the butcher
Well-Known Member
I get it.. fishing is both a science and an art. However, every now and then we come across information that is extremely contradictory....
A few years back I attended a saltwater salmon workshop at the Vancouver Boat Show. The presenter was definately a seasoned salmon fishing veteran... After the presentation and workshop, he went around the room to answer questions... I don't recall what the question was but somehow it went off topic ... he stated that we are all now making things more complicated than it needs to be.. He said even to this day, there are often days where he has the most success using a 30 year old metal flasher(no glo, no UV) that he polished to a shiny gloss.. He would put WD40 on his flasher and lures and said he had VERY good success with that simple setup..
And so here's where the contradictory information comes in... We all know that salmon have an incredible sense of smell... and that's why using bait works so well during certain times of the year.. There is also information out there stating that humans release chemicals/odours from our skin which repel fish, especially salmon.. In addition to human scent, there are other un-natural and unfamiliar to salmon scents which supposedly repel them as well such as grease/motor oils etc....
So my question is, does WD40 repel salmon due to it being an un-natural scent or does it attract? My swivels on my flashers and fishing gear some some WD40 treatment to keep them spinning properly. I am wondering if I need to be very thorough with cleaning up the WD40 from my gear or whether it makes no difference.
A few years back I attended a saltwater salmon workshop at the Vancouver Boat Show. The presenter was definately a seasoned salmon fishing veteran... After the presentation and workshop, he went around the room to answer questions... I don't recall what the question was but somehow it went off topic ... he stated that we are all now making things more complicated than it needs to be.. He said even to this day, there are often days where he has the most success using a 30 year old metal flasher(no glo, no UV) that he polished to a shiny gloss.. He would put WD40 on his flasher and lures and said he had VERY good success with that simple setup..
And so here's where the contradictory information comes in... We all know that salmon have an incredible sense of smell... and that's why using bait works so well during certain times of the year.. There is also information out there stating that humans release chemicals/odours from our skin which repel fish, especially salmon.. In addition to human scent, there are other un-natural and unfamiliar to salmon scents which supposedly repel them as well such as grease/motor oils etc....
So my question is, does WD40 repel salmon due to it being an un-natural scent or does it attract? My swivels on my flashers and fishing gear some some WD40 treatment to keep them spinning properly. I am wondering if I need to be very thorough with cleaning up the WD40 from my gear or whether it makes no difference.