Wd-40

[BigBassin144]

My dad told me that when they used to go trolling for steelhead and salmon and what-not, they used to spray their lure with WD-40 to cover the human scent. I was just wondering if you guys think this would work or if the fish would just smell the WD-40 then. I don't even know what lures to spray it on Bass fishing if I decided it would work.

[leroy]

Just get one of those Fish Attractants, that will get the human scent off it. I would not use WD-40, don't see how that would help.

[BigBassin144]

I didn't see how that would help either, but I am thinking about order Mustads Activate attractant.

[JB]

When I first started serious bass fishing in the 80's everyone used WD40 on lures and equipment...since then I've heard some on here say WD40 works for awhile and then drys in the reels, but many boats to this day carry it on board an the guys spray thier reels with it. When you spray a plastic or lure the oil off the WD40 makes a nice rainbow slick on top of the water, and I doubt if it hurts anything..keep in mind that 20-25 years ago not to many plastics had any scent in them, and guys that used the spray on scents became leary of the stains it left on the boats gel coat and carpet.

[Bender]

Water Displacement 40 does work for this. I thought that the main ingredient was fish oil, but I was wrong. Here is the list:
* 50%: Stoddard solvent (mineral spirits, also commonly known as dry cleaning solvent)
* 25%: Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant, carbon dioxide is used now to reduce considerable flammability)
* 15+%: Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
* 10-%: Inert ingredients

Also here are some more uses:
http://www.wackyuses.com/wd40.html
http://www.twbc.org/resources/wd40.php

[Gatrapper]

Its the oil in the product. When you spray it on your lure it makes an oil slick which the fish are attracted too. My buddy uses straight mineral oil as his plastic worm scent, it works good.

[Gatrapper]

Another good lure is go to a local cow,pig, or deer butcher shop and get blood from them. Mix the blood with mineral oil and dip your worms in that. You wont be able to keep the bass off your hook.

[MississippiBoy]

Originally Posted by Gatrapper

You wont be able to keep the bass off your hook.

I could live with that...

[Super Fluke]

It does help, I've caught many salmon w/ WD-40 on the lure

[bassfisher02]

Yeah it could work, but I just wash my lures off in the water before I cast them out to cover any unwanted scent.

[crankybait]

Someone over at fishinfanatics actually went deep into this. It apparently is unsafe, and he called the company. They said to NOT use it as an attractant. I'd just go with some Hawg Sauce to be safe.

[keithdog]

My father in law fished southern Lake Michigan for 25 years before cancer took fishing away from him. But I can remember him plainly telling me many times about spraying WD40 on lures he trolled with. He didn't do it all the time, but it was a common thing amoung anglers fishing for trout and salmon in the big lake durring that time. He kinda laughed when talking about it, but also said he had used it from time to time and believed it helped.

[BigBassin144]

Wow. I though my dad was just kidding, guess not. I'll stick wiht modern day attractors.

[Fish2win]

Yse it works. In fact I use it to clean the blades on my spinnerbaits. Would I us it as a fish attractant. No. I would rather us a fish attractant that is envirormentaly safe. One guy spraying WD40 in the water is not a big deal but 50,000 is.Fish2win

[Rodman_Rob]

anise oil.

[BigBassin144]

Hmmm.... WD-40 to clean spinnerbait blades. sounds like a good idea, i wanted to give mine a nice polish withou any scent, so that sounds like i'll give it a try.

[Bender]

I actually use Megastrike now, but I have used WD in the past. Also I have some CB's Hawg Sauce, but man you don't want to spill a drop of that anywhere. Every once in a while shoot a bit a WD on a worm and test it for yourself, like fish2win said if one guy tries it once or twice it is not going to hurt anything.

[BigBassin144]

The only thing I'd use it for was to cover the Human scent, but I mean, thats one of the reasons they put salt in soft plastics, it helps cover human scents.

[Gatrapper]

Ok guys the human scent thing sounds pretty dang stupid. I can promise you that bass dont sence fear and danger from the sent on us, plus i doubt are scent will stay on a plastic lure. I personally think that to catch a bass its about presentation and not how a dang lure smells. If anyone is all caught up in the human scent fad i feel bad for you b/c bass are stupid. They cant read, write, or reason. You are just making harder on yourself by thinking of all of these pointless scenarios.

[bassfisher02]

Well, I agree and also very much dissagree with you. Bass are very smart, atleast the ones that are bigger than 3lbs. They dont get big by being stupid. They eat what they feel is safe to eat. They can smell, its not a matter of 'sensing' as you think, its not that they sense fear, they smell human scent... Its not even that, they smell something foreign, if it doesnt smell like the last baitfish they ate, they will be skeptical. Just handling a lure wont make a difference, but lets say it rolls around on the carpet of your boat, or you just handle a lure with a sunscreen lathered hand, that'll deffinitely turn a bass off your lure. But if you take the lure from the bag, and onto your hook with a clean hand it wont make any difference. If you do have sunscreen on, or it does roll around on the floor, or if its been kept outta the bag in a garage or soemthing, simply washing it off in the lake water thouroly[sp] will do the trick. But adding extra scent can sometimes make all the difference. I know that using Gulp worms while saltwater fishing outcatches fish to something that doesnt have any scent. and when bass are lockjaw, it makes a big difference. But once again, I dont fool with scents that I have to apply myself.

[Gatrapper]

I do think bass have common sence b/c you wouldnt eat something that didnt look real. Its like would you rather eat a frozen hotdog or a nice fresh one of the grill? What one looks more appealing? I seriously doubt that bass care of foreign odors especially in this day and age with the amount of crap that goes into our lakes, ponds, and streams.

[bassfisher02]

Well ofcourse they dont have common sense. Common sense is a human trait that helps us live life. Like if there is a very dark alley with a bunch of sketchy guys down it with knives, common sense would tell us not to go down that alley. But bass have instinct. Instinct is what every living thing has that tells us what to do to survive. If you have a smell of sunscreen or oil or gas or some odor like that on your lure, I can promise you, you wont catch fish. Try it out and see. It lets off an odor that the fish dont know, and if they are in a lake with thousands of baitfish, why would they strike something that gives off a weird odor when they can hit another that doesnt give off any weird odors? The only time it really wouldnt matter is when its a reaction strike. You ahve to remmber its in water, and whatever weird scent is on that lure will float to the fish, as they pimp water throough their gills they can 'smell' it. Another reason you wont get many hook ups is that if they do decide to hit it, they will spit it out quick, because once again that weird, different taste/smell. Now I'm not saying little tiny amounts of some kinda odor will make any difference, but there is a point where it will make the difference.

[islandbass]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

My dad told me that when they used to go trolling for steelhead and salmon and what-not, they used to spray their lure with WD-40 to cover the human scent. I was just wondering if you guys think this would work or if the fish would just smell the WD-40 then. I don't even know what lures to spray it on Bass fishing if I decided it would work.

Some folks in my area do that for salmon and steelhead and they claim it works for them. Personally, I wouldn't use it. As previously mentioned, our waters are polluted enough as is.

[1FASTLASER]

Originally Posted by Gatrapper

I do think bass have common sence b/c you wouldnt eat something that didnt look real. Its like would you rather eat a frozen hotdog or a nice fresh one of the grill? What one looks more appealing? I seriously doubt that bass care of foreign odors especially in this day and age with the amount of crap that goes into our lakes, ponds, and streams.

Hmmmmmm....here's one for ya Gatrapper. What would u rather eat..food that smelled like a frozen hotdog or one fresh off the grill. I ASSURE you scent DOES make a world of difference in what a bass does or doesnt do. Not only has it been proven by million dollar industry's but also as well by the single angler. I assure you that if a person is fishing with me and they are not using scented lures or some type of attractant not only to make it more appealing but also to mask UNWANTED odors such as gas oil cig smoke or whatever I am gonna be out fishing them using my scents.

[Mac10]

There is a large volume of information on that particular subject in the book by Jones entitled Knowing Bass including much information containing research by the Berkley company. (concerning scents and covering up the human scent)