Will DEET bug spray hurt my pike lures, line and leaders — what repellent should pike anglers buy?
Buy 20 % picaridin lotion or wipes — mainly to protect your tackle. DEET is a plasticizer: it softens and hazes monofilament, soft plastics and lure paint, and Keith Jones's Berkley research found bass strongly repelled by it at about one part per million. Picaridin does not attack plastics. Treat clothing with permethrin at home and let it dry — never at the water, because it is highly toxic to fish while wet. In black-fly country a head net and a Thermacell-type unit keep repellent off the hands entirely. For pike on moving lures the scent cost is probably small, since the strike is visual. The gear cost is real: painted spoons and jerkbaits, big soft swimbaits, and the mono or fluorocarbon leader you trust against teeth. Wire shrugs DEET off; the line tied to it does not. Dead-bait anglers should treat DEET as they would fuel.
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This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Smell & Taste
- Why is dead bait so deadly for pike if they are sight hunters?
- Do scents and attractants on lures make a difference for pike?
- Can pike smell danger — does handling scent on bait matter?
- Do I need a special sunscreen for pike fishing, or is scent-free sunscreen overkill for northern pike?
- How do I fix pike-chewed soft swimbaits and tooth-marked hard baits — which glue, and does glue smell matter to pike?
Same topic, other species
- What glue keeps crappie tubes and jig bodies on the hook, and does glue smell turn crappie off? — Crappie
- Does scent on soft plastics really matter? — Largemouth Bass
- How do I repair torn muskie rubber baits and tooth-damaged wooden muskie lures — which glue holds? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- What bug spray won't ruin tiny perch plastics and light line — is DEET a problem for yellow perch fishing? — Yellow Perch
- Does sunscreen on my hands scare smallmouth bass, and which sunscreen should I buy? — Smallmouth Bass
- Does DEET bug spray damage fly line and scare trout — what insect repellent should trout anglers use? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- What glue should I use on walleye jigs, paddletail plastics and crankbaits, and will the smell hurt the walleye bite? — Walleye