Scents for hand tied jigs?

[Shoemoo]

I like Crappie Nibbles and never go fishing for panfish without them, but they tend to melt off the hook after awhile even if you let them dry out a bit to toughen up. You can't stuff them inside the jig like you can with a tube.

For salmon and steelhead, scent is very important because the smell of your hands can put them off, but oils and gels gum up flowing materials like rabbit and marabou.

So for those of you who use scents, how do you handle them? Put them on the head?

 

[jiggerjohn]

I've been tying with natural wool in the material mix, which seems to have its own unique natural smell. However if I'm working for tight holding trout, or notorius smell feeders like carp or catfish anytime, I soak my wool bodies in corn juice ,right from the can. The special properties of liquid retention that wool offers, has the sweet smelling liquid absorbed within the material for quite a while!

 

[eyecrosser]

Just a thought; I haven't tried this yet myself but got me thinking. If using wool or any white material what if you brushed on some Spike-It to change the color and add scent. I believe the 2 scents they come in are garlic and gamefish. They also come in a varity of colors; both in liquid form and markers. I have used them on tube jigs and other plastics with good results. Also, if any of you do use plastics for crappie and walleye I would recommend trying Slab Busters. They are already scented with garlic and really get it done.

 

[goodtimesfishing]

Here in Washington you have to be careful as to when you use scent, could end up with a hefty fine. Several of our rivers do not allow bait or scent. However when you can use it, a tiny piece of prawn/shrimp(raw) works really really well for the salmon or steelhead and it does not mess with the material.

 

[smalljaw]

I apply crawfish scent to the hide of rabbit hair and chenille, I made the mistake of putting it on just by spraying it like I do my silicone jigs and it was a mistake, the hair got nasty and lost its action but it works good on chenille.

 

[Fatman]

Good info to know - Thanks

 

[Ron Don]

I hate crappie nibbles for the reasons you explained. As SJ said u can apply scent to the chenille and it will last a really long time. I keep my scents I use for plastics rubbermaid dry box to keep my shop from stinking. The scent is so strong in the box I can just hang hair jigs overnight in there and they will smell for weeks.

 

[Bkabina]

You can use a small piece of surgical tubing or any tubing for that matter on the hook and inject your nibbles just like a tube bait.

 

[bombora]

If the fishing is tough I'll use a locally made paste style scent: on the head if it's a thread bodied jig, or rubbed into the chenille if the jig has that body style. It doesn't run into the tail and gum it up. Stays on the head for 20 or so casts, stays on the chenille much longer.
Even if I don't apply to the heads, I rub a little bit onto my hands to mask my nasty human smells. Doubly so if on a boat and handling fuel.

 

[toadfrog]

You can get pure anise oil from a pharmacy . I put it in a syrenge and just put a drop on the chenille . I have also used WD-40 . It works too. Both are illegal in some states . But I never met a game warden that wanted to sniff my jigs .

 

[redman]

Shoe love the crappie nibbles but they are a pain. Berkley does make a liquid scent that I use that does not effect the hair or feather action. Bad part is that you have to reapply every 10 to 15 minutes. I use the WD-40 trick at times in the fall at times. I can attest to RonDon's scent is powerful it will slap run you out of a closed room. One trick that I have used this last spring is to use a small amount ( a sliver cut out of ) a Gulp Bait. This last a long time and will out perform any other scent out there. Down side to using it is that it must be taken off the hook after you are done or it will become like concrete and you will have to cut it off the hook with a box cutter. If you do use Gulp Double Zip Loc bag it as it will dry out if you don't keep it from the air.

Redman

 

[Bucho]

When I go cod fishing with bucktails in the winter with my kayak, I use to tip the active rod with gulp alive minnows. On the dead drifting rod in the holder I use a sparsely tied plain bucktail that I have kept in a small plastic "freeezer box" together with the gulp baits for the day and a few extra drips of juice.
Having been in there for a few hours, the gulp scent soaks so deep into the bucktail that it lasts all day. Just don´t leave any jigs in the fluid after fishing, it will rust real fast.

I like the idea of tipping with a small peace of gulp, gonna give that a try with my flounder fishing this summer!