Smelly Jelly — “This Stuff Stinks!”

Man does this stuff stink — and that’s a good thing. Anyone who has not opened up a jar of Smelly Jelly and taken a big whiff, be aware . . . it will knock you out.

I first tried Smelly Jelly after getting my butt waxed by my amateur partner in a Lake Erie tournament. He was consistently catching larger fish than I was even though we were using the exact same baits. He didn’t tell me that he was using SJ until real late in the tournament. When I started using it, I was able to cull out the small fish I had and increase my limit to 15 pounds. Since this day, my lures are always coated with SJ.

My recommendations for its use are as follows:

• If the lure is a crawfish imitator or the fish are on a crawfish feed or any time I am fishing for smallmouth bass (except when using a jiggin’ spoon) I use the Pro-guide Crawdaddy formula.
• If the lure is imitating shad or the fish are on a shad feed and when using a jiggin’ spoon for smallmouth, I use the Bassfeast since it is a shad based scent.
• In darker water (stained to muddy) or on very overcast, rainy days, I use the Bass2000 formula, which is a crawdad/garlic mix. This formula can also be used similar to the Crawdaddy formula. I believe that in stained to muddy water conditions that the garlic smell helps tremendously.

While most anglers only apply scent to soft plastics, I have found that SJ can really make a hard bait come alive. Its consistency is similar to petroleum jelly and really stays on hard baits. Ever have a bass follow a crankbait only to turn away at the last minute? Coat that baby with some SJ and odds are that fish goes in the livewell.

With soft plastics, I've found that SJ not only makes the bait smell better, but it also makes them slide through vegetation and cover much better.

For more information on Smelly Jelly or any of the other Catcher Company products, feel free to e-mail me.