Adding scent to new lures???

After realizing I didn't have the correct gear for harbor bass I decided to pick up several hundred random lures in all sorts of sizes and colors in bulk without scent to save a few bucks. My goal is to pick up several water proof storage containers and add scent to each container after sorting the lures by size. This way I can keep several in every color in my tackle box and put the rest in the garage for safe keeping as I know I will more than likely loose several each time I go fishing until my casting skills improve.

Does anyone make their own scent or have a good scent that can suggest using? Since I cook quit a bit I have a large dedicated section in the pantry that has all type spices, herbs, salts and oils. I actually make my own hot sauces and flavored infused oils for cooking so I would like to make my own scent if possible. However if it's a hassle then I guess I could always buy some pre-made scents.

Unibutter, or Pro-Cur

Yup, I use unibutter and hot sauce.

hot sauce, larger bottle and best bet for your buck

not sure what you guys mean when you say "hot sauce" are you talking about tapitio or is their a product called hot sauce made just for fishing?

Tapitio bro.




No just kidding it is made just for fishing.

yes there is a fishing product called hot sauce i thouht is was tapatio too lol

Smelly Jelly "Bass Feast" is what I use.
But if you want to make your own you may want to start with Anise oil.

anise oil ...smells like licorice
garlic oil is alway a favorite for trout

just remember that if you get it on ANYTHING else ...
it will smell like garlic FOREVER & EVER & EVER!!!
we had some in the bottle in a zippered bag in a platci groc. bag in a box at the back of the shed with the door closed ...
and it STILL stunk like crazy!

lmao man that really stunk then

Well for now i'll probably go out and just spend the $10 for a 5 oz of hot sauce and continue to use the smelly jelly I picked up that works great because it has a wax base until I do some research on scents and try to make my own.

I did reach out to a friend who's a marine biologist at Cornell and she said the scents you buy for fishing are more to hide YOUR scent and not to really attract fish. She said fish have such a good sense of smell they can detect L-Serine amino acids in as little as 1 part per 8 billion!! She also said that's how Salmon find their spawning grounds thousands of miles away several years later. She said my best bet in an attractant is to find out what the primary food source is of my target fish and determine if that food sources "scent" can be added to my lure. If I can do that and then present a very similar looking lure I will have my best chance and catching more fish.

So I said how about California Halibut??

She just got back to me via e-mail and said their primary diet consist of small fish and anchovies so using something like an anchovy oil or paste would be a good "attractant" for that specific fish.

With that bit of advice in mind I think I'm going to start focusing on making some specific fish attractants and just store them in mayo jars and use them as a dipping sauce right after I put them on my line.

I also read that fish can detect amino acids from your skin so some guys coat their hands in "scents" before touching their bait or lures and avoid using after shave or any type of lotion / sun tan on their hands the day of. Hopefully this advice will help because after my skunk Sunday I'm gonna need all the help I can get!

Unihotbuttercureproanisesaucekrilloil....stuff. All my baits are in a a plastic tub and there is a glob of all these in there. Keeps everything moist rich and delicious. This way I dont carry any extra bottles around...all in one place...everthing is saturated and away you go! Nothing bleeds or runs together all the colors are as they should be and most of all its convenient. The only baits not in there are the Hammers and the AA's. I keep those seperate.

You have to be careful when soaking plastics. Some "scents" will actually make your plastics less pliable and stiff. The Pro Cure anise oil will do this to some plastics for sure. The Hot Sauce has not given me a problem or Krill oil or Unibutter.

If your plastics get stiff or you just want to loosen up the action a little more dip them in boiling water for just a few seconds. This will loosen up a plastic bait.

i did know about the hot water i knew about soaking them in water actually got in trouble for it i told my youngest daughter that if i wanted to save a few platics that were dried up i could soak them but i didnt want to so she took them and put them in a cup of water and the next day she said daddy i fix the platics and here you go i siad thanks lil one and 5 minutes later i heard that i told her to do it and i have to come clean that really bad smell thatswas all over the counter . i was given the eye by my wife and the eye to the top of my lil one head cause she would not look at me now its funny but at the time i was not no happy but it only lasted about 5minute and then we were cleaning and put sinky water on my lil one so she would remember the smell lol

Actually you can put Gulp baits in water to store and they will be fine but gradually get "spongy". You should be careful with some plastics with salt impregnation as the salt will leech out over time...create a mess and change the fall and action on the bait.

Another thing I like to do is make a cocktail of unibutter and hotsauce in a sandwich bag and let my plastic baits marinade in it.

no drinking cocktail well fishing lmao