The effectiveness of fish attractants has been debated for a long time. Some folks swear by ’em and other anglers don’t think they do anything to help their fishing. To each their own, but when I was a college angler, I was introduced to ’em in a big way. I was fishing a national-level tournament with a friend of mine and I’d make the same flips and pitches as he would and he was kicking my rear end. The only difference was the scent he was applying on his jig and trailer. That experience definitely opened my mind to the concept and since then, I’ve tried dozens of different brands.
I have been hearing about this BaitFuel Fish Attractant Gel for several months and I was finally able to get my hands on a bottle of it; it was really hard to find for a while. After using it on several tough days of fishing and in a bunch of different scenarios, I have to say that I’m really impressed by this stuff. I could write paragraphs using all the scientific terms that went into making this stuff but instead, I’m going to give you my real-world experience.
This BaitFuel is some crazy stuff and I don’t know if I’ll ever put my boat in the water without a bottle or two stuffed in my glovebox.
Bait Fuel attractant is available at these online retailers:
Does it actually work?
I’ve heard fishermen argue about fish attractants until they’re blue in the face. I’ve written about this before and I’ve always believed that most fish attractants don’t make fish bite your lure. Instead, they make bass hold on a bit longer after they bite. This gives the angler a little more time to set the hook which, of course, results in a better hookup ratio.
Now, let’s talk specifically about this BaitFuel.
I do believe that BaitFuel makes bass attack your soft plastics more aggressively. I’ve fished behind several buddies while using BaitFuel and trust me, they’re good fishermen; I’m not some prodigy hanging out on the back deck of the boat. But I’ve been catching fish behind my fishing buddies when they’re hardly getting any bites. Again, we can talk about the Fish Active Scent Technology that’s in this BaitFuel and get all complicated with stuff. But I’ll keep it simple and tell you that yes, I do believe this stuff widens your strike zone and helps bass locate and hold onto your bait for a longer period of time.
Is it magic? I’ll never claim that about any product. But I do think it increases your odds of fooling a lethargic bass that may not otherwise be interested in feeding.
Works great for individual or bulk applications
I love the fact that this stuff is a scentless gel. I’ve always been irritated when I’m trying to spray those aerosol fish attractants because if the wind blows the wrong way, your boat gets all nasty and smells like an Olive Garden or Red Lobster for the rest of the day. That stuff ain’t any fun to wash off your boat at the end of the day.
BaitFuel has been really easy and clean to apply to my soft plastics. You can easily apply it to singular baits but I actually prefer putting it into the entire bag of soft plastics. It doesn’t have any adverse affects on your baits from what I’ve seen so far. I’ll put about a hand sanitizer-amount into a bag (I guess that’s the best way to describe it?) and let it sit for weeks without any issues.
So here’s the really unique thing about it
Two scientists with more than 30 years of experience leading a fisheries research biology lab developed BaitFuel. It’s a unique combination of natural compounds found in the prey of most predatory fish. You can get all the scientific stuff here if you want, but I’d rather talk to you from a fisherman’s point of view during this review. I’ll leave the science to the scientists.
The craziest thing about BaitFuel is that it’s totally scentless and leaves absolutely no residue on your hands, your boat or tackle bag. I know that sounds weird because it took me a while to wrap my head around it as well. But you can squirt this stuff on your hands and eat a sandwich 30 seconds later. It seriously doesn’t have any scent; you might as well be squirting water onto your hands. No stickiness, no stink, no nothing.
My wife and I have been using it while fishing our soft plastics this spring and she made a good point the other day. She mentioned that the consistency of it is somewhat of a mixture of hand sanitizer and that green aloe gel you’d put on a sunburn. It’s not runny, it doesn’t make a mess in your boat and it doesn’t leak and stink up your gear. After an explosion of garlic-scented fish attractant about a decade ago in my boat, I’ve been a little hesitant to keep something like this in my boat compartments but I have no worries at all about this BaitFuel.
Final impressions
If you end up trying this, I’m fairly certain you’re going to stay stocked up for the foreseeable future. It has been super hard to find lately and I’ve even had a few buddies call and offer to buy a half-used bottle from me.
Luckily, it just became available on Tackle Warehouse just in time for those stubborn summer bass we all love to hate. I’m actually planning on trying it inside of my hollow body frogs this summer and I think that could be a really cool experiment. This stuff is legit and I think you’re missing out if you don’t give a try for yourself.
Bait Fuel attractant is available at these online retailers:
