Fact or myth

[NICK R]

Does WD40 improve your hookbaits ,when sprayed on them

[Portland Pirate]

I read an article in Sea Angler a few years ago that claimed it improved catches. So I decided to try it both from the shore and from my boat.
I tried it over ten trips. I used 2 rods with identical rigs and baits. I targeted different species such as Wrasse, Pout, Dogfish, Bream and Plaice. All this was done on Chesil Beach from the shore and from the boat on the Shambles and around Portland.

For species such as Wrasse and Bream the hook ups were considerably less on WD40 sprayed baits. For Pout and Plaice no preference and for Dogfish they seemed to prefer the WD40. During the trial I did catch a thornback on the WD40 sprayed bait and a 14lb Bull Huss and a Tope on the non sprayed bait, but as they were not regular catches I could not say if either of those could be conclusive results.

So if you are in a match and want to bag up on Dogfish then give it a squirt. If not then I personally wouldn't bother. just be aware some competitions ban the use of bait additives of any sort.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

It was true but Im sure theyve replaced some of the natural oil now with man made making it less effective