1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Fishing
›
3. Can you smell em?

A couple years ago I heard my buddy saying to another, that he can smell the fish in the water. This came from a conversation about steelhead and salmon. I'm thinking to myself, all the spawn in the river during those times, maybe.

I went to my local steelhead water about a month ago, no fish caught, no smell. I went yesterday and the stream smelled fishy. I caught a medium brown and saw a few minnows.

What's up?

The only time I've smelled fish in the water is when salmon carcasses are all over the place. But then again, my nose is more attuned to sniffing out a good cup of coffee or a wee dram of...:)

I can't say for sure with salmonids -except for the dead ones. Might be though as I've smelled largemouth bass on stillwaters -an odor something like fresh cut grass. I wonder though, whether I smell the fish, or catch the fish, first (lol).

I can't smell fish on a river unless their, like it has been stated, dead.. Now after i catch a few i can certainly smell that river from a mile away!