Do Fishy Smelling Flies Catch More Fish?

[phiendWMD]

I mean when a fish takes a fly and slimes it up, does that fly acquire a smell that attracts other fish?

LOL probably a really odd question but it's one I've been wondering about the last few days and I'm sure someone else has thought about before. What do you think?

 

[LetortAngler]

Trout do have a pretty good sense of smell, but in moving water vision seems to be more of an impotant factor. I think a fishy scented fly would work better for still-water fishing such as ponds, lakes and perhaps large rivers.

 

[salmonoid]

How exactly are you fishing that a fish you catch "slimes up" your fly? Expand on what is making you ponder this question

There are people who are concerned about human smell gunking up a fly. I think they are crazy - when a Royal Wulff shoots by a brookie on a small freestone stream, there is no smelling going on. Just some opportunistic feeding...

That's not saying that smell isn't a factor with fish; just that in all the other factors that go into fishing, how the fish smelled that you caught before on a fly probably has little impact on whether the next fish will take the fly.

 

[1manwolfpack]

When nymphing for trout I find that slimed up nymphs work best. Although I think it's more likely that the nymphs get a little more beat up and buggy looking.

On the other hand I have noticed the opposite reaction with carp. I have been hooked on the mulberry hatch the last two years. I've noticed that once I take a carp on a berry, that fly is more likely to only get a nosing investigation on subsiquint casts. Put on a fresh berry and get ready to see your backing. I know that carp emit a pheromone to warn other carp of danger. I believe this feramone gets on the fly and is detected by the other carp.

 

[laszlo]

I've often wondered about this too, not the sliming up part but the smell of the fly. Does anyone use "fish scents" on their flies? I never have but I will refrain from splashing on Aqua Velva next time I'm heading out to the stream.

 

[Chaz]

Possibly on a streamer.

 

[bigjohn58]

Smell DOES effect the ability to catch fish. I know this for a fact because when we fish Kettle Creek when its low I will fish a fly that looks exactly like a wax worm and my dad will fish a waxworm and he'll catch fish and I won't. He fishes it under a strike indicator just like I am doing with my flies. It doesn't seem to matter if in fast riffles or in slow water. If I decide to switch I'll start catching fish. Is it like this on all streams? NO, but it can be a major factor certain places.

 

[JG63]

Read Nick Sawyer (grandson of Frank Sawyer) on fishing their killer big and original PT. FISH slime masks the human scent. Frank had done it for years

 

[dryflyguy]

For dry flies, I really doubt it.
I've been dipping all of my patterns in a floatant mixture - consisting of lighter fluid and mucilin paste - for a long time.
And the fish take them just fine

 

[JackM]

I would venture a guess that scent plays 0% in dry fly fishing and 10% or less with nymphs or wets. With streamers, a strike may be thwarted about 15% of the time by lack of natural scent and/or presence of unnatural scent.

 

[JackM]

Taste, on the other hand, may be crucial; therefore, always set the hook on time.

 

[Reeder]

I have often wondered the same thing. Sometimes it seems once you catch a fish on a fly it seems to keep getting hits. Is this because of the scent left behind, the fly being beat up and more buggy looking, the human scent being masked, or is it because you have simply matched the hatch? It is hard to say.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Most likely not with dry flies. Nymphs or wet flies,maybe,I also think its the "buggy" look that gets strikes. Streamers,maybe and a bit of sardine oil might help get a strike.
Guides in Alaska use rubber gloves when handling bait and lures. Often they spray the lures with some secret fish attractant and the gloves keep human odor off the eggs they drift. Salmon,kings especially , smell their way home.
In the case of stream trout I believe their eye sight is more important than smell. GG