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30 • April 2016 • COAST • www.coast-magazine.com Common sense on scents Explore the options of attracting fish with oil- and water-based attractants ALASKA ANGLER By Chris Batin T he presence of scent in our daily lives is not only pleasurable, but also important. The scent of a scrumptious meal cooking on the stove, or the soft caress of perfume or cologne, all generate certain responses to indulge in and perpetuate the scent, while the smell of gas from a leaky grill or milk that has been left out too long will prompt us to act quickly to eliminate the scent. Scents are equally important in fishing. While some scents attract salmon, others repel them. Research shows that amino acids are potent odorants for many species of fish (L-serine is an amino acid found in and on the skin of mammals and found to be repulsive to fish. Other research shows that fish can detect one part of this substance in 80 billion parts of water). Salmon depend on their olfactory senses to survive. Natural predators such as bear, otter and mink all excrete L-serine, and fish avoid these predators. Salmon often spook from a bear that is walking upstream because they picked up its scent. Salmon also learn to associate the L- serine molecules with flies, leaders and lines handled by anglers, especially in heavily fished areas. But cover-up scents and attractant scents added to lures or flies also prompt salmon to investigate and strike. Does adding scent always work? Like any- thing in fishing, no, it doesn’t. But I’ve seen too many times when scent has increased hookups when nothing else made a differ- ence. I always keep a vial of scent in my fishing-vest pocket as backup enhancement should I need it. TYPES OF SCENTS Over the decades, I’ve spent time visit- ing the Berkley Fishing Research Lab in Spirit Lake, Iowa. I’ve worked with on-staff biologists and experts who make a variety of products that include Powerbait, and Gulp! baits. The research lab is the largest of its kind in the fishing industry. Its team of research biologists and chemists are on the cutting edge of some of the most notable product innovations anglers have enjoyed over the last 30 years. So when they talk scent information and research, I listen, and so should you. In the field of scents, my go-to expert is John Prochnow, who is now senior director of Product Innovation at Berkley Fishing. For years, Prochnow worked at Berkley as its lead chemist. He spearheaded much of the fishing scent discoveries that benefit today’s anglers. Over the decades, Prochnow has toler- ated my occasional skepticism and ques- tions, and provided prototype scents for me to field test so I could arrive at my own conclusions. In short, he has given me a Ph.D. in scent education, never pushed Berkley products or asked for any favorable consideration (I have never liked the scent of Gulp! on my hands and tackle, despite its effectiveness on some fish). Prochnow taught me that there are more similarities than differences when it comes to scent, response triggers and other influences to get fish to strike. For instance, I am an advocate of herring oil in all things Alaska fishing, because sim- ply, many Alaska saltwater fish eat herring, and are familiar with the scent. But it wasn’t until Prochnow and I took our discussions about the physiology of fish down to the molecular level of scent – and the receptors in fish that are able to pick up this scent and respond to it (or not) – that I began to understand scent in a fish’s environment. There are times when I use herring or salmon egg oil on flies, and other times I’ll use a scent such as Gulp! spray. Understand- ing when to use the right scent will help you substantially increase your catch rate of salmon, no matter where you fish. The best way to show you is with an ex- periment. Pour some cooking oil into a sink of water, and it rises to the surface. Swirl the water with your hand. The oil disperses in globules throughout the water, before slowly CHRIS BATIN Chris Batin with a coho salmon that hit a saltwater herring pattern with scent to enhance its effectiveness.