As if fishing were not stinky enough, we go to great lengths to get artificial lures smelly and slimy. So do scents really work? Which one is the best? Why would a fish hit on garlic or anise scents, two things that are clearly not in their natural forage pattern?Some say that most fish attractants end up in the tackle boxes of part-time bass fishermen. But professional anglers buy this stuff by the bucketful. Freshwater bass fishing is the main market for scents. I have been in situations where I poured this stuff on like it was magic dust or anointing oil. I think it could be a confidence thing with some guys. On Dale Hollow in the weeds one fall, I was convinced that the scent was more important than my own fishing skills or presentation abilities. What really happened was the scent was so thick and slimy that it allowed the four-inch slider work to slip through the grass and not hang up, so naturally I had more opportunity to catch fish. Scents probably are not a magic elixir to cure all for bass fishing’s slow days or a replacement for skills, but they may be like other tools in the kits something that gives a boost to confidence and an edge that may work in ways unintended. Most bass anglers will say they believe that scents work as positive attractants that can be smelled and tasted at the critical moment of the strike. Scientifically, for a scent to work it must contain chemicals that trigger a response in a bass nose or mouth and brain. Like most animals, bass have nostrils just above their mouths. These two openings form the entrance and exit for water-borne scents to flow into. Bass also have scent and taste receptors inside and outside their mouths. Receptor cells resemble tiny pits with a pathway leading to the brain. Receptor cells may come in different sizes and functions. Some are thought to only be triggered only by scents, others by tastes and some set off by molecules (such as sex hormones) during mating. Frightened or injured creatures may give off other substances, called pheromones. These chemical paths lead predator to prey. So here is the pitch of how scents work. The receptor cells are set to only recognize a certain set, size or configuration of molecule and send a message to the brain with its requirements. No match to receptor cell equals no response. Scents that can match any of the several types of molecules that occur in the experience of a bass and trigger a feeding response will work. Just maybe a molecule is not exactly the right one, but it is close enough to get the desired response. There’s a theory as to why attractants can work. That garlic, which has no true equal in the bass diet, just may be similar enough to the smell (molecularly speaking) of shad chum, or bluegill slime or crawfish juice. Here comes the second wave of logic in using fish attractants they can mask negative odors and remove or overcome the negative molecules.