Pork and scent

[robbor]

I am wondering if you can replace the liquid that is the jars of pork with scent so it soaks in better? Yummy, more flavor.

[wargoth]

No! It will spontaneously explode!!! S

eriously though, I can't see it being harmful as far as increasing scent, though you'd have to worry about how the chemicals in them might react. Who knows what might happen mixing scent with the porks, for example some of my grubs react badly with some scents, melting and the like. I'd suggest try a sample, and if it works, great, if not... well, it was worth a shot.

[Rebbasser]

I've done it before. It worked, but was messy-but then I only use pork when the water temp is below 50 which isn't often in south Texas.

[JB]

Keep in mind those pork chunks are loaded with salt, no need to add scent.

[Rodman_Rob]

Originally Posted by JB

Keep in mind those pork chunks are loaded with salt, no need to add scent.

what does salt smell like?

[bassfisher02]

'Scent' is irrelevant. Bass dont rely on smell to hunt, in fact its one of their weakest senses. The whole reason there are 'scents' is for something more along the lines of flavor... as the 'scent' does help to attract the bass, what really seals the deal is the fact that once the bass picks up the lure, it will 'taste' the 'scent' and hold onto it that much longer, giving you the chance for a solid hook-set. So salt might as well be considered a 'scent.' Dont get me wrong, bass can deffinitely smell things you put into water, or in the water, but its not the biggest factor in their hunting skills. The 'scent' will attract bass in a given radius of the lure, not very far, but bass cant smell significantly enough to smell it from far distances. The 'scent' attracts close bass, the 'taste' seals the deal.

[JB]

I'd think that salted pork would bring out the brine smell of the hide and taste like salt

[Mac10]

Berkley research indicates that a 3 per cent salt content is ideal for emulating the taste of prey. Even if your scent is water based, it really doesn't leave a trail that the bass will follow. Too many sub currents set up by the lures movement spreads the scent out into little mini pockets that are too far and few between. If you are chumming in current, the scent will work as a scent if it's water based and there is adequate amounts.....probably too much for one lure to exude. This info is from the book entitled Knowing Bass by Jones.

[Rodman_Rob]

Originally Posted by Mac10

Berkley research indicates that a 3 per cent salt content is ideal for emulating the taste of prey. Even if your scent is water based, it really doesn't leave a trail that the bass will follow. Too many sub currents set up by the lures movement spreads the scent out into little mini pockets that are too far and few between. If you are chumming in current, the scent will work as a scent if it's water based and there is adequate amounts.....probably too much for one lure to exude. This info is from the book entitled Knowing Bass by Jones.

Mac, I look forward to reading your posts. I don't think I've ever read one of your posts where I didn't learn something interesting, like the 3 percent salt content being ideal for emulating taste of prey. I say the newbs should just do a search of all your posts........would probably turn a rookie into a pro in a matter of hours. You the man. Thanks for your contribution to the sight.

[Mac10]

Thanks for the post Rob, It's muchly appreciated.

[Mac10]

About the pork, try adding some dry garlic powder to the jar without replacing the liquid.

For your soft plastics, mix two cups hot tapwater with two rounded tablespoons and a teaspoon salt. Stir well an put some in each baggie of soft plastics and mush it about to wet all the lures. Now re-seal the baggies and float them on a pail of hot tapwater for twenty minutes. Let them set overnight then open each baggie and drain off any excess liquids. Re-seal for the last time and go fishing. This water-based scent will have penetrated the plastics and will last for a long, long time.

Again, this adds taste to the lures, but doesn't work as an attractor. On the other side of the coin, it works very well and they really hang on. Just out of curiousity, I scented a worm and a bass carried it 60 feet.....at that point I couldn't watch the line going out any more and tried to set the hook, the bass had threaded the line through a weedbed, jumped and threw the hook. I was amazed to see the distance from the starting point.

[MississippiBoy]

Good idea, Mac. I've thought several times about adding scent to plastics/jigs, etc.
My only thing is if you wait that long to set the hook, chances are you'll deep hook them, and they're toast. After carrying it for that long, the reason you lost him was that he'd already swallowed the worm, digested the hook and all, and crapped out what was left. I know you did it just this once, as an experiment, but this will usually kill a fish.

[Fish2win]

I attended a seminar 15 years ago that Denny Bauer was the quest speaker. he advocated the use of scent in the place of brine in your pork jar. I replaced all my jars with fish formula. Worked great for the fish but made the pork harder. One of the best things to do with pork is use it over and over again for as long as you can. It seems the older ,moldier uglier it gets the better the fish like it. fish2win

[Mac10]

Mississippi, I should explain. I didn't do it really as an experiment. I was trying to rig a second rod, had set the first rod down in the boat with the bail open, and as I was trying to tie the knot on the second rod, the wind came up fairly strong and I had a really hard time trying to tie the knot.....it kept blowing the tag end about.....between the wind and my awkward knot tying efforts, too much time was alotted and when I finally noticed the line slowly feeding out off the first rod, it had gone a long way. You are totally correct that normally the fish would have swallowed the hook. When I did finally try to set it, the fish popped up out of the weeds and threw the weighted slider hook. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Good point and well taken. Good Fishing, Mac

[MississippiBoy]

I gotcha, Mac. No big deal, either way. I just decided I would mention that fact for the edification of any who would read this thread.

[pig n jig]

I tend to wash my pork trailers the night before I plan on using them.I wash them under hot tap water, ringing and twisting them to remove as much of the salt brine solution as possible.What this does is make the trailer more flexible, or more lifelike and it saves hook corrosion caused by the brine solution in the trailer. P N J

[Mac10]

Hello PnJ, good seeing you on the board again!!!

Some time ago, I read a pork chunk tip that would definitely go well with yours. Lay the chunk on a flat surface, chunk (fat) side up, with the tails laying flat on the surface. Take a hobby knife or razor blade and make a few slits going across the chunk from side to side.....just be careful not to cut down into the hide......making the slits also adds a lot of flexability to the pork and also would make it easier I would think, to wash it out according to your tip. You could say it would allow the brine to soak in deeper, but by cutting and adding a heap of surface area, it would also wash out well.

Good Fishing, Mac

[pig n jig]

Hey Mac, you have got your old username back. Its good to see you as well. P N J

[JB]

Good stuff there mac,
when i joined my first bass club in 1991 the older vets showed me how to flip up close with pig n jig almost my first couple of weeks, hitting big lakes I'd never been on before.
They showed me how to make horizontal cuts in the thickest part of the pork, to make it more flexible as you have mentioned. We also were shown to take about 1/2 the thickness off the top 1/3 of the pork, up near the slot for the hook, also making it flexible. Only takes a few minutes to take your new jar of uncle josh pork and make a variety of cuts, or make smaller profile.
Of course, now a days you can buy them in many shapes and thickness, and I'd be willing to bet most anglers today use plastic or scented frog legs or craws, but I'll always carry a few jars of pork, I just have to remember to use them lol