You have a complex tough set of questions there Matt. And I don't think there is a definitive answer to all of them. But I will give you some generalizations that could be of help to you. ...
First off, use the search feature to find many threads with good info about salmon and steelhead fishing scents. Also remember that in order for added scents to work best it's important that your hands, lures, and hook rigging are all clean. For a good fishermen's soap I use the cheapest, yet the best, by making my own. I use Lemon Joy dishwater soap diluted in half with water (for easier rinsing) with a good dose of anise extract added (from the grocery store - it has alcohol in it). This not only cleans off skin oils, in very small amounts the fish actually like this as a scent sometimes. But there are better scents. ...
I like to use factory direct purchased products such as Pro-Cure and Mike's scents, because I don't have to guess about the store shelf time they have put in. They have preservatives, but long enough time at room temperature will eventually compromise effectiveness. I also keep my scents in the fridge during season and in the freezer off season.
I will give you two of my favorite broad spectrum (means it works well in a wide range of places and conditions) scent formulas that are great for salmon, but also work well for steelhead. Baitfish version: almost half squid oil (one of the very best scents!) and almost half herring oil or Gel, with a small amount of sardine oil and a little MSG and anise oil added, and mixed really well. The new Gel versions of Mike's stays on longer than the straight oil, and is based on the same scent ingredients. Egg/crustacion version: 1/2 salmon egg juice (drained from the curing process), 1/4 shrimp oil or Gel, 1/4 crawfish oil or Gel, and to that add a small amount of MSG and anise oil (optional). These work well on both lures and baits; but use only a small amount at a time. Too much at once is not natural to the fish. For steelhead I like to keep it simpler. I often just break an egg sack from my bait container and rub the natural juice on the upper side of plugs or on such as corkies and yarn, or pink worms. The natural oil in egg juice stays on longer than you would think. The other scent I use is either shrimp oil or Gel, or crawfish, with some anise oil or Gel mixed in well. A good alternative to anise is a little vanilla extract. These work great for most steelhead; again, in small amounts.
As for "matching the hatch" for scents so-to-speak, I think that's fine; although not necessary. I used to make my own smelt scent for Kwikfish for spring Chinook fishing, because they eat them on their way up the lower Columbia (check the stomachs of early season springers for them). I would filet off mostly the meat and add it to Spectrum brand Flax Oil and a small amount of sodium sulfite (as a preservative, and the salt smell they like) in a blender and puree it. I used it on Kwikfish, plugs, and spinners with effectiveness. But I found that it wasn't any better than the above 'baitfish' version formula, that is much easier to attain and make. I've thought of doing the same for fall salmon the last couple years with candle fish. They have been thick in the stomachs of Chinooks and silvers coming into Tillamook Bay, Bouy 10, and other areas. How about you go out with a smelt net and scoop up a bunch of candle fish to make home made salmon fishing scent? And let us know the results.
As for what scent to start with, I usually have dialed into what works best on particular fish strains to a degree. When that doesn't work I try something different. You should vary your scents in any given river, or even any given hole, to give fish the 'change up' - just like you would give them the lure or color change up to help induce more strikes. Also try lures, and especially baits, without any scent added.
Another thing to consider for salmon fishing is using various solvents. The most common one used is WD40. Many fishers speculate that the fish like the smell of it. That may be so. But recent studies by some fish biologists speculate they don't really smell petro distillate molecules. I find that hard to believe; given their great olfactory senses. However, either way, I also believe it's the oil dispersal effect of the solvent action of WD40 that releases more of the natural oils of baits that accounts for some of it's effectiveness. On lures it cleans off and/or covers human scent for effectiveness there. Here's a tip: there are a lot of different types of solvents out there that you should be experimenting with! I won't reveal the best couple of them. I also theorize that the fish don't always strike because they like certain scents - I think that some of them on occasion strike because certain scents may irritate them into wanting to rid their hole of it. That would help explain some of the radical things that help make fish strike. ... Keep up the research.
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