Human Scent

[michaeln]

I was watching a Youtube video of Andy Burke on tying a Pyramid Lake Wooly Bugger, and he mentioned it is a good idea to grab some bottom mud and rub your flies with it to mask non-natural scents.

Later on I read an article on FAOL about scent trails and particularly that of human scent. The gist of it was that some people excrete more "L-Serine" than others from their hands and that it is a powerful fish repellent (along with bug spray, sunscreen, and some say even head cement).

http://flyanglersonline.com/features/lakes/part20.php

Do YOU do anything to mask human scent related stuff on your flies?

[Darrin.Deel]

i do not. I mostly fish rivers, though

[Darian]

I read an article in an early issue of Salmon/Trout/Steelheader that described a counting station in a channel in Washington State. The fish counter sat in a boatswain's chair suspended over the water with lower legs in the water; wearing waders or not. When the counter dipped his legs in the water, all of the fish in the channel moved to the sides. The conclusion was that the fish were avoiding the scent in the water (human or waders)....

In washing my hands while tying flies, I only use Ivory hand soap and do attempt to mask scent on the water by rubbing mud on my hands (if I think about it) and, altho I do rinse my hand off, I don't try to wash the fish scent completely off my hands after a releasing a fish.

[michaeln]

I've been real sloppy about it. I rub on sunscreen and mosquito repellent and kinda just wash my hands off in the water and wipe them on my waders. I'm pretty sure that for an animal who can find their way upstream to where they were born using scent alone, I am putting a big nasty Exxon Valdez kinda scent trail into the water, and getting it on my flies and leaders too.

I am going to get some biodegradable unscented soap like Dr. Bronner's and carry a little bottle of it with me to wash my hands with periodically throughout the day, any time I have handled stinky stuff other than fish. I'm thinking of also scooping up some mud and water from shore and carrying it in a small container like a film can to dunk my flies in and maybe rub on my leader.

It may not help, but I can't see any way it could hurt.

[Darian]

There're a bunch of hand soaps out there that're effective but expensive. If you don't want to buy those a couple of inexpensive alternatives are Ivory hand soap or Castille hand soap. Each is non-greasy and leaves little, if any odor in the water and you can carry a bar or part of a bar in a zip-lock bag in our vest.

[Mike O]

Just please don't wash your hands actually in the stream with any kind of soap. Take a cup at least 50 ft away from the stream, so the chemicals in the soap (doesn't matter what kind) don't get in the stream...unless you are willing to both drink and inhale the soap??

[Darian]

Yeah,.... None of us would ever've of thought of that....

[huntindog]

deer/elk hunters use doe urine to mask their smell and attract big bucks. Where can i purchase some "steelhead in heat" urine?

[Fats]

I remember reading one article on west coast steelheading ( back in the 90's ) that advocated putting vanilla on your flies to mask the human scent... I tried it and I'm not sure I had any more or less success but after a day on the stream I came off the river smelling like freshly baked cookies!

[albchen]

When I was with the Mission Peak Fly Anglers, there was a guy who used to carry a bottle of scent with him. Before he went fishing, he'd drop some on his hands and rub it into his fly. We gave him a hard time for "bait" fishing, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

Also, w.r.t. huntindog, how many of us really wash our hands with soap after taking a leak outdoors? I rest my case.

Best regards,
albchen