn fish off?

[Tids]

I have read a few articles lately that have talked about artificial smells on your fly that can send trout the other way. Deodorants, glues, fly floatants are a few items that have been listed. Has anyone noticed this? When I open my fly box I can sometimes smell the head cement and I question if so can the trout. Are there any tips or tricks or products you use to mask the smells when you tie your own flys?
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[Saberfish]

[black][size 3]I think that because we know that fish are attracted by scents, that they must also be repelled by offensive odors.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]This is more applicable in still water than running water. Fish usually strike a fly by sight feeding rather than scent attraction in a river.[/size]
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[size 3]I have never used any attractant on flies that I fish in still water, but I do make sure that I don't have strange odors on my hands.[/size]
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[size 3]This comes from jigging for mack at the Gorge, where I have proven to myself many times that attractants on a jig can make a large difference.[/size]
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[size 3]I hope that my personal experience will help in answering your question.[/size]
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[Dryrod]

[font "Pristina"][green][size 4][cool]Hi there Tids and welcome to the Fly Fishing boards. Yes you read correctly. In fact biological studies have found that a fish's smell is several hundred times greater than mans'. In fact even better than a dogs'. I have heard most attractants if not all are designed to cover up human and other scents. Think about all the different smells that you might add to your fly on any given outing. Shaving lotion, hand soap, sun screen, tobacco, gasoline, coffee [gassing up before your trip-boat or car] etc,etc. Hey it is difficult living in an environment where you won't come in contact with smells/odors that the fish might find offensive but you can keep them to a minimum.[/size][/green][/font]
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[macfly55]

... we had a thread on a similar topic not too long ago. If I remember right the gist of the conversation was to make sure to try to get the smell (your smell, head cement etc) off of the fly before using it. A couple of the methods used were to ensure that you dip the fly in the water after you have tied it on the tippet. Another along the same line was to let your fly "wallow" in the mud or wet soil of the bank, then lifting it to rinse it off a bit before casting.

The one thing I know for sure that was NOT recommended to use was wd-40 because of its petroleum base.

I am sure the more experienced anglers here have more insight on this topic than I but wanted to recap a thread from before.

MacFly [cool]
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[flygoddess]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I think some smells will repel. I am with Mac on this...I rub my flies in the river bank mud, but I have never noticed it being a problem if I don't (stillwater) I do recommend washing sunscreen and specially bug spray off your hands, but that has more to do with what it will do to FLY LINE. Deet will eat fly line.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]As far as tabaco, I hold judgement on that one cause I know people that smoke or shew and spit on their fly and catch fish after fish.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I for one have been know to smoke while fishing (those days are almost behind me now).[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I think, keep it natural as much as possible and the fish will come.[angelic][/size][/black][/font]
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[Tids]

Hmmm, this all makes sense. 95% of my fly fishing is on lakes. I have yet to rub my flys in the mud but will make sure I do before I get in my pontoon. I was debating with a good whip finish if I needed to even use head cement anymore. Thanks for all the input.
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[Dryrod]

[cool][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Well now perhaps there is a new product in the offering. Fly tiers would certainly want to give it a try and that is a head cement that smells like an insect. BTW how many insects would one have to crunch and squeeze to get one drop of attractant?[/size][/green][/font]
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[macfly55]

..better be careful here DR... you could end up rileing up those people and SPCI and PETI.. dont want them on the case of anglers the world round cause we are using insects to mask our scents on fake flies..
[sly]

.. wonder if you could mask human odor with something as simple as a jar of honey from a local bee farm????

MacFly [cool]
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[Dryrod]

[font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Peta! @%#<^>. To elaborate on what FGD said about rubbing mud on the fly, how about weeds, moss and the like? That scent is something that the fish would be use to. Now if I still live in Florida I could gather some insect scent in just a few minutes. I mean those bugs down there are huge. My wife use to say that she could hear them talking in the night.[/size][/green][/font]
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[macfly55]

DR my friend I did not say PETA... I said PETI.. I also said SPCI...
a cold soon to be rainy pun where the "I" stands for insect... [sly]

MacFly [cool]
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[Dryrod]

[font "Pristina"][green][size 4][cool]Duh I thought that you made a typo. [blush]BTW what does the acronym PETI stand for? Assuming that it is an acronym.[/size][/green][/font]
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[macfly55]

peta = people for the ethical treatment of animals.. of course my pun was

PETI = people for the ethical treatment of insects... []

... btw.. no one picked up on my honey suggestion as a masking scent on flies.... I thought it was a great idea [blush]

MacFly [cool]
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[Dryrod]

[center][cool][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Too bad that Noah did smack that mosquito. Then we wouldn't have the spread yellow fever. What would your PETI have said to that?[/size][/green][/font][/center] [center] [/center]
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[macfly55]

..hey ...they were not around then.. what they dont see they cannot whine about.. .[sly]

MacFly
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[Dryrod]

[][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]That is good to know. Otherwise we would know that there are at least two of them around. I mean if they are anything like the PETA people then will live on forever.[pirate][/size][/green][/font]
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[Scruffy_Fly]

adding attractants to flies and lures is illegal in someplaces.

It is in Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

I think it is illegal in Colorado but I can not remember for sure.

Joe Humphreys, a Pennsylvania luminary, advocated taking your flies and rub them in the gravel and sand before using them to get the human and product senses of a fly, Just like Fly Goddess was saying.
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[davetclown]

I dont know about the rest of the year, but in the spring and fall trout runs I have found that handling cirtain sopes will attract fish, Oatmeal seems to work the best... problem is finding it with out the purfumes every one is sticking in it nowadays..

natural oatmeal soap is made with oatmeal and goats milk... not a strong smell, not unpleasent, not offencive to fish either... I used to carry it in my tackle box till I couldnt find it any more at my local stores... When ever it was my turn to pump the gas on the trip, I needed something to get rid of the gas smell from my hands... otherwise I know I was going home fishless..

It would probably help if you left them open in the air, allow them to air out weeks before you attempt to use them, Or you cold dunk them in milk and rince them off to acheive the same nutralizing affect only faster...

remember smell to a fish is actualy taist, they taist every thing comming down the water long befor they ever reach it... yes some fish have nostrals that act as taist receptors, some taist by flowing water though thier mouths..

so since smell is realy taist to a fish, I think they can taist the acid of head cements especialy if the fly is too new.. of corse a little dried fish slime on your flies wouldnt hurt either...[]

thats just my opinion...
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[Dryrod]

[cool][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]I have one question and that is have you ever rubbed your flies in gravel & sand? If so, did the materials get distorted & bruised? Although not my idea still like the vegetation route.[/size][/green][/font]
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[Dryrod]

[cool][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]A handi wipe made with the fly fisher person in mind would certainly be on my shopping list. I wonder why the bait & spin casting group doesn't seem to have a problem with various odors messing up their lures. I have seen people out at the lake catching fish while eating spicy foods, drinking beer, smoking etc. Maybe a combination of smells is an attractant itself. Yea right.[/size][/green][/font]
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[davetclown]

attractant verces instinct is a fromatable debate, I am sure both are right, But I also think that the time of the year also plays a part as to wich works best...

during spawn of salmon, we know they are not feeding but infact attacking any thing comming down the river they feal is a threat out of instinct.

we know bass like cats will strike any thing that jumps in front of thier faces and is why bass fishing has reached its fame..

we know that fish at time have loc jaw and wont hit anything. we have dropped cameras down our ice holes and put every thing imaginable right on the nozes of different species only to have them sit there and do absolutely nothing..

I have seen attractants loosen up loc jaw a bit but never fully when they are locked tight.

I dont think the avrage smells have to much affect on fish, but I do think acids have just as much repelling affect of fish as they do us.. meaning if we can smell it they can probably taist it. tobaco is quite taisty, I do like a good cigar or fire up a pipe several times a year... I would smoke more if it werent for the amonia they have been using to deliver the nicatine in tobaco products... "I am some what elergic to amonia"

fish love tobaco worms,

my point is that if the acid is still putting off a sent it is probably still soluable in the water meaning it can relase some acid tho minute can be enough to turn a fish away if it gets to close not acting out of instinct...
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