The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Larry or any other anglers:
I'm sure you guys have seen the KVD series of soft plastics in the stores with the coffee scent.
Do you think bass prefer one scent over another or do you think it's possible any strong odor like garlic scent, coffee, etc attract a bass.
I've used the coffee scented lures just for the heck of it and have caught a lot of fish using them.
I'm not all that convinced it has to do with the coffee scent. I can use lures of a similar profile, size, and action to catch a good number of fish as well. Same with when I switch to a garlic scented lure. Do you guys think the coffee scent is a gimmick or do you believe there are bones to the claim that it will catch more fish?

***Not trying to bash any KVD products at all. I've caught a lot of fish with the coffee scented lures. I prefer to buy from companies that hand pour their lures. Just want some opinions.

Don't know about Bass, but I sure like the smell of coffee in the morning.
With any scents I've found the cooler the water gets (especially below 50 degreesF), the more important it becomes.
best
L

haha thanks larry, can't wait for Venice pt 2.... i'll be fishing w/ captain Kevin this october.

I don't know about coffee, but I do have more confidence in soft plastics that don't smell of petroleum. For example, I prefer the genuine Mr. Twisters to similar copies because the Mr. Twisters smell more pleasant. This may be a self fulfilling prophecy for me, but if confidence is a factor, I have more confidence in better smelling baits. Likewise, I keep my hands either clean or smelling like bait.

Sometimes Gulp works very well, other days it doesn't work better than other lures.

It's good to have a variety of options along.

Great point questor... i also wonder if they'll bite something out of curiosity due to the odor, especially if it's something they haven't smelled before.

I think that Coffee scent is largely a gimmick, but any strong scent that does not put fish off can cover bad scents. I think that garlic and anise scents are also a gimmick, but I use them to on occasion.

I think that Questor is dead on about the smell of Petroleum, at least most times. When the fish are "on the feed", I have dipped baits in gas and it did not stop the bite. This is NOT suggested, and was done to make a point only.

I think scents are of two types, cover and attractant.

Cover scents, like coffee, garlic, anise, grape, strawberry, ..... OK, you get the point, any scent that covers human scent but is not normally in the water, can be good, but also risk turning off the fish at times.

Attractants, like shad, crayfish, shrimp, night crawler, etc., scents that smell like their normal food, can also be good, but I wonder about putting shad scent on baits when they are eating crayfish.

I prefer to start the day without scents, and then add scents only if required. I also think slow moving baits, in colder water, tend to benefit more from scent. (OK, Larry mentioned that already). I do not like to use the paste or gel scents in water below 40 degrees because they tend not to disperse in the water well.

In summary, I won’t buy the coffee scented baits, just to have coffee scented baits, but I would buy the lure if it was something I wanted, even if it was coffee scented. Does that make sense?

So with that being said..If you guys were to pour your on soft plastic are you infusing it with any scents? Or are you just rolling with the scent of Alumisol Soft Plastic?

To create a scent just mix what ever stink you like in a little vegetable oil, dump a little in a ziplock and add worms!
For salt, just mix it in the Alumisol.
best
L