I don't believe it!

[eccles]

Having a chat about bait presentation, etc., on the beach with my mate the other day and related this tale. He was once fishing with a guy near Littlehampton and getting fairly regular bites; the other guy was getting nowt. It was a nice night after a storm and my mate could not understand the other fella's lack of performance so he wandered over to him and watched for a few minutes.
It seems he was wiping his hands with perfumed wet wipes every time he baited up! It did not seem to occur to him that the smell of the wet wipes would completely put the fish off. Thought I would tell you this little story just in case any newbies out there are doing similar. Keep yer hands as stinky as possible until you get home or at least until you have finished fishing guys, you may not like it but the fish sure do!

[solehunter]

I dont think the wipes would have helped him. Have seen a similar discussion about nicotine on anglers fingers. Some match men use surgical gloves if they smoke.

[abuc4]

but gloves dave

[marrwyck]

Transferring of alien smells to bait, will in most cases put fish off the scent.

I think you should handle your bait with care and keep your hands in line with the smell of the bait

[The Codfather of Sole]

Good post mate - totally agree, I'm a bit of a stickler for having nothing other than bait-juice on my hands when baiting up. Never bothered me with the smoking thing though, but Fuel, bleach, detergents I always avoid :cheers:

[greysfanboy]

I remember reading on mikeladle.com about some interesting results they got from a cod's reaction to certain scents in the water, the results might surprise you!

If I remember rightly, the cod had a much stronger response to the scent of rinsed hands than to that of spider crabs

I don't buy the smoking thing. Stopping smoking will help your health more than your catch rates but I must admit, if you are trying to quit smoking then I don't recommend fishing at all, all the long boring sitting around drinking tea and coffee does nothing for my resolve! ;D

[basskingfifteen]

Certain smells will put fish off but i think the smokin thing goes a bit 2 far, i smoke and catch the odd fish ,how many times do you go to light up or roll a fag and wallop......rod goes crazy.......if the answer is yes then YOU smoke and catch fish.....JOB DONE ;D ;D keepin a fishy cloth to wipe your hands on can help if you are that worried about smells.

[Cam]

fished for 42 years now smoked for 35 of them ..christ if smoking put them off everything else i have done must of been magic,,,,seriously though gave up three months ago and only now can i think about fishing again ..cracked it thank god ...and now i will be rewarded with millions of fish ....psml

[marrwyck]

Just a thought :confused:

If we stopped smoking when fishing, then why do we smoke fish? :confused:

[gaza]

I do most of my fishing up North Wales and Merseyside and in recent years anglers spray their bait with WD40 before casting in. Has it been tried down south yet? :cheers:

[floundering]

that is a old tip read it an a magazine from 91 but if it still works might try it i could do with the help :sunny:

[eccles]

Apr 1, 2009 12:32:32 GMT gaza said:

I do most of my fishing up North Wales and Merseyside and in recent years anglers spray their bait with WD40 before casting in. Has it been tried down south yet?

It doesn't work anymore - they changed the formula of WD40 over ten years ago so that idea is now ancient BS. Better to get a syringe and inject yer bait with fish oil of some description if you must.
I have never found it necessary, when the fish are in and feeding bites are every few minutes in my experience with fresh bait.