Secret sauce

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Ecko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2020 at 12:54pm
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Usually go for bloody tuna but will buy whatever available. Put it on softies and slider skirts.
Can't see that it works any better with than without but for the sake of a dab every now and then why not? ๐Ÿ˜‚
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Uncle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2020 at 1:20pm
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Originally posted by pjc pjc wrote:

 
good point.can you smell things under water??fart in a bath and only smells when it breaks tgesurface[/QUOTE]< defer="" ="https://static.cloudflareinsights.com/beacon.min.js" -cf-beacon=""rayId":"5f45b2bf2ae0ee9a","version":"2020.11.6","si":10">

I haven't had a bath for years but now, for the sake of the science, I'm about to get wet.
First though, I have to work out how to sniff underwater.
A snorkel came to mind but nah, that's not the answer.
Any ideas pjc?
Sh**, there's a lot more to this than meets the eye.
LOL

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Try a funnel and tube
Top 10 finish
2024 Grunter Hunter.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Nov 2020 at 2:32pm
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Couple comments here
1st not mentioned SB over smelly baits.. use the SB sents and you get just as smelly. Secret sauce and the gulp stuff smell just as bad at the end of the day and get home.
 I SB and bait.
 Put a bit of good mullet/KY or Trev  slipped up under the shaft of the SB hook or even a little on the hook makes a big difference..Basically  a solid 'secret sauce' rather than a paste sauce.
 Put Secret sauce on a dropper rig that has little plastic squids or flasher on the hooks... works in shallows but not when get down around 20m. I assume here the paste sauce has washed off on the drop.
 Even when squeezed out of the bottle up inside the plastic squid.
 Having both, SBs lures and bait traces, ready on rod beside me, SBs , lures and sauces in the draws under the bait board, Bait on the board...its easy just to " wonder if.."

And if sauce bottle has be put away in the draw, in a hurry, grab a bit of off cut bait slip or hook on instead.

Edit: What have not done, thinking about it, is dipped a bait into the gulp juice..and dont spill that in the car...

 Even put sauce on a bait...sounds a waste, it is Wink
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Seen snapper rolling in salmon oil slick on the surface. They can smell alright.

Does not hurt to put it on IMO.
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When softees first came out all were scentless. Who remembers the Sassy Shags from the 80's I still have a jig head.

As gels and gulps came along, mostly for the USA Bass fishing market, some of the purists snubbed them, was like cheating, soaking baits in anise and other phenome enhancers for fish...

Zman came along, also USA but offered a tough plastic/rubber, offered a gell and then later on flavoured/scented them.

When jigging became popular I enjoyed capturing fish on metal lures, cast or jigged.

To me a lure no matter what it is, metal jig, coloured jig, softbait, inchiku, kabura and so on all have a purpose and all mimic a baitfish of many forms and colours. Some of these are using noise, vibration and movement as another attractant over colour and smell...

And I believe it is mostly an aggression and territorial bite from the above lures when they aren't hungry or feeding. Another reason why bait is more successful in the winter, when their appetite is slow and so is their metabolism and movement. This is when I switch to light mono, so my movement doesn't spook the sensitive biters...

When I fish with a softee I will try various colours of Gulp, if I get too many bite offs from squid, spotties and leatherjackets I will then switch to a Zman, once over the reef back to a gulp if the fishing is slow...

Just my ten cents...


"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau
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I object your winter opinion on SBs!

Better IMO
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Just to clarify my point on smell. Smell is the detection of airborne molecules, so by definition, fish don't smell, we are really talking about taste (i.e. molecules carried in water, whether dissolved or not) - not just when biting something, but by tasting molecules carried in the water. Having said that, smell/taste seem to be interchangeable terms when it comes to fish. 
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Originally posted by Steps Steps wrote:

Couple comments here
1st not mentioned SB over smelly baits.. use the SB sents and you get just as smelly. Secret sauce and the gulp stuff smell just as bad at the end of the day and get home.
 I SB and bait.
 Put a bit of good mullet/KY or Trev  slipped up under the shaft of the SB hook or even a little on the hook makes a big difference..Basically  a solid 'secret sauce' rather than a paste sauce.
 Put Secret sauce on a dropper rig that has little plastic squids or flasher on the hooks... works in shallows but not when get down around 20m. I assume here the paste sauce has washed off on the drop.
 Even when squeezed out of the bottle up inside the plastic squid.
 Having both, SBs lures and bait traces, ready on rod beside me, SBs , lures and sauces in the draws under the bait board, Bait on the board...its easy just to " wonder if.."

And if sauce bottle has be put away in the draw, in a hurry, grab a bit of off cut bait slip or hook on instead.

Edit: What have not done, thinking about it, is dipped a bait into the gulp juice..and dont spill that in the car...

 Even put sauce on a bait...sounds a waste, it is Wink


I agree with you Steps. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you really want to catch fish, then you need all methods at your disposal and be proficient at them. It just so happens, that my main goal is to have a nice day out on the water and catch a few fish on lures to take home for the week ahead. 
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I have even done other stuff (see old threads) like paint sinkers and jig heads with luminescent paints ( UV or sunlight activated glow in the dark) And injected luminescent paints into soft baits, and paint onto lures, including squid lures.

Squid lures works rather well.
 A lot of SBs have luminescent paint in them.. and funny thing is , in the threads "what is your favorite SB.."  these are consistently top of the list...

 have found Luminescence seems to work in deeper water on lures/ sbs and at change of light when sun reflects off the water surface, and at night.
Painting jig heads and sinkers didnt really do anything.

 Putting onto plastic squid / flasher/ feather hooks has the issue of paint just falls off.

I use a water based luminescent paint, let dry then a light spray of polyurethane over the top.

Its also handy to paint on outside door locks, the edge of steps and trailer/ towbar hitchesWink

Over all thu, bait or SB/lure (other than stick) regardless of time of yr, bait gets hit more often and harder, more fish. And winter, bait significantly so.
In saying that location also matters, warmer  harbour/shallows water in winter is not unlike fishing the warner seasons, espec with our sea temps significantly warmer now.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Rainbow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2020 at 12:27am
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Matching Lures To How Fish Find Food

 

Fish find food by sight, sound (vibration) and by scent.   But before we discuss how to best exploit those givens it pays to explore the universal evolutionary predator- prey relationship.

 

In the relationship between predator and prey evolution has ensured that prey is always a jump ahead of its pursuers.  This predatory disadvantage guarantees the survival of both.  There are innumerable adaptations with which prey animals have managed to keep ahead.  Predators know that and concentrate their efforts on the young, the old and the sick or wounded.  To that one must add prey animals that make mistakes or behave out of norm.  The almost certain removal of such behavioural misfits ensures that their defective genes are not passed on to the detriment of the speciesโ€™s evolutionary future.  This important โ€œlaw of natureโ€ has applied to all living things that make their home in all habitats on this planet until the arrival of super predator, homo sapiens.  In its short history modern man with its innovative brain has managed to upset the age old order between predator and prey to such a degree that countless species have already become extinct and countless others are heading that way.   When I think about the catastrophic impact we humans are wielding on the world around us it makes me feel like a hypocrite to write about how to extract more fish from our already depleted waters.  Despite such misgivings I have to admit that I am hopelessly addicted to fishing and my only acquiescence to the above is that I generally only fish for food.  This pragmatic motivation makes success a key goal of my fishing strategy.  To put it simply I do not go to sea to take my lures for a swim, I use them to catch fish.   

 

It is often said that ten percent of fishermen catch ninety percent of fish.   If this is true than this is probably not because they have better gear or bigger, faster boats but more likely because they have learnt to apply generations of accumulated fishing knowledge and have developed an uncanny ability to think like fish .  All the good fishermen I know never ignore the basics and build on from there.  We recreational fishers using rod and line rely almost exclusively on deception to catch fish.  For that to be successful it helps to know that fish find food by sight, sound (vibrations) and scent.  

All of our offerings incorporate one, two or ideally even three of these fish magnets.  

 

Lets start with sight.   Depending on water clarity and light conditions the distance a fish can see a lure or bait varies considerably.   To help lures can be brightly coloured, have UV added, glow with luminescence or contrast against the prevailing background.  They can imitate the colour of the baitfish or go the other way by being so outrageously gaudy that fish want to investigate it as a potential novel food item or simply chase the strange looking intruder away.   No matter how clever some lures are painted sight alone is rarely enough to get fish on the hook.      Good lures also incorporate flash that is visually activated by erratic manipulations as the lure is jerked, fluttered, yo-yoed or trying to โ€œescapeโ€ at speed.  Most baitfish have silver bellies to make themselves blend in with the silver surface ceiling when view by a predator from below.  To make themselves less visible from above their backs are coloured dark or camo patterned.   An injured fish or one that is hooked will often swim sideways thereby exposing its silver belly to the light from above creating a highly visible flash.  Just the other day I foul hooked a large albacore tuna that for a good twenty minutes circled sidewise some 30meters below my kayak.   At first I thought I was attached to a big kingfish but the chrome flash gave it away long before I got it to the surface.  That and the unnatural vibrations would have advertised this distressed fish as an easy meal for any nearby mako shark.   Luckily I got it on board before such an unwelcome visitor cottoned on.

 

Sound travels well in water.   Sound is really a pressure wave that sets up vibrations as it passes through a medium such as water.  It travels four times faster and four times further through water than through the air.  This said it is not surprising that the ocean is full of sound.  Most of it is generic and becomes part of the sound background similar as we perceive the background noise of a city or factory environment.    Although fish have ears they perceive sound vibrations particularly well through receptors located along their lateral line on either side of their body.  These allow them to register vibrations that spell danger for prey fish or opportunity if they are predators.   What really brings lures alive is movement.   In particular movement that looks erratic and generates vibrations that suggests fear, distress, injury or simply any indication that contrasts with the ordinary.   The important thing is that with their sensitive lateral line hunting fish can detect vibrations long before they can see their potential prey.   

 

I left scent until last since its potency as a fish attractant, despite plenty of evidence , is the least understood.  We all know that scent that is associated with food certainly attracts fish, hence the popularity of natural bait and berley.   Unlike sound that moves in all directions, scent that comes from a stationary source is only distributed by current and travels at current speed.  However, scent left behind by a moving source such as scented lure that is worked like a softbait or trolled from a boat also leaves a โ€œscent trailโ€ that fish can home in on.  Of course the intensity and longevity such a trail will vary a great deal but it is important to remember that it presents a highway that fish can follow.   I regard scent as the last confirmation after a fish has been closely attracted by vibrations and excited by what it sees.   Adding scent to a lure reminds me of the old saying; โ€œIf it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and smells like a duck then it must be a duckโ€.  Why then is scent so purposely ignored by most lure makers?   Is it because it is difficult to incorporate it in most mass-produced hardware or considered less sporting?  Over my years of fishing I have definitely observed a trend that not only shuns this third and quite possible most potent fish attractant but has almost elevated its omission to a new religion.  Sure, sight and movement alone will attract hits but the simple truth is you get a lot more hits if scent is added.   Lets just ignore the indisputable lure of berley and take my most recent example I saw on the same day as I was battling with a tuna.   We were out in blue water and reacting to recent reports of marlin captures my mate Martin Rook carried a big game rod rigged with a full blown marlin squid skirt containing a foot long ballyhoo baitfish.   At 90 meters we chanced on a big tuna work-up.   Gannets were dropping like guided missiles into panicking bait fish balled up by marauding tuna.   Martin was closer and got there just in time to be rewarded with a double hook-up one of which was on his game rod.  The fish stripped tons of line convincing Martin his ballyhoo had indeed been eaten by a marlin.  I hooked up just as the work-up stopped and shortly after binned a small albacore.   I kept circling the resting gannets but kept in radio contact with Martin about the state of the battle only to learn that instead of a longed for marlin Martin had hooked a XXOS albacore.  When he finally landed the 9kg fish he could hardly believe that the tuna had scoffed the whole big game lure including the ballyhoo and was hooked deep down in the stomach.   In fishing it is dangerous to say โ€œ neverโ€ but in my experience it is highly unlikely that a tuna or for that matter a marlin would have inhaled a giant plastic lure pulled lamely at kayak speed without the addition of the real thing that smelt and tasted like food.   Just going back a few issues when the Fishing News featured an illuminating article about that most Aussie big game fishers prefer pulling all sorts of natural fish bait for marlin in contrast to Kiwi anglerโ€™s almost ingrained habit of pulling scentless plastic.   Have we got stuck in a conformist rut or have we become victims of high pressure lure marketing?

 

Undoubtedly there are many motivations why people go fishing but surely the principal reason for such outings is to catch fish.  In my book the best way to do that is to deceive them with an offering that incorporates sight, sound and scent.

Cheers

Rainbow

 

                    

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jack.worthington Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Nov 2020 at 9:46pm
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On our boat we don't use secret sauce at all and we catch plenty of big snaps. I think the sauce does help but only for pannies. Big snaps couldn't care less
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Originally posted by Rainbow Rainbow wrote:

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Matching Lures To How Fish Find Food

 


Cheers

Rainbow

 

                    


Who wrote this Rainbow?
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Catchelot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2020 at 5:21pm
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I remember in the 80's Halco bought out a tube of gel attractant and it kind of bled a lumo trail when it hit the water.

Some used to smear it on baits, eventually it got banned on charter boats as the mess it left and stained...Ouch
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Lowbox Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Nov 2020 at 7:39pm
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Iโ€™ve found the secret sauce to be useful on bigger softbaits when the fish are off the bite, when they pull the tail tentatively they then come back for another bite
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