Hi, as a hunter, you make some good points. I live in NZ and have access to some fantastic hunting and fishing and have learned over 20 years of soldiering and hunting that humans are the most ignorant animal species when it comes to their knowledge of scent, sound, images and knowledge of survival. We have the inborn fight or flight ability’s but compare to our dogs we are an ignorant species. I still can’t understand why we have survived so long! Now, as an angler I know that my movement can be seen and heard and now I know that fish can taste me. Thanks, I shall adapt accordingly. Cheers mate. Harera
I am also a hunter! I think hunters make the best anglers. Just the attention to detail of your surroundings and your prey. Just makes for a very effective outdoorsman. Appreciate the comment and good luck down under🤘
Fascinating stuff…..luckily for me I’m a lazy fisherman and don’t wash my kit very often. I did clean my flyline once but it didn’t make much of a difference to performance so I usually clean it in the water I’m fishing in. I’ll try not to spit on my knots as I eat a lot of garlic. I had also heard that old school fly fishers tied their flies on with white cotton gloves…..a bit extreme and very fiddly. Also I heard that smoking is a no no ! Keep up the good work 🎣
Powerbait says they can smell. That said I question if it factors into their sense of self presentation . Ive caught trout immediately down water wet wading. I'm sure a smell can be off putting though. And no I don't use powerbait or it's siblings.
Interesting subject & going down said rabbit hole,I've seen the difference myself,how far do you go,fish in general a intuned to their environment or how else would they survive,when you stop for your morning coffee & whatever at the gas station fill your rig or boat,then go fish you'll see a difference,I myself carry a bar of anise soap in a chunk of panty hose & wash my hands before I fish,does it make a difference? maybe or just a mental thing,tight lines 🤙🇺🇸
Before you go fishing for predators (bass, pike, musky, walleye, some trout), use ultralight spinning gear (or a Tenkara rod) and catch a bunch of panfish, make sure you handle them before releasing them. Then pick up your other gear right afterwards and fish for the predators. Thats what I like to do while wade fishing along lake shorelines, seems to work well. I always thought it was the fluttering of the panfish I was fighting that attracted the predators, but smell of fish slime on my hands probably helped too.
Ya know, I kinda something similar but for carp. I will catch a bunch of little panfish then use the same flies to catch carp! The scent helps when you can’t see the fish
We all have a story about the absolutely hammered fly that keeps catching fish....... two reasons. Its naturally "scented", or de-scented and its rather wounded looking/easy food. (And the bite is on). I believe the "scents" fish are picking up on are similar to off gasing and chem trails. The level that a fish can recignize "scents" is broken down to minutiae. Another question we must ask is if the materials we use for flies are causing some chem reaction with a fishes senses........? I have some modern/very syntetic flies that native brookies will NOT touch. That theory we've tested. Either way, we continue to break fly fishing down into micro categories that keep us debating like victorian english gentlemen........ 👊🏼👍🏼🤙🏼
That's a fantastic tip about the "used" flies. I notice with carp especially, if you use a fly that's been used it just works better. Thanks for sharing your insights :)
I’m convinced that if I spray myself with turpentine deer will leave me alone and not worry- as soon as I tip toe around with “whatever “ cover sent they leave the county. So….. ?
Fish can smell us💯. Especially if you have foreign smells on your equipment and lures. Spawning fish are extremely sensitive to human smell. That’s their whole gig at that time of year. No tinfoil hat needed to come to these conclusions. Fishing pressure also is a contributing factor to unlocking the scent correlation.
Hi, as a hunter, you make some good points. I live in NZ and have access to some fantastic hunting and fishing and have learned over 20 years of soldiering and hunting that humans are the most ignorant animal species when it comes to their knowledge of scent, sound, images and knowledge of survival. We have the inborn fight or flight ability’s but compare to our dogs we are an ignorant species. I still can’t understand why we have survived so long! Now, as an angler I know that my movement can be seen and heard and now I know that fish can taste me. Thanks, I shall adapt accordingly. Cheers mate. Harera
I am also a hunter! I think hunters make the best anglers. Just the attention to detail of your surroundings and your prey. Just makes for a very effective outdoorsman. Appreciate the comment and good luck down under🤘
Fascinating stuff…..luckily for me I’m a lazy fisherman and don’t wash my kit very often. I did clean my flyline once but it didn’t make much of a difference to performance so I usually clean it in the water I’m fishing in. I’ll try not to spit on my knots as I eat a lot of garlic. I had also heard that old school fly fishers tied their flies on with white cotton gloves…..a bit extreme and very fiddly. Also I heard that smoking is a no no ! Keep up the good work 🎣
Funny thing is I heard that fish like garlic!😆 Thanks for watching
Dawn is the worst for leaving smell and taste. I can taste it on dishes and utensils that have been washed in it, even days after being washed.
I know!!!! We finally switched at our place and never looked back!
Powerbait says they can smell. That said I question if it factors into their sense of self presentation . Ive caught trout immediately down water wet wading. I'm sure a smell can be off putting though. And no I don't use powerbait or it's siblings.
Interesting subject & going down said rabbit hole,I've seen the difference myself,how far do you go,fish in general a intuned to their environment or how else would they survive,when you stop for your morning coffee & whatever at the gas station fill your rig or boat,then go fish you'll see a difference,I myself carry a bar of anise soap in a chunk of panty hose & wash my hands before I fish,does it make a difference? maybe or just a mental thing,tight lines 🤙🇺🇸
interesting scent prevention system with the anise soap. I will definitely look into that. Thanks for the tip
Before you go fishing for predators (bass, pike, musky, walleye, some trout), use ultralight spinning gear (or a Tenkara rod) and catch a bunch of panfish, make sure you handle them before releasing them. Then pick up your other gear right afterwards and fish for the predators. Thats what I like to do while wade fishing along lake shorelines, seems to work well. I always thought it was the fluttering of the panfish I was fighting that attracted the predators, but smell of fish slime on my hands probably helped too.
Ya know, I kinda something similar but for carp. I will catch a bunch of little panfish then use the same flies to catch carp! The scent helps when you can’t see the fish
What about line cleaning products. Or floating and sinking
If they have scent then it will be on the line. I use rainX for my line dressing but i have to apply it and leave it to “flash off” for a day or so.
We all have a story about the absolutely hammered fly that keeps catching fish....... two reasons. Its naturally "scented", or de-scented and its rather wounded looking/easy food. (And the bite is on). I believe the "scents" fish are picking up on are similar to off gasing and chem trails. The level that a fish can recignize "scents" is broken down to minutiae. Another question we must ask is if the materials we use for flies are causing some chem reaction with a fishes senses........? I have some modern/very syntetic flies that native brookies will NOT touch. That theory we've tested. Either way, we continue to break fly fishing down into micro categories that keep us debating like victorian english gentlemen........ 👊🏼👍🏼🤙🏼
That's a fantastic tip about the "used" flies. I notice with carp especially, if you use a fly that's been used it just works better. Thanks for sharing your insights :)
I’m convinced that if I spray myself with turpentine deer will leave me alone and not worry- as soon as I tip toe around with “whatever “ cover sent they leave the county. So….. ?
Fish can smell us💯. Especially if you have foreign smells on your equipment and lures. Spawning fish are extremely sensitive to human smell. That’s their whole gig at that time of year. No tinfoil hat needed to come to these conclusions. Fishing pressure also is a contributing factor to unlocking the scent correlation.
I 100% agree with everything you said! Thanks for your comment