The arguement of which scent is best could probably last forever. That's not the point of this post. I'm interested in how you select what scent to use when. Do you always start off with your favorite scent (custom mixture?), and then use scents that mimic what is in the river? Let's use smelt for example. They are thick in the rivers, (I don't know if salmon/steelhead eat smelt, but I would think so) so why not use smelt scent? Likewise, if your fishing during a crawfish hatch (term?), why not use crawfish scent? Do you use herring, sardine, squid scents all the time, or do you base it upon what happens to be in the largest numbers or how fast the fish are migrating upriver? When do you know what to use on what day? When do you decide to use unnatural scents (to the river), like anise? Is it based upon the alignment of the solar system? Give me some pointers, tips, advice, you name it, please.

Matt