scents/attractants

[marcmccain]

I just bought a new bottle of fish scent to spray on my vinyl lures. As it is winter I got something for Walleye (Zander or Pikeperch here in Europe) and Pike.Sprayed a couple of squirts into the bag of vinyl grubs and the stuff smelled like a hundred-thousand dead crawfish. Does anyone know how to home-make fish attractant scents. If so please share your recipe... I can imagine some of the "cute" ideas that will pop up; however, I'm interested in how to make the real thing(s).

[crab bait]

i haven't made my own.. but i was surfin' the web onetime about home made fish attractants.. came across a few sites an they all had a key ingrediant... RODIUM.. well i surfed some more to find out what the heck it is & where i can buy some..well the deeper i got the freaker it got.. to the point as if i was tryin' for info on buildin' a nuke..just felt creepy.. is if i was gonna get a vist from the fbi or the 'virginia country boys'...had to cuckle.. they show up at my door.. '' BUT SIRS,,, i was just tryin' to make an attractant to catch some fish..i still never found out what it really is & bought.. but every web site said it's the poop for fish..i always surf on GOOGLE... maybe someone can backtrack an clue me in...most say to mix RODIUM with the smelliest foul , handsdown worst smelliest nasty stank stuff in the world...ROTTEN EARTH WORM LIQUID.. I DARE ANYONE TO TOP IT..!!!!!!!

[Scoop]

CB, Rhodium is the 45th element. It is a metal. They may be thinking of a Rhodium compound or have named a compound of their own making Rodium. Rhodium is like platinum. See link. When looking up Rodium, a lot of sites spelled the Element Rhodium without the H. http://www.webelements.com/webelemen...xt/Rh/key.html Interesting topic. I can't wait to hear some of the ideas.

[ebbtide176]

sorry i can't help you warhorse. i've thought about trying what you're trying, but didn't. i still have an old bottle of spray that smells just like licorice, so maybe that will help. i'd be afraid a homemade brew would end up getting on your boat & hands and you'd have to pour acid on there to get rid of the smell.maybe some rotten potatoes, overheated worms turned into soup, rancid bacon grease, and a touch of 2 week old minnow bucket broth is a good start.oh, yeah, awhile back someone said WD-40, but its probably bad for the water...

[Fishbusters]

Anise oil. It is a licorish smelling substance you find in the baking asile next to vanilla which is another good scent. As well garlic is not a bad thing to place in a bag of worms. Of course over here we can get stuff made in a factory that is crawdad or minnow or earthworm or whatever flavored to spray or dip our plastic baits in. I think that they work more to cover any human (non-natural) scent more than attract fish as do all the others I mentioned. You Europeans have the art mastered (or so i thought) with some things I heard you guys concoct have a feeding stimulant. Of course this is the carp guys but if you can find it you may want to try it.

[sandy]

I put together a product last summer that seems to work as well as any commercial brand. Remember, attractants don't attract fish, they make them hold on for that extra second so you can set the hook and they also displace any odors that we humans have that transfers to our bait. My recipe is a small amount of Anise and pure Garlic oil. Mix with corn oil for a filler. These products emulsify good after a good shaking. You can make a quart for about a buck. It does'nt leave that sticky finish on Gelcoat like others. I put it in a large mouth jar and drop my bait in it when needed. Just a suggestion, it worked for me.

[Ross J]

Aniseed, over here the authorities outlawed that one cause they claimed it attracted the fish too much and there was a real risk of catching all the buggars!I know a person who still uses it and he wins tournaments on the ********* Harbour!But my lips are sealed.Your chemist should be ale to help, place about 50mls into a bucket with some chopped up bait (about 2kg of it) and marinate it for an hour, thats all it takes. Marinate it whilst you travel to the fishing spot.Nearly forgot to mention pig pellets, (you know the food given to pigs). Tossed over the side occasionally, it keeps the fish there when there's no burely available.By the way, I don't know if you overseas folk get much sea lice on your bait at certain times of the year, if so dip the bait into kerosene and it'll catch as well as without lice on it. Lice can't stand kero.Ross

[marcmccain]

Ross, ¿Is that Anise seed or Aniseed oil?Thanks to all for the advice. Looks like alchemy at it's best.

[Ross J]

Warhorse, I'm sorry, I only know it as aniseed and used to purchase it from my chemist. Perhaps others can help with other names. It's the same as the aniseed in the original lollies called "black balls". These days its all flavouring instead.According to my dictionary it says - "Aniseed, seed of anise used for flavouring, and in the manufacture of liqueurs".Ross

[ebbtide176]

ahem, if i may, warhorse;PFB, warhorse is a good ole boy who semestered in S GA for awhile. so not really europeanwarhorse i hope you're not affected by the oil tanker that sunk over there. maybe someone like R.Ballard can go down the 2mi and pick up the barrels and make money selling them back to Jamaica...(BTW, if you are inclined you can give an addrss, and i will email you pics when i'm back in S GA next summer. i intend to use my digicam to get some shots of the becton land/blue hole while i can. withlacoochee beauty)

[Scoop]

Warhorse. Anise oil would work. So would crushed up seed. I have a lot of soft plastics with it mixed right i with the plastic. It is the flavoring for Licorice.

[marcmccain]

Ebb's right. I'm an American who retired from the U.S. Air Force and moved to Spain where I now teach School in a small town outside of Madrid. Thanks Ebb, you can send me emails at mccainmh@navegalia.comThanks Peterfishbuster, Crabbait, Sandy, Ross J, Scoop, and Ross... Come to think of it, we have aniseed by the ton here in Spain. And they make a mighty-fine liqueur from it. In France one of the brand names you may recognize is "Pernod" and here in Spain a good local brand is "Mono".Nowwwwww ya'll have me thinking, wonder if I could use the liqueur instead of the oil. I could burn off the alcohol and use it for dunking my vinyl baits. Then I could have an another bottle in the boat for me. Unleaded for the fish and leaded for me. Kinda like building a fire on a cold day. In the mean time I will check with my local pharmacist (chemist)to see if I can buy the oil. If not -- I'm headed for the liqueur store.

[Fishbusters]

Dang a pharmicist you have to get it from them? I purchased a bottle from Bi-Lo I think. The wife recently went on this herbal kick and has found some extract that is stronger and uses it to make a shampoo that makes your hair shine more. She mixes it with other ingredients. We recently found out it is also part of the best remedy for lice (praise be to elementary school). One of my girls got sent home with some live ones. We tried RID with no luck, We did a mayonase treatment with no luck and then the wife went herbal and it worked wonders. Since then we have had a reinfestation but it was the other child. These things seem to be passed at school because when she came home with them we had checked her the previous night and she had nothing. Anyway enough about bugs It just kind of sort of tied in.

[Ross J]

So it's a bug killing, fish attracting, good tasting thing!It's a wonder somebody hasn't marketed it for a huge profit too! Whats more it's 'green'.Just watch this space, some fool will make a weapon out ot it soon.Ross

[Ross J]

On a more serious note, when I was a wee lad my dad introduced me to a man in the Nelson area of the South Island who could whistle up eels to the surface.I've met "ticklers" who can get trout with their hands and a gent who could entice trout to the surface with a kids rattle!I have seen these things but it was a long time ago.Ross

[Scoop]

Maybe we should try it as a dessert topping and a floor wax.

[ebbtide176]

well RJ, my dear ole (departed) grandpa (6'2"170#)used to 'tickle' catfish out of the riverbank. i thought it was some kind of joke/illusion for years.

[marcmccain]

Ebb and RJ. Sounds like the paranormal. Some things we just gotta see before we can believe them.

[Fishbusters]

Ebb is telling the truth I have seen it done. When a catfish spawns they hole up in tree roots, a hole or somewhere. Many people make boxes just so they can reach in and pull out the fish. As to the trout and eels I can't say for sure but I have heard a lot of stories about hand caught trout so there is most likely some truth in them.