“I will try my normal egg cure without scents, then if no bites happen I start applying happen I start applying, usually oils, gently gently. Switch up scents andSwitch up scents and take notes when you get bit.”
Scents become a real advantage with steelhead however when you dial them in.
Ask any salmon or steelhead angler about scents and they probably have an opinion. From the earliest days of opening my dad’s tackle box the smell of garlic was a familiar one.
I’ve become a believer in using scent, but that comes with a couple caveats. As with most fishing “rules” you can find exceptions, but here are a few things I’ve noticed when it comes to using scent.
Garlic
The make-it-or-break-it scent. Stand 30 feet down the bank from an angler who just applied garlic to his bait, and it won’t be a secret. Garlic permeates perhaps more than any other smell in the air, and I would assume it does the same in the water.
The stocker rainbow trout sure seem to love garlic scent, and it can trigger Chinook to chomp like nobody’s business, but like many spices and flavors, some of us love it—others don’t.
I don’t have a lot of confidence for garlic in cold temperature water for salmon and steelhead. Yes, it’s worked on getting fish to find my bait in blown out conditions, but I’ve yet to find garlic to help my winter steelhead odds whatsoever. Summer steelhead are a different story.
Apply scent liberally to bait, conservatively on artificials. Keep your lures clean and scents fresh.
Garlic can be absolute dynamite for summer steelhead on coon shrimp, eggs etc. In big water they can smell it coming a mile away and get in line for the bait. Hot and the middle of the day? Use garlic and see if it gets them going.
But if garlic isn’t happening—WASH IT OFF!
Lure Hygiene
Leave old stink on a plug and it’s not going to catch nearly as many fish. You’d be surprised what cleaning up a plug with soap and a brush will do. Then, when you apply the scent of the day you’re not mixing it with old, conflicting scents.
Salmon Scent Preferences
When it comes to salmon, and specifically kings, I am liberal with scent application. I’ll mix it up, utilizing some of my personal favorites: Bloody Tuna, Anise, Garlic, Sardine, Shrimp, Egg etc... hit eggs with oils, get the gels on the lures... really going for it. I will try my normal egg cure without scents, then if no bites happen I start applying, usually oils, gently.
The two scents that you need to use with caution on kings are anise and garlic. Those two can be a bite stimulant or turn them off the bite altogether. If you’re throwing too many scents at them give the hole a rest and start over with a fresh bait.
Steelhead Scent Preferences
If I left home to fish for salmon without scent I’d be driving back, for steelhead - I still believe is a factor but you can get away with just keeping artificials clean, etc. Scents become a real advantage with steelhead however when you dial them in.
On coon shrimp I’ve had great success switching between adding tuna, shrimp and egg nectar. With steelhead baits I can be more liberal on the scent, but when it comes to artificials? I go with a less-is-more approach.
Mask human scent by putting scent on fingertips when working with tackle.
In fact, when I fish pink worms I don’t actually apply scent to the worm very often. I will put oil on my finger tips while I apply the worm and that seems to be plenty for them. For steelhead this year I gained a ton of confidence in squid oil, but have done well with a number of scents usually. Anise, shrimp/prawn, sugar, etc.
SALT CRUSTED TROUT - TIFFANY HAUGEN
2 comments
Very Good information, but the rivers I fish are closed to Chinook this year. What are your thoughts on scents for Coho?
Nice article ! Great info, like learning different ways using scents. Thanks