Best Scent for Trout: How to Attract More Trout

Scent can be effective for attracting trout while fishing. Trout have a keen sense of smell, and adding scent to your bait or lure can make it more appealing to them. There are several types of scents that are commonly used for trout fishing, including fish oil, garlic, anise, shrimp, cheese, and other natural and artificial scents.

Trout have an excellent sense of smell. They use their sense of smell to locate food and detect predators. In fact, some studies suggest that the sense of smell is the most important sense for trout when it comes to finding food. Trout have highly developed olfactory organs called nares, which are located in their nostrils. These organs allow them to detect chemicals in the water, which they use to locate prey, recognize familiar odors, and avoid danger. Therefore, the sense of smell plays a critical role in the life of a trout.

Studies have shown that trout can detect some scents at concentrations as low as one part per billion, which is equivalent to a single drop of scent in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. This incredible sensitivity to smell makes trout a popular target for anglers, who use scented baits to attract the fish.

Can Trout Smell Humans?

Trout can detect a variety of scents in the water, including human scent. However, it is unlikely that a trout would specifically “smell” a human in the water, as humans do not have a distinct or strong odor that would be easily detectable by a fish. Additionally, trout are more likely to be wary of human presence based on other sensory inputs, such as sight and sound, rather than smell. That being said, it is always a good idea to minimize human scent when fishing, as it may make the trout less likely to bite.

How to Use Scent When Fishing for Trout

Scent typically comes in oil or liquid form and is applied directly to your bait or lure. Common liquid/oil scents include garlic, crawfish, shrimp, nightcrawler, anise, and corn.

You can also use scented bait like PowerBait, which comes in a variety of scents including garlic, corn, and worm.

Marshmallows are another great scented bait believe it or not. Using worms and marshmallows together is a deadly combination. Trout love worms and the marshmallow not only adds scent, but they float, giving your worm better visibility.

What Scents Do Trout Dislike?

While there are some scents that trout love, there are also scents that they don’t like that will scare them away from your bait. Here are a few scents that trout may find unappealing:

Artificial scents: Trout may be put off by strong artificial scents that do not occur naturally in their habitat. This includes scents from perfumes, colognes, and heavily scented products.
Gasoline and diesel fuel: The scent of gasoline and diesel fuel can be off-putting to trout and may deter them from feeding in the area.
Human scent: The scent of humans can be alarming to trout, particularly if it is very strong. This is why many anglers use scent-masking products such as WD-40 to minimize their own scent.
Strong-smelling foods: Trout may not be attracted to baits or lures that have a strong smell, particularly if it is an unfamiliar scent.
Insect repellent: Insect repellents contain strong chemicals that can spook trout. If you plan to fish in an area with mosquitoes or other insects, it’s best to use a natural repellent or wear protective clothing instead.
Strong perfumes or colognes: Like human scent, strong perfumes or colognes can spook trout. These scents can be overwhelming to them and make them feel uneasy.
Citrus scent: Some anglers use citrus scents to attract fish, but it can have the opposite effect on trout. The acidic scent can spook them and cause them to swim away.

Ultimately, what scents trout do or do not like may vary depending on the specific fish and the environmental conditions. It’s always a good idea to experiment with different scents to see what works best.

Best Scents for Trout

Garlic

Garlic is a strong scent that can be effective in attracting trout, particularly in murky water or low light conditions. However, the effectiveness of garlic scent can vary depending on a number of factors such as water temperature, location, and the individual preferences of the fish. Some anglers also believe that using too much scent can be counterproductive, so it’s important to experiment and find what works best for the particular situation.

Garlic can be applied to lures and bait in oil form or you can purchase specific baits with garlic scent like PowerBait or garlic marshmallows.

Corn

There are a few theories as to why trout like corn. One obvious one is that the pellets that stocked trout are fed in the hatcheries looks very similar to corn. And some pellets even contain corn, making corn look and smell like what they are used to eating.

Another theory is that trout mistake corn kernels for fish eggs, which trout are known to feed on.

Corn can be a great scent to use to catch stocked trout. You can find corn PowerBait or use actual corn. To use real corn use a small size 12-14 single hook or treble hook and slide a few kernels onto the hook(s).

Anise

Trout are attracted to the scent of anise because it mimics the smell of certain insects that they feed on. Anise contains a compound called anethole, which is found in the exoskeletons of some aquatic insects that are part of a trout’s diet. When anise is used in fishing bait or lures, it can attract trout by mimicking the scent of these insects and triggering their feeding response.

Additionally, some anglers believe that anise has a calming effect on fish, which may make them more likely to strike at a bait or lure. This may be due to the fact that anise has a sweet, licorice-like scent that can help mask the human scent on fishing gear.

It’s important to note that not all trout will be attracted to anise, as individual fish can have their own unique preferences and feeding habits.

Anise is typically applied to your lure or bait in oil form, as not many companies make bait with anise scent.

Shrimp

Trout are known to be attracted to shrimp scent because it is a natural and familiar odor to them. Freshwater shrimp are a common food source for many species of trout, so their scent triggers an instinctual response in the fish to investigate and potentially consume the source of the scent.

Additionally, the amino acids and other compounds found in shrimp can also be attractive to trout, as they are an important source of nutrients for the fish. The scent of shrimp can also help to mask the odor of lures or bait that may be less attractive to the fish, making them more effective at catching trout.

Overall, the preference of trout for shrimp scent is likely a combination of both their natural attraction to the odor and the nutritional value that shrimp provide to the fish.

Shrimp scent usually comes in oil form and can be applied to any lure or bait to give you a better chance at catching trout.

Summary

Using the scents listed above can be helpful in catching more trout. We recommend having a variety of scents on hand when fishing for trout and trying different ones until you find what’s working. Using oil is very simple and makes scenting any bait or lure quick and easy.