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Scent and Steelhead

11K views 64 replies 46 participants last post by  TC  
#1 ·
Do you add scent to your steelhead flies?

Dave
 
#2 ·
Oh yes! I find that Cougar urine is very helpful in keeping those pesky steelhead from tearing up my pretty little flies. :rofl:

Dave, Dave, Dave... I will be watching you.

Before we all go-off here, try to remember that Dave knows better.

He's just baiting us in a stinky way here.

We need some rain and some fish.
 
#9 ·
When I started fly fishing I found a purple ESL in decent shape on the river. I picked it up and put it in my box with my other flies. When I got home I opened my box and it just reeeeeaked. I ended up throwing out the entire box and it's contents. Sniff those flies before you pick them up and add them to your collection!
 
#11 ·
I found a bottle of shrimp Smelly Jelly on the bank of the Yakima almost two years ago. I forgot that I was still carring it around until one day last summer when the carp fishing was slowing down on a hot afternoon. In desperation, I tried a carp wooley soaked down in Smelly Jelly. It didn't seem to make any difference. I was surprised. I thought carp would definely home into scent. Maybe I need a different flavor.
 
#13 ·
Most of us fish with scent and don't realize it. Our natural scent from our oily hands comes off as we tie on our flies, moisten our knots with saliva, etc.

Then there is the gas we got on our hands by filling up on the way to the river (bad idea), or the sunscreen, or the insect repellent, 7-11 burrito, cigarrette\cigar, etc.
 
#16 ·
Wd 40 sprayed up and down the line and on the fly very liberaly is a great way to get those metal heads on the line. Its also sweet because the fish always take the fly really really deep, so you have to "let them eat it" but then you will never loose them. The wd40 puts out a sweet chum slick that oils up the whole river, you should try it sometime, great for the environment.
 
#17 ·
I've always wondered about inadvertant scents that I've put on my flies like sweat and natural body oils having some affect on the fishing. I've read studies that showed pacific salmon being able to detect morpholine at concentrations of 5x10^-5th mg per liter of water. I've also heard of instances of where salmon pile up at a wier, and some person simply dips their arm in the water just upstream and out of visual range, and the salmon freak out and high-tail it downstream.
 
#20 ·
Steve Buckner said:
Bob Triggs showed me a neat trick, he just uses 3 day old tunafish sandwiches...it draws in the cougars...:p
Uh Oh...Steve has a day off. Yep, works great, as long as you dont tell your fishing buddy that the sandwiches are in HIS pack!
 
#22 ·
Nope, never EVER put scent on my flies. If I'm swinging a flyrod, it's no scent at all. Now, on my gear rods, that's a different story (and even then, keep the scents down when I'm fishing jigs, etc).
 
#23 ·
Apparently there are certain things that make fly fishing...well..fly fishing, such as:
Fishing rods: Graphite good, bamboo even better.
Fishing line: Horse hair best, plastic, ok. monofilament, no,unless it is the leader...or the running line,... or the tippet.
WD-40 on you flyline= bad, Armor All = o.k., Orivs brand line cleaner = good
Split shots= mmmmm...o.k. in Washington, bad in Oregon
Shrimp oil = bad, Synthetic fly tying material= who cares
Glo-in-the-dark material = bad; Pink, Chartreuse and flourescent orange = good
Glo bugs and san Juan worms = great; eggs and worms = yuck !
Dry fly fishing for steelhead = a must. Weigthed fly with sink tip = flossing, i.e. bad

Do I have it right ?

;)
 
#24 ·
I'm with Jerry. I gear fish and try to fly fish for steelhead, but I won't defile my flyrod or ruin my flies by purposely applying scent. I try to remember to rinse my hands in the river before I change flies.

I don't have a problem with going back to the gear/bait at times for targeting hatchery fish, but never on a flyrod!
I'll use scent, sandshrimp, or roe with a corkie and yarn setup or a jig when using my spinning rod. I don't put scent(oil screws up the marabou or rabbit) or roe(rarely use roe anymore...didn't cure any eggs at all this year) on a jig, but sometimes a fresh sandshrimp tail(I tube 'em up myself, always a fun low-tide trip to the mudflats in the bay).
I'll carry my flyrod and also my spinning rod rigged with a jig/float. If I see some water I think may be holding a fish that I can't present a fly to, but can still flick a jig/float into, I'll set down the flyrod, pick up the other gear and have at it.
So what if that makes me a Heathen Infidel!:p

Jimbo