wd40 as fish attractant

rolmops

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 24, 2002
Messages
5,316
Does anybody know the truth about this?<br />I hear all these stories about people spritzing it on to their lures for deep water still fishing or trolling.Did anybody you know ever try it succesfully? Or is this just one of those tales to make somebody look like a fool?
 

scotty c

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 19, 2005
Messages
145
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

i know some guys swear by it, but i have never<br />been i believer. i guess the best way is to try it and see if your percentage goes up ?
 

scotty c

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 19, 2005
Messages
145
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

i know some guys swear by it, but i have never<br />been i believer. i guess the best way is to try it and see if your percentage goes up ?
 

Reel Poor

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,522
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

Its a petroleum based product. I dont think any marine enforcement agency would be to happy if they caught you using it. I could be wrong???
 

Perfidiajoe

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
Messages
378
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

I've heard of it being done, if it works I would guess it would have to do w/ the oil coming off your lure or buck tail or fly, such as a chum slick right to your hook. If this is the case, I would think any fish oil even from a can of tuna would have the same effect. IMHO Good Luck & Tight lines, Joe
 

ed/il

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Nov 24, 2004
Messages
80
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

I have tried the pam spray. I think we used the garlic spray. Did it work? Not sure but it did not seem to hurt the action.
 

Mr.Ladyfish

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Nov 28, 2003
Messages
848
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

I have heard about using WD40 but have never tried it. I never used any attractant until last summer.<br /><br />LF uses White Diamonds hand lotion. I thought she was BSing me at first. After several outings where she severly outfished me I started watching what she was doing. After putting a live shrimp on her hook she rubbed the shrimp on the back of her hand. We were fishing for speckled trout in about 7 foot of water. When the count got to her 5, me 0 I asked her to rub my shrimp. I cast the line and the bait wasn't down 2 feet before a nice spec hit it. I continued to use her method that afternoon and had much better luck than ever before.<br /><br />A few days later I was telling a fisherman friend about it. He didn't believe it. He said we had just gotten into a school and the they were feeding. About 2 weeks later he pulled alongside our boat and anchored. LF was catching specs, sand trout & whiting on almost every cast. I was having my usual so-so luck not using her lotion. He made a comment about her catching the most fish. I told him "watch this" and had her rub my shrimp on her hand. First cast, immediate results, 20" Spec.<br /><br />He was using artificials and had probably thrown 30 times without a hit. As a joke he tossed his lure to our boat and asked LF to rub it on her hand. She did and returned the lure to him. His first cast was slammed almost as soon as it hit the water, 23" spec. <br /><br />The odd thing is that it doesn't seem to work if I put the lotion on my hands. It has to be on her hand. She has tried other lotions but none seem to work, only White Diamonds. Worst part is you have to buy a gift box with perfume and stuff to get the lotion. $60.00 a pop.
 

phantoms

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
246
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

Maybe she's just rubbing some luck on your lures. :)
 

haddles

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
90
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

I dip my crab bait in kerosine sometimes and it doesn't put the crabs off. I quite often do side by side tests and the crabs seem to prefer the kerosene. I wonder if there is any kerosene in WD40?
 

brownies

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 5, 2004
Messages
495
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

I may need to try wd40. <br />I've decided my boat is coated with a very good fish repellant, that, at the same time attracts mosquito's and gnats.<br /> If only there was a market for something like that?
 

glasply1

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Messages
171
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

Heard again the other day that line that enforcement people will cite you if you put WD-40 on your lure because of the pollution. If that's the case, I should get a big ticket because my engines (I/O and kicker) put out more offensive stuff than a couple of drops of WD-40. I do lots of maintenance to minimize my pollution contribution, but internal combustion isn't perfect. They say that the solution to pollution is dilution, but that's not true! <br />There are so many theories out there about fishing topics its unbelievable. Like the one that says fish won't bite a lure that has human scent on it. Maybe its true, but why doesn't the scent or whatever of a brown bear stop them cold when they are going upriver? The outdoor shows have included many instances of salmon swimming right up between bears legs. The water has got to be pretty well loaded with bear stuff. Maybe salmon are just picky about what they eat, not who eats them.
 

mbSandflea

Recruit
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
5
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

WD-40 doesn't actually attract fish, it kills the scent your hands leave on the lure or bait without actually altering the natural scent. Or so according to the rumors I've heard.
 

berniehansen

Cadet
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
14
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

i have used it works good, i was told it has some of the same chemical content as shrimp oil or herring oil and it masks your scent too
 

Mike Robinson

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 29, 2005
Messages
752
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

I've read that there is evidence that salmon are attracted to "aromatic hydrocarbons" which I would assume are in WD40. I used to work at fishing lodges along coastal British Columbia and seen folks who use WD40 do quite well. I don't know if it works but it sure doesn't seem to do any harm!
 

berniehansen

Cadet
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
14
Re: wd40 as fish attractant

i watched a video made by charlie white back in the 70's and he had an underwater camera that he used to watch the salmon check out or strike his lure...the best lure he used was the one "accidentally" dropped in the bilge before it went on the line!!
 
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