Am I crazy or does this work??

[5150abf]

Okay, I catfish and 3 trips ago I installed a livewell pump out, we have averaged 5-6 fish out of a hole we go to but the weekend I installed the pump out we got 10, next trip 15 then a day trip I got 8 and a 30'' pike.

most of these fish came within 1/2 an hour of pumping the tank out and I remember reading somewhere that bait fish(I use blue gills) secrete a scent when they are stressed to let other bait fish know there is trouble but this same scent calls in other predator fish.

Is this just happenstance or is there something to it?

Just kinda struck me at work today that most of the hits we got came within a little bit of pumping the livewel out, maybe the vibration from the pump?

The trip with 15 we were also listening to the Notre Dame-Meeechigan game on the radio so that would make me think vibration.

Thoughts?

 

[AZMinyard]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

Am I crazy or does this work??

These two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive . . .

As far as the catch cycle relative to live well dumping . . . hmm . . . my vote would be for coincidence. While fish do secrete something (hormones, fishy adrenaline, etc) when stressed, I believe they secrete it into their muscle and not into the water. It would not be a very good idea to secrete a scent that attracts predators when you are in distress, right?

At any rate, enjoy the good fishing and by all means keep emptying the live well!

 

[Bass Man Bruce]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

The trip with 15 we were also listening to the Notre Dame-Meeechigan game on the radio so that would make me think vibration.

Thoughts?

Well thats funny, I tried the same thing during the Notre Dame - Michigan State game and the final results were just the opposite!

 

[scipper77]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I'm a fan of science. If the livewell is the variable you wish to test, then try the same spot with no livewell.
The best part about the scientific method here is that in order for your results to be statistically significant, you will have to do a whole lot of fishing!!!

 

[Calhere]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

Id have to agree with the one guy i thinks its just coincidence s i grew up fishing Lake Occonee in Putnam County GA and Me and my Grandpa alwaysed use the live well as he kept his bait fish in one and other fish in the other and it never really helped or hurt us.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

Yes to both.
Fishermen have more stories, superstitions, beliefs, etc. than any quantity of wives tales I've ever heard.
My neighbor called me one day on the fell phone and asked where a good spot to go fishing was. I replied "In the river". He said he didn't know any of the spots. I told him to pick a scenic spot and drop his line in, he would catch something. He sounded disappointed - probably figured I didn't wanna give up that secret hot spot only known to to the elite handed down from generation to generation. Well when I got home, he was 50' off his pier happy as a clam hooking perch and bluegill.
The moral to the story - if it works for ya, do it.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

Fish hunt by sense of smell and vibration,, they can detect 1 part per10 to the 15th power,, or about 1 million times better than we can smell.. I use a chum trail to attract fish,,
Ever wonder how a school of like fish seem to all change direction at the same time,, sense of vibration, stay in a school of like kind sense of smell.
things that fish will avoid is the scent of amino acids,, the scent of petroleum products, the scent of tobacco. 3 common scents people have on their hands when they touch the bait,, try chopping up some bait fish and rubbing that on your hands and bait when you fish.

 

[Calhere]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I generally keep a bag of cut up anchovies around when I go out on the delta and I almost always throw a couple overboard and it does work.

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

things that fish will avoid is the scent of amino acids,, the scent of petroleum products,

Actually there has been a bit of research showing that "aromatic hydrocarbons" attract salmon and I've seen many fishers use WD-40 as an attractant. I don't know if it works, but it definetely doesn't repel fish. At least in the ocean, fresh water may be another story.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

now they sell garlic spray as a fish attractant,,I guess Italians catch more fish,, one thing that I found interesting is that the old factory system of fish continues to develop all their life.. so it must be pretty important for their survival.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I don't know bout the baitfish smell... but if you cast a few globs of cheap canned dog food about once in a while... the kind that is fine ground and just makes dog food smelling silt in the water... and the fish with cut bait (like shad or something that's local in the lake) on bluefish style double hook rigs with bobbers set to keep em several feet off the bottom...

my experience is that you'll have days where you can't keep two rods both baited and in the water...

especially in a lake where there are a lot of hatchery channel catfish released. even over a long period of time I think they remember the smell of the very similar fishery farm food....

just my experience...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

the greasy dog food is a good attractant. we use to take a can of "slick" (brand) dog food, using a church key, put a few hole in it, throw it in. work great, and you never knew what you were going to catch. also worked for shrimp, when cast netting from bulkhead or dock.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

one thing that I found interesting is that the old factory system of fish continues to develop all their life..

Ummmmm...no disrespect, but could that be as opposed to the newer factory systems that they may be developing????

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I do that all the time,, and get razzed about it all the time also.. but at 56 I doubt I will ever change ,, however it only goes to prove you don't have to be a good typist to make a lot of money in this country.lol

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

now they sell garlic spray as a fish attractant

I use three different odorant sprays depending on what I am targeting. The garlic was on a Rapala the last day of Trout/Salmon this year in Vermont. It yielded a fish shortly after I set it out.

Under certain conditions by applying an attractant my fishing partner has caught bass 2:1 over his boat partner. Using the same baits in a tournament, he and his boat partner switched who was using it, and the same statistical result occurred, only for the boater instead of him. They have repeated that performance which gives a lot of confidence to using attractant products.

I'd be hard pressed to put WD-40 on my lures though. I'd have to see it to believe it

 

[5150abf]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

You really dug this one up.

Turned out to be dumb luck, it worked on those 3 trips then never again.

We just found a good hole and they happened to be biting.

Wish I could be on the water right now but the boat is pulled apart.

Yesterday morning it was 18, today it is 42, who knew.

 

[1958mark78]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I have fish tanks and when the fish are stressed or worked up after a feeding the water gets couldy. And there are a few fish that actually bleed when stressed such as sturgeon. Thier fin bleed from every one of those little ribs. So I would have to say that maybe you are right. When pumping out a super fishy livewell it probably has super concentrated fish slime in there or something. At any rate I would say whatever you do that gives you confidence when the fishing is slow go for it, necesity is the mother of invention.

 

[Starcraftguy1]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I had a 1973 StarCraft with a mercruiser 120 inboard that leaked to high hell.I had to turn the bilge pump on every 1/2 hour.When I did this and the water came rushing out,the fish would always start biting.lol.It was the fish call.This was my first boat,I got it very cheap and replaced the motor,outdrive from another boat,and installed a new floor and a Cabelas livewell.There more fish caught from that boat then I could ever count.Keep it real,it will always be good.

 

[rockhound57]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

I'd be hard pressed to put WD-40 on my lures though. I'd have to see it to believe it

I've been told by a friend that it's standard procedure for sturgeon fishing in the northwest

 

[Chsrlietuna]

Re: Am I crazy or does this work??

WD-40 is supposed to release the oils from bait fish skin. I have heard many people try this and swear by it. I however haven't tried it but see they sell bait gels or oils. Tried some bait gel on Blue fish. My friends and I out fished the rest of the party boat 4 to 1. Might be dumb luck or skill but another bottle will be on board for our next trip.

-CT