Just wondering what or if any of you use scent while steelhead fishing? I have had excellent results with anise and shrimp oil mixed together with a pinch of fresh crushed garlic for trout in the past. I just started steelhead fishing this last summer, it's been fun! I have read steelhead are like a huge trout, the scent I used was in lakes and worked really good. Would it make a difference for steelhead or would I be better off not using any?

Well the only thing I usually scent is corky and yarn when drift fishing. Or sometimes the pink powerbait worms. The stuff I like to use is just smelly jelly either salt/shrimp scent or the glo in the dark shrimp. I have had success with both of those scents at least.

Ps. You could scent jigs too but I don't like to because the scent can ruin the drift presentation that jigs have...

The best scent when fishing anadromous Salmonids... is none at all. That being said, using an oil/gel scent, will cover up foul oders(to the fish) and give you a "grease" trail the fish can home in on. Anise, and/or shrimp are both proven Steelhead killers. Always mince your own garlic. Its cheap, and easy, and it works!..really well! Try all of the scents you have! I have hooked Steelhead in 30-50 feet of water, on a whole sandshrimp, slathered in that yellow, Sturgeon, Smelly Jelly stuff!

Like Bran_Man said, scenting marabou jigs is definitely not a good idea. It will certainly get the feathers coated in oils and diminish the effective qualities marabou has. If you want to scent a jig, you can fish a yarn tail jig which is basically just a chenille body jig with a yarn tail. You can load up the yarn tail and chenille with scent if you like as this type of jig is more about profile and color (like a weighted yarnie) rather than the pulsating movement of marabou. I have made some yarn tail jigs using Stalkers UV yarn as the tail which would be look like winners.

In short, my opinion is I would not use scent on any jig if it has any marabou on it, even a jig tied using yarn and marabou together.

another thing to think about when adding scent, be it a jig or yarnie. at the end of the day it's garbage. scents will go rancid. i'll use scents for steelhead in dirty water. other than that, i believe steelhead are strictly reaction biters.

dew wrote:another thing to think about when adding scent, be it a jig or yarnie. at the end of the day it's garbage. scents will go rancid. i'll use scents for steelhead in dirty water. other than that, i believe steelhead are strictly reaction biters.

I agree Dan. The scent of RGB is all that is required. Oh, and a certain color corky.