Scents?

[jbaldwinblkft]

Hey everyone,
Is it good to use scent or other attractants on flies?
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[flygoddess]

No ethical. It is suppose to be ARTIFICIAL all the way, so I don't think scent is included.
Is it unheard of...no.
Do people do it....some.

I really concidered it while fishing with Tube Dude, but, I didn't have to. I found the right combination.
There is a lot of fly fishing/artificial waters that SCENT is illegal, so be sure and check first.

Would I do it....no

But, you are on a fishing trip and batting a big zero, but every one around is catching using some sort of scent, so you feel the need...I don't think anyone would look down on you for it. I've just never needed a fish bad enough to change my choice. A simple fly change, maybe retrieve, possibely a different line or leader length and I can find them.
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[poky-mon]

beer and cigarette smoke have been the main scents for me for years and now I'm down to just beer scent and fishings been the same. So what I'm saying is FG smokes, I used to and we catch fish so it boils down to presentation in my book. In FFishing your imitating the bug world not the smell world my opinion.
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[Dryrod]

[cool][size 4][font "Arial Narrow"][#008000]Hey there jbaldwinblkft thanks for your post. I for one would never consider adding a scent to my flies. Would prefer to go el natural. For spin or bait casting well that is another story. But would like to think that fly fishing is an art within Itself. Creating/presenting the appropriate fly for a given species is what it is all about. I believe that flygoddess nailed it cold.[/#008000][/font][/size] "[#bf0000]I've just never needed a fish bad enough to change my choice. A simple fly change, maybe retrieve, possibly a different line or leader length and I can find them."
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[Saberfish]

Unless you're fishing a fly that is a still water imitation of something, like a chironmid, damsel, etc. that is fished very slowly, scent would not be of much use.

Scents are used to imitate the smell of a bait (fly) or to mask human scent. Most trout fishing is done is clear water, where the fish is a sight feeder, usually in moving water, where there is no time for a fish to use it's sense of smell.

I have very strong feelings about what it takes to fool a fish. If it's a sight feeder, you had better concentrate on fooling the fish's eye sight.
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[flygoddess]

Very well put guys. There is also the lateral line down the side of a fish that
at times can be the big trick. That is where propellers on the front or back of a fly, or what is called a PUSHER which is a couple more wraps of hackle at the eye of the hook.
How many times have you caught a fish, and notice others chasing it?
Some of the stillwaters I fish are not clear at all like Strawberry and a couple of Lake X's. Just means a lot of food and bigger fish. That is where I think movement triggers more hits.
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[jbaldwinblkft]

Thanks for the info.
I haven't used scents very much, in fact for years I thought it was a marketing scheme, until lately. I got started one day last summer on the river when I was zeroing in on a zero. Some friends in the boat next to us were doing a one after the other routine. I asked for some help and they put me onto lunker lotion. Since then I've been reading up on it and some of it makes sense and some of it is more marketing. I've tested it mainly on lures. I was really convinced during this spring's Steelhead trips. I presented a big fly for nothing until I gave it a little shrimp scent, then I couldn't do it wrong and landed quite a few. I understand that Steelhead fly fishing may be different than mainstream flyfishing (pardon the pun). What do you think?
Later,
jb
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[flygoddess]

Most definitely! I watch the Trout Unlimited episode, where the host was getting no where with different flies. And it was a 3 day trip. Finally threw out a Mepps on a baitcasting rig and landed a steelie, and this is a guide that gets paid for fly fishing!
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[sinergy]

I've wondered about this my self, I once seen a guy rubbing his flies in power bait ... I initially thought it was floatant until I seen chunks of power bait floating down stream.... Im not a elitist but I too thought this was highly unethical and more like cheating but I guess if you can throw scented lures in the river its all the same [crazy][crazy][crazy]
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[Dryrod]

[cool][font "Arial Narrow"][#008000][size 4]Some sportsman will stoop to anything inorder to get bragging rights. Like using scent to attract a deer or sitting up in a tree to bag one's game. The only thing that I did when I went out hunting was to wear something orange so as not to be mistaken for the game of the day. BTW I have never seen a bin of flies at my favorite store or for that matter any other fly shop; that was labeled scented. Oh yea only cheese should smell. LOL[/size][/#008000][/font]
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[macfly55]

its probably a good thing you never used any lure or masking scent when you went hunting.. I mean.. have you ever smelled that stuff.. makes your tummy turn inside out three or four times..

I remember one of the first time MacLarry and I went out hunting a few years back.. we found a nice place to sit and wait and see if anything happen.. he put out some buck urine to cover our scent.. and the wind changed.. I got a whiff of that stuff.. thoguht I was gonna die for sure.. :-)

MacFly
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