Do Scents Really Matter on Soft Plastic Lures?

The Science Behind Fish Oil, Garlic, Anise, Amino Acids & Why ESM Does It Differently

Open a bag of scented soft plastics and you'll probably know it immediately.

Garlic. Anise. Shrimp. Crawfish. Fish. Coffee.

Or something so powerful you can't quite identify it, but you definitely don't want it spilled in your truck.

Fishing lure companies have experimented with scent for decades, and anglers have debated its effectiveness for just as long.

But here's where the conversation gets interesting:

What smells strongest to us isn't necessarily what matters most to a fish.

There is legitimate science behind chemical detection and feeding behavior in fish, particularly when it comes to amino acids and other naturally occurring compounds associated with food.

So let's get beyond the fishing stories for a minute and look at what we actually know.

Fish Don't Experience Their World Like We Do

Anglers naturally think about scent from a human perspective.

If we can smell garlic from across the room, it must be powerful.

If we can't smell something, it must not be doing much.

That's not necessarily how it works underwater.

Fish possess highly developed olfactory and gustatory systems capable of detecting chemical information in their environment.

Scientific reviews of fish chemoreception identify amino acids as an important class of chemical stimuli detected by fish. Chemical information picked up by olfactory and taste receptors is ultimately transmitted through the nervous system and can participate in behaviors including feeding.

That distinction is important.

Something doesn't have to produce an overwhelming human-perceived odor to represent meaningful chemical information to a fish.

Enter Amino Acids

This is where lure scent gets much more interesting.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and they naturally occur in aquatic organisms that predatory fish eat.

Research examining tissues from marine fish, mollusks and crustaceans found several compounds associated with feeding stimulation in fish. Among them, glycine and alanine were the two most frequently reported feeding stimulants across the fish species reviewed, while proline, arginine and betaine were also prominent in prey organisms and had been associated with feeding stimulation in various species.

That's not fishing-lure advertising.

That's fish physiology.

Other laboratory research has demonstrated extraordinary sensitivity to certain amino acids in some species. Classic research on catfish, for example, found their olfactory receptors responded to amino acids at extremely low concentrations.

Research involving rainbow trout has also demonstrated that particular amino acids detected through chemoreception can participate in the sequence of food-searching and feeding behavior.

But there's an important catch.

There isn't one magic amino acid that works identically on every fish.

Different species can respond differently to individual amino acids, combinations and concentrations.

That's why we prefer the idea of a blend rather than pretending one ingredient is a universal secret weapon.

So Do Amino Acids Have a "Smell"?

This is where everyday language can get confusing.

When fishermen say "scent," we're usually talking about what our nose recognizes.

Garlic obviously smells. Anise obviously smells. Fish oil obviously smells.

But fish aren't simply waiting underwater for the same odors that register strongly to a human nose.

Dissolved chemical compounds can interact with specialized receptors even when those compounds don't produce what we'd consider a powerful traditional odor.

Think of amino acids less as perfume for a lure and more as chemical information.

When the appropriate compounds reach chemosensory receptors, those receptors send information into the fish's nervous system.

Depending on species, compound, concentration and situation, amino acids can be associated with attraction, food searching, tasting and decisions about whether something gets swallowed or rejected.

That's a much more interesting story than simply making a plastic bait smell strong.

Why ESM Doesn't Just Douse Everything in Worm Oil

Traditional worm oil has an important job in soft-plastic manufacturing.

It helps lubricate finished plastics, keeps baits slick in the package and can serve as a carrier for concentrated scent products.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

In fact, tackle-component manufacturers specifically sell worm oil for packaging soft plastics and for diluting concentrated scents.

But at Extreme Strike Mafia Lures, we wanted our attractant system to be about more than simply putting a scented lubricant in the bag.

So we developed our own proprietary blend.

We're obviously not publishing the recipe. That part stays inside Mafia Headquarters.

But we can tell you the philosophy behind it.

The ESM Scent Profile

Our proprietary scent system incorporates:

• High-quality concentrated scented fish oil
• Garlic
• Anise
• And, most importantly to our formulation, a concentrated amino-acid component

The idea is to attack the problem from multiple directions instead of depending entirely upon one strong-smelling ingredient.

The fish oil provides a prey-associated scent base.

Garlic provides another powerful chemical and odor profile.

Anise brings another distinctive scent component.

And the amino-acid portion is there because research demonstrates that amino acids can act as important chemical feeding stimuli in fish.

We aren't trying to make the bait smell good to fishermen.

We're interested in the chemical information surrounding the bait underwater.

What About Garlic?

Garlic is probably one of the most recognizable fishing scents ever used.

Does that mean garlic automatically makes every fish bite?

No.

But it shouldn't simply be dismissed as fishing folklore either.

For example, controlled research involving juvenile Japanese seabass found an attractive feeding response to dietary garlic powder, although that's an aquaculture feeding study, not proof that garlic-coated artificial lures universally increase catch rates.

That's an important distinction.

Major fishing-attractant manufacturers also continue to formulate products around garlic combined with fish oils and amino-acid-based attractants.

So we use garlic as one component of a broader formulation, not as a magic potion.

What About Anise?

Anise has been used by anglers for generations.

Its strong licorice-like aroma makes it an obvious candidate for scent formulations, and commercial fishing-attractant companies continue to combine pure anise oil with baitfish oils and amino-acid-based attractants.

However, compared with amino-acid chemoreception, the scientific evidence specifically demonstrating that anise oil universally increases strikes on artificial lures is much thinner.

That's worth being transparent about.

We use anise because it gives our formulation another distinctive chemical and scent component, not because we're going to tell you a bass smells licorice and loses its mind.

Fish Oil: Bringing the Bait Profile Into the Mix

Fish oils make intuitive sense in an attractant designed for predatory fish because they're derived from the types of organisms that exist naturally in aquatic food webs.

Commercial scent manufacturers use fish oils extensively and often combine multiple baitfish oils with other attractants.

There's another important consideration, though:

Oil and water don't naturally mix well.

The way a scent disperses, how long it remains on the lure and which water-soluble compounds are available to a fish all matter.

That's one reason we shouldn't judge an attractant solely by how badly it stinks when we open the bottle.

The important question is what chemical cues are actually available in the water.

Other Popular Fishing Scents

There are dozens of attractant profiles on the market, and they don't all attempt to accomplish exactly the same thing.

Crawfish

A logical profile when fishing around fish feeding heavily on crustaceans. Natural crustacean tissues contain compounds including glycine, alanine, proline, arginine and betaine that have been associated with feeding stimulation in various fish species.

That's especially interesting when you're throwing craw-style plastics or jig trailers.

Shrimp

Another natural forage profile, particularly relevant to saltwater and brackish-water species but potentially useful beyond them.

Again, the interesting science isn't simply "shrimp smells like shrimp." It's the mixture of naturally occurring chemical compounds associated with the prey.

Shad / Baitfish

An obvious match for predators actively feeding on baitfish.

Fish-derived oils and extracts are widely used commercially in attractant formulations.

Nightcrawler / Earthworm

Common in freshwater attractants and particularly logical around species accustomed to consuming worms and similar natural forage.

Garlic

Extremely strong and widely used. There is some experimental evidence for feeding attraction in particular fish species, but that shouldn't be generalized into "garlic catches every fish."

Anise

A traditional fishing scent with a long history of use and continuing commercial popularity. We view it as one component of a formulation rather than the primary scientific basis for an attractant.

Coffee, Fruit & Other Strong Scents

These are interesting because not every fishing scent needs to perfectly duplicate prey.

Some formulations may be intended to provide a distinctive chemical signature, mask unwanted odors or simply create something fish respond to through experience or curiosity.

Scientific support varies considerably depending on the specific compound and species.

There Is No Universal "Best Scent"

This may be the most important point in this entire article.

Fish species don't all process chemical cues identically.

Research has demonstrated species-specific responses to amino acids, and concentration matters too.

A compound that stimulates feeding behavior in one species doesn't automatically produce the same response in another.

Conditions matter. Forage matters. Water movement matters. Temperature can matter. The presentation matters.

And whether a fish is locating a potential food source or has already taken something into its mouth are two different stages of feeding.

That's why we're skeptical whenever someone says:

"THIS scent catches everything."

Fishing isn't that simple.

Scent May Matter After the Bite, Too

Here's another aspect anglers sometimes overlook.

Getting a fish to investigate or strike is only part of the equation.

Once something enters the mouth, taste and other chemical information become relevant to whether the fish continues handling it or rejects it.

Scientific studies have demonstrated that chemical composition can influence how fish handle and ultimately accept or reject potential food.

For an artificial lure, that leads to an interesting possibility:

The benefit of an attractant may not always be that a fish detects your plastic from 50 yards away and swims across the lake to eat it.

A more realistic benefit in some situations may be making the lure's chemical signature less foreign or more food-associated once the fish investigates, mouths or strikes it.

If that contributes to a fish holding a bait even slightly longer, that can matter to an angler.

We're careful to call that a potential advantage rather than promise that a scent guarantees longer hold times in every species and situation.

Scent Doesn't Replace the Rest of the Lure

We love scent.

Obviously.

We wouldn't put this much thought into our formulation otherwise.

But we're also not going to tell the Mafia Family that scent replaces everything else.

It doesn't.

Profile matters. Action matters. Color matters. Presentation matters. Location matters.

And the angler still has to put the bait where the fish are.

Scent is another piece of the puzzle.

That's exactly how we look at color combinations, lure shapes, tails, wings, appendages, jig designs and rigging options.

No single feature catches the fish.

The entire presentation works together.

The ESM Approach

At Extreme Strike Mafia Lures, we're constantly asking ourselves the same question:

If we're going to do it, how can we do it differently?

We could simply lubricate our plastics, add a generic scent and call it finished.

Instead, we've chosen to develop a proprietary attractant system built around concentrated scented fish oil, garlic, anise and a concentrated amino-acid component.

Not because we're claiming to have discovered a magical fish potion.

We haven't.

Because the actual science is more interesting than that.

Fish live in a world filled with dissolved chemical information.

Their olfactory and gustatory systems are capable of detecting compounds associated with food, and decades of scientific research have demonstrated that amino acids can play an important role in those systems.

So while you may smell the garlic, anise and fish oil when you open an ESM bag...

there's another part of the formulation we're particularly interested in.

The part you may not smell at all.

The chemical cues intended for the fish.

And that's exactly where science and custom lure making get interesting.

See It. Feel It. Taste It. Make the Hit.

— Extreme Strike Mafia Lures

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