David Ross, Ph. D is a marine biologist and scientist emeritus at Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution. His book The Fisherman's Ocean is essential reading
for any angler who wants to catch more fish.
Dr. Ross' book sheds light on just how acute a fish's sense of smell is. Whereas
dogs are hundreds of times more sensitive to smell than humans, able to detect
odors in the parts-per-million range, some fish can detect scents in or even beyond
the parts-per-billion range, which is more than a thousand times more sensitive
than a dogs and more than a million times sensitive than humans. This incredible
sensitivity to smell is critical for a fish's survival (and also why BiteGrease works
despite being almost odorless to humans).
Many odors are either known or believed to repel fish and these includes both
artificial and natural substances that a fisherman is highly likely to physically
handle; sun screens, soap residues, gasoline and oil, and others. Most of these
things don't smell good to humans, either, certainly not like anything we'd want to
eat. One of the known culprits, and one of the most offensive smells to fish, is the
amino acid serine, found on human skin and in human skin oils.
If you aren't taking the scent of your presentation into account, you're not doing
everything you could be doing to catch more fish and more quality fish. It doesn't
mean you won't catch fish, it could mean you won't catch as many or as well.
On to Part Four. Back to the BiteGrease home page.
|
|
|
