Pre script.

This article was written as part 'tongue in cheek' response to that well respected angling author, Peter Wheat, and his misadventures with that rather pungent flavour, Monster Crab (Rancid Rita). The article was again included in The Barbel Fisher (The Barbel Society's internal magazine), for which I had written at the beginning of June - six months in advance of the autumn issue.

Just prior to the magazine's release on November 9^th 2001, a new concept of Pheromone additives became available and, rather excitedly, I look forward to giving them a try. In the event that I find them consistently effective, as with every other product I feel warrants a little 'free' endorsement, a review will follow sustained results. Until then, I will refrain from further comment or promotion of the product name.

In addition, soon I hope to begin testing a band new bait-runner reel from a manufacturer I have only just been made aware existed. At the time I began writing my book (The Ultimate Big Barbel Experience), I felt that serious competition for that well-known manufacturer's bait-runners was thin on the ground. I have a feeling that matter is about to be re-dressed. The rest of my season could well prove to be interesting. I hope you enjoy the read!

Females and Pheromones

(Serious Developments give us true values)

By Steve Stayner

For the benefit of readers requiring an introduction: pheromones are defined as a substance secreted and released by an animal for detection and response by another – often as a precursor to mating, nooky, rumpy-pumpy, or whatever you prefer. I like em all!

Though secretion of pheromones is common to all animals, completely different pheromones are emitted by both sexes, giving every individual male and female of each species its very own unique aroma from which it can be recognised.

Elementary my dear Watson.

Perhaps the most remarkable factor of all is that, of the many different aromas commonly associated to any individual species in which the sexes are otherwise identical, comes instant recognition by one that the other is either male or female.

Given these facts, we don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that each individual male and female of all species must share at least one individualistically common and genetically programmed pheromone from which its gender is distinguished. In other words, no matter how disgustingly bad or appealingly sweet one may smell at any given time, he or she still remains identifiable by a ‘common to that species’ sex pheromone.

Although any response is usually directed by the animal toward members of the same species, many anglers believe that lots of different species of fish actually home-in on food items containing only the merest trace of pheromones from ‘human’ females. It seems the smell of us blokes is thought to repel. (I’ll leave any comments for the ladies.)

Is it merely conjecture?

Sceptics may argue that such a theory is based only on the grounds of conjecture. However, as the number of male anglers far outweighs the number of females, the odds against a woman capturing the biggest fish of the day, or trouncing her male counterparts in competition, appear considerably high and a fairly safe bet.

Don’t bank on it, though, because you may well lose, as there’s mounting evidence which points to the contrary. And the fact that so much of this evidence stems from the world of ‘fluff-flinging’ (fly-fishing) and spinning makes it even more interesting.

Statistics show that considerably large pike, trout and salmon fall to the ‘lure’ of the lady angler with uncanny regularity - particularly on those occasions that the women are accompanied and outnumbered by male anglers.

Coincidence?

Coincidence perhaps! But, more intriguing evidence indicates that on those occasions the male angler’s lure is merely touched by the hand of a woman, the likelihood of him catching increases considerably. How can I resist the temptation to spell out what most readers are probably thinking? ‘That a man’s flies become instantly more appealingly enhanced when caressed by the hand of a woman.’ Some may be even more interested to hear that the same applies to maggots as well.

Others, however, may be alarmed to hear that the physical appearance of any such female is totally irrelevant to the power of her secreted allure. Whether she carries the desperately needy charms of a well-built s**t-house or the welcome-homely appeal of the enchanting Meg Ryan, she will have the same effect on the bit we are dangling.

Perhaps I should give readers a brief and completely true account of how a lady (whom, at the time, was sitting on the bank behind her stick-float fishing husband) once told me ‘she’d handled her spouse’s maggots for years.’ She then proceeded to inform me that ‘they both believed this had a positive effect, and that on those occasions she touched them he never blanked!’

Amazing revelations.

She then went on to amaze my son, Ashley, and I by giving us a close-up demonstration. I think this surprised her husband considerably more than us, because no sooner had she grabbed a big bunch to mess around with than his rod bent round like a banana. Oddly enough, he seemed to derive enormous pleasure from the moment. Maybe as a result that his rod had actually bent under the pressure of the umpteenth Barbel he had hooked during the one session.

Further revelations uncovered that the Barbel would not take any bait presented anywhere near the bottom of the 5ft deep swim; the fish preferring to rise to a depth a little less than half of this. Frenzied and extremely competitive feeding, indeed, and behaviour seldom witnessed by many Barbel anglers with a preference to float-fish. However, this chap was certainly no stranger to the rising Barbel. He then divulged that such happenings were quite common to him – providing and only on those occasions his wife was there to work her little bit of what he called ‘her maggot-magic.’ He was convinced that the Barbel were cajoled to respond by the scent of her pheromones and, from where Ashley and I were standing, it looked every bit as though he was probably right.

Although I won't go into detail of how I obtained such specialist knowledge, I understand that the scent from a woman’s most intimate place is what the Barbel and most of the human male population appear to hold most sacred. I now have visions of many readers rummaging around the right area with added interest, whilst others a little slower on the uptake may be found ransacking their wife’s or girlfriend's handbag for that bottle of Chanel No5.

Serious developments give us true values.

Once we dispense with the humour, the seriousness of the subject reveals the foundations for considerable debate. I won’t pretend that I’m the first to write on the subject either. This is merely my own effort to revive interest in a theme that appears a little forgotten this side of the Atlantic Ocean. It seems our American friends are still as largely into pheromones as they ever were.

They obviously recognise the potential value involved with the subject and, as I understand it, are endeavouring to reproduce the appropriate pheromones artificially. This is something the Yanks have done for a few years now, but it appears that new research may have revealed a more accurately produced chemical copy; more details of which may be available in the coming months. Meanwhile, we’ll have to remain content with the real thing – though bottling it might cause us a few problems!

Perhaps the truest value of such developments from a non-sceptical point of view is the potential for added attraction to the bait additives one may already use.

Barbel anglers keen to dabble will have little difficulty imagining how flavours once thought of as past their prime – maybe even completely blown – could be given a new lease of life. Even additives that we believed to be as good as they could possibly get may be boosted by an added attraction; perhaps, further sustaining the period of their effectiveness had they remained ‘pheromone-free.’

Over the years I’ve become a consistent dabbler in the field of additives and, as I’m sure readers have already guessed, have little doubt that female pheromones offer tremendous potential for taking our concoctions a giant step further.

I believe the longevity of any classic Barbel flavour’s effectiveness depends on a number of important factors. Though not in any particular order, these include aroma, taste, potency (any variance of which may depend on the dosage used at any given time) and potential food-value. Perhaps herein lies the biggest factor of all, for at the heart of every single additive ever claimed responsible for capturing the same fish repeatedly we will find food value. Re-captures give the earliest indication of any additive's efficiency, and on those occasions our choice of flavour is found to emit very little, if indeed any, food value, it will rarely tempt the same fish more than once or twice. (This once or twice resulting from the likelihood that the fish initially liked the smell and the taste.)

The true capacity of any liquid concoction depends on its potential to adequately disperse its contents through the water. It must be based on a carrier that allows maximum solubility to occur throughout a varying range of temperatures, and along with a Barbel-attractive aroma should come traces of amino and organic acids, which further enhance its nutritional appeal. Once these are combined with an appealing flavour, the potential for yet another classic additive is born. Add to that the equation of pheromones, and the potential could well be there to prolong its effective existence!

Steve Stayner

Copyright Ó 2001 Steve Stayner.