Short-striking bass will drive even the most even-keeled bass fisherman crazy—you make a perfect cast with the perfect bait, feel the “thump†on the end of your line and… nothing. You completely whiff like a little league baseball player. Not only are short strikes a wasted opportunity, but they can get into your head and make you question your skillset, gear choices and bait selection.
A few years ago I started experimenting with BANG Fish Attractant in an attempt to combat this common problem and have been amazed by the results. Whenever the bass get moody and start pecking at my soft plastics and jigs, this scented aerosol spray drastically increases my hookup ratio.
There are several things I really like about it.
- Helps the bass hold on longer
- Highly concentrated
- Won’t ruin your boat or tackle bag
- Excellent lubrication for heavy cover
It’s all about the “holding powerâ€
I get a lot of questions from anglers regarding the legitimacy and effectiveness of cover scents in bass fishing. I’m not a biologist, so I speak strictly from personal experience over years of experimentation.
I don’t believe that cover scents will make bass swarm from all directions to eat your favorite jig or soft plastic bait—there are a lot of other important factors that need to be considered such as sight, sound and water displacement. But I do, however, wholeheartedly believe that BANG Fish Attractant helps the bass hold on to your bait much longer due to an added sense of realism.
In other words, I don’t think the bass are going to refrain from eating your bait because your hands smell like a sandwich, soap, Vienna sausages or whatever else. They’ll still eat it, but after a few seconds they’re going to realize it’s plastic or rubber and promptly spit it out.
After using BANG Fish Attractant, however, I’ve noticed many of my bass being hooked much deeper in the mouth and while also swimming with the jig or soft plastic for much longer, allowing for more solid hooksets and a higher catch ratio. I’ve fished many tournaments and guide trips where it made a difference. We’ll be getting short-strikes for several hours and right when we start using BANG, we start connecting with more bass.
As a result, I’ve become a big believer in this stuff. I keep two primary scents in my boat and pond fishing tackle bag at all times—Pure Craw and Craw/Shad Combo. I’ve had almost identical results with both scents, but I tend to use the Craw/Shad combo when I’m swimming soft plastics or using soft jerkbaits.
This stuff is potent
BANG Fish Attractant is made with live bait and includes all of the oils found in natural forage. If you’ve ever seen a big school of bass attacking bait on the surface, you’ll know what I’m talking about here. There’s often a visible “oil slick†at the water’s surface, which is actually the oils of the forage.
You’ll notice the same thing after applying BANG to your soft plastics and jigs. For several minutes after application, you’ll see the “oil trail†of your bait on top of the water.
You can also tell a big difference in potency when you do a quick sniff test between BANG and many other attractants. A lot of the other stuff has a much “softer†smell that takes a few whiffs to pick up the scent. When you smell BANG Pure Craw or Craw/Shad Combo, there’s a fair chance it’ll knock you on your rear end.
No stink bombs to speak of
It is my sincerest hope that you’ve never have to discover the dreaded “stink bomb†in your boat or tackle bag. It’s happened to me a few times and it’s one of the most disgusting things an angler can experience.
You leave your scent spray or dip in one of your boat compartments for a few warm days and the next time you go fishing, your boat smells like a deep-South crawfish boil. You can scrub it and rub it with everything imaginable and it’s darn-near impossible to get rid of.
I can confidently say that I’ve never had this issue with BANG Fish Attractant. It comes in a 5-ounce aerosol canister that has a very tight-fitting lid, which has eliminated any unwanted stink bombs in my boat. You don’t have to baby it and put it in plastic baggies, either—I toss it into my compartments and keep fishing. It takes a good bit of pressure to begin spraying the attractant, so you won’t have to worry about a topless cannister wedging in a compartment and drenching your gear. I even have a few cans in my boat that have been there since last spring.
An excellent lubricant for heavy cover fishing
Stealth plays an enormous role anytime you’re pitching and flipping heavy cover. If you have to shake your baits to manipulate them past tree limbs and thick grass stalks, there’s a big chance you’re spooking nearby bass.
I’ve found BANG Fish Attractant to be an excellent lubricant for flipping jigs and soft plastics into thick cover. A few sprays gives your bait a very slimy, oily feel and allows you to penetrate the thick stuff quietly, quickly and easily. It lasts a long time as well, so constant reapplication isn’t really necessary. On average, I probably spray my bait every 20 minutes when I’m using it as a lubricant.
If you’ve always been curious about scent sprays in bass fishing, I suggest checking out BANG Fish Attractant. I’m a very big believer in it—especially when fighting the battle against short-striking bass.
BANG Fish Attractant is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
