Does scent on soft plastics really matter?

It matters — but at the end of the strike, not the beginning. Smell and taste rarely trigger a largemouth to attack; what scent and salt measurably do is extend how long the fish holds the bait before spitting it, often turning a spat-out worm into a hookset. On slow presentations where the fish has time to taste — Texas rigs, wacky worms, jigs — that extra second is real money. On fast reaction baits it is nearly irrelevant.

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