Scents + ethics/morality

"Josh" wrote in message
...
snip Just wondering how rest of you feel. ok...shoot.
--
God Bless America

Josh The Bad Bear
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Josh, this got me thinking.... Warning: this turned out to be a long
response.

In my reply to Jack, I stated my belief that scents are ineffective in
attracting bass. That's not to say they don't make a difference in your
fishing. Here's a distinction that may be obvious to most readers already:
while scents may not influence the hunted, they undoubtedly have an impact
on the hunt.

Wouldn't you say a whole lot of what we do as anglers falls in the category
of ritual rather than true fishing science? I think one of the things we
enjoy about our sport is that it has evolved its own bass angling culture.
And as with every culture, this one has its rituals. Some are grounded in
fact... others in mystical lore and superstition.

Pistol Pete Maravitch wore the same pair of gym socks (without laundering)
to keep his winning streak going. Construction workers top out a building
with a conifer tree. Blood from his first deer is (in some cultures) smeared
on a young hunter's face. Religious people practice rituals to greet the
day, celebrate a meal, initiate special events, invoke blessing for travel,
and so forth. The boys I grew up with could be counted on to produce a
buckeye among the contents of their jeans pockets, and they usually carried
a lucky marble or stone, too.

Just as native Americans stepping out of their wickiup tapped the deerskin
pouch hung by a thong around their neck or belted at their side to make
certain their talismans were secure, I pat my pocket as I head to the truck
to make sure my old pocket knife -- not just any knife, but the "right"
one -- is in its place. The familiar shape that wears a hole over the pocket
of every pair of jeans I own confers a sense of "everything is in its
place."

Some bass anglers feel unprepared if they're not wearing their lucky hats,
shirts, or shoes. Others, noticing that the landing net seems often to be
out of reach when they hang onto a big bass, deliberately leave it in the
rod locker in order to increase their odds. I have an unreasonable
preference for my red Ambassadeur reels over the plain aluminum
ones, even through the guts are identical since I've long ago replaced all
the brass bushings with ball bearings.

One of Bubba's bass fishing rituals was to reach down, pick up a bottle, and
pump one spray of anise-scented oil on his lure every tenth cast. Do these
rituals affect the fish? That's doubtful. Do they increase our catch rate.
If they serve to relax or focus us so that we feel more comfortable and are
mentally better prepared to react to opportunities the bass present, then
maybe they do.

A whiff of anise has the power to transport me back through the years. Once
or twice each season, I'll rummage deep in my tackle box, pull out a small,
yellowed plastic bottle, and squirt a few drops of the scent on my bait just
to conjure up the shades of my long-departed friend and of the huge bass we
caught together. Does it help me catch bass? Who cares? It helps me enjoy my
fishing experience.

Should a manufacturer stop making "feel good" products, or should we anglers
be made to feel like idiots for having and using them? Of course not. After
all, this is a "feel good" sport we engage in -- not one based on our need
for meat or driven entirely on effectiveness, performance, and productivity.
In the final analysis, most of us fish to relax, achieve some sort of
harmony, relieve stress, or enjoy our solitude for awhile. If rituals helps
us achieve that, then we're probably going to keep on observing them -- even
though someone correctly points out that the rituals in themselves have no
discernable effect on our quarry.

If an angler feels like smearing his body with rotton shad and earthworms,
aligning the equipment just so on his boat deck, coating his baits with
scented oils, painting his face blue, and chanting Gaelic war songs as he
leaves the ramp and he thinks any of this will help him achieve his
objectives, I say more power to him.... sit back and enjoy the show.

Now.... about endorsements. Repeat after me.... "It's all entertainment."

TV news.... entertainment. TV news reporting is not about the pursuit of
truth, but about ratings. Ratings drive profits, and entertainment value
drive ratings.

Bass tournaments and all other sports.... entertainment.

Product placements.... entertainment.

Technological advancements in fishing gear, electronics, boats and
motors.... entertainment.

Pros don't sell products; mostly they sell dreams. They sell "be like me."
Remember "I wanna be like Mike"? Five foot-eight inch me wearing a Chicago
Bulls jersey and Nikes had absolutely no chance of dunking a basketball,
much less playing in the NBA, but who cares? I may buy some Kelly
Springfield tires for my pickup one of these days. Think they'll help me
catch bass like Hank Parker? Should I put the battery in my boat that Jimmy
Houston has in his? Would it help to have the make of boat that Kevin Van
Dam drives. Will they help me be a better bass angler? Sure they will....
about as much as coating my baits with anise-flavored oil. My point is just
this -- a pro who is hired to promote a product or does so on his television
show is selling a dream, and people who want to buy into the dream purchase
and use the products. Should a pro prefer the brand of rod, boat, lure, or
sunscreen he's promoting? That would be nice. Do some products actually help
one catch bass. Sure they do; there is some science in this sport, after
all. But much of what we surround ourselves with in our bass fishing culture
is just there for our entertainment and amusement.

As long as you keep all this straight, I think the ethics of endorsements
becomes less of a weighty matter.

Joe