Best Way to Waterproof Cotton Canvas?

[Ebbtide]

Waterproof is a double edge sword.
It'll keep water and dampness in as well.
Keep an eye on your tackle.

I surf fished with a cotton canvas bag for years.
Got it wet, let it dry.
All the lures in it were going to get wet anyway

 

[Guyon]

Waterproof is a double edge sword.
It'll keep water and dampness in as well.
Keep an eye on your tackle.

I surf fished with a cotton canvas bag for years.
Got it wet, let it dry.
All the lures in it were going to get wet anyway

Sound advice. I often get a little water in my small Plano utility boxes, either from condensation or from the lures. I usually just open them up and lay them on my passenger seat on the way home. By the time I hit the driveway, they've usually dried out nicely. If not, I put them on the tailgate for a while.

Some pics follow. The bag does keep everything in a nice compact package, and the five Plano boxes fit perfectly. But the Thompson's still smells. I'm going to leave the bag outside again tonight.

 

[Ebbtide]

I've often looked at those bags.
Sure looks like it works.
Charlie Brewer Slider fishin!
Caught bunches of fish using slider heads

I'd make sure all the smell is out before you put your baits in there.
While I don't use scents anymore, I do believe there are negative scents that should be avoided.
Gas, Oil, Deet, to name a few.
Oddly, I've had no negative experiences with WD40.

 

[Guyon]

I've often looked at those bags.
Sure looks like it works.
Charlie Brewer Slider fishin!
Caught bunches of fish using slider heads

I'd make sure all the smell is out before you put your baits in there.
While I don't use scents anymore, I do believe there are negative scents that should be avoided.
Gas, Oil, Deet, to name a few.
Oddly, I've had no negative experiences with WD40.

I had the same thought. The bag is outside. The lures are in the house.

You can combat negative scents with all the sprays and dips they have for lures now. My uncles dips just about everything plastic in that garlic stuff they sell at Walmart. Says the fish hold on longer.

 

[Ebbtide]

When I fished a couple hundred days a year, my bud and I really worked out the scent thing.
Fish Formula, Dr Juice, Bunker Oil and a whole bunch more.
In the end we really didn't think it made *that* much of a difference.
One would use it & the other wouldn't. We'd alternate roles on different trips.

Then again we would work the "fight or flight" response in the bass more than trying to 'feed' them. I think they call it "Power Fishing" now

As for holding on longer...I think (no slight on anyone here) what ever makes you more confident, go for it.

 

[Guyon]

As for holding on longer...I think (no slight on anyone here) what ever makes you more confident, go for it.

You do have to have confidence in your gear. :thumbup:

I tried to explain this concept to a kayak buddy. He and I will sometime float and fish a stretch and use the same lure.

I'll catch 30 fish. He'll catch 1 or 2.

A big part of it is presentation, but the other smaller but important part that contributes, I believe, is simply confidence.

I just believe I'm going to catch fish with that lure, mainly because of past successes.

 

[Guyon]

As for the holding on longer, I think there may be something to it.

If you've ever fished for spotted bass, you'll know that they have a very soft bite, much harder to detect than a largemouth. Nothing like the aggressive bite of a striped bass. Spots will pick up a lure and spit it out before you even realize you had a fish. Sometimes, you'll get a tiny little tap, and that's it.

If the "flavor" or scent gains you an extra second or two, it's worth it. And my uncle catches more spots than anybody I've seen. I have trouble outfishing him, and I've been at it all my life. He'll catch a limit on you before you've even caught two or three.

 

[Ebbtide]

Confidence and a good sense of touch.

ETA: never caught a spot.
If you deadstick a worm or slow fish a jig or shake a finesse worm I'm sure it could make a difference.
I don't have the patients to fish that way.
I get right in his living room and push him into a corner.
Kill it now or run away.
I fish for biters

At the one and only fishing show in Javits Center, they had a tank the size of a semi trailer.
A pro was doing a demo and I saw a 8lb largemouth hit and spit a crankbait. The pro never stopped reeling (he was talking, demo'ing the lure) and never felt it.
Saw it on TV as well.

Sometimes the fish win

 

[Guyon]

If you always caught 'em, they'd call it catching instead of fishing.

Yeah, he fishes a lot of soft plastics really slowly. Even in cold weather when the fish move like molasses.

Drives me crazy sometimes. Was that a rock? A limb? A fish?

He's gotten good enough that he has a second sense about it. Meanwhile, I'm setting my hook every 15 seconds on nothing but water.

 

[Ebbtide]

Meanwhile, I'm setting my hook every 15 seconds on nothing but water.

Or, like me, fishing firetail worms, having the bluegills pick it up by the tail and run off with it.
I could spend a whole day setting the hook on nothing

I bet your uncle is a line watcher.
That can really make a huge difference.
You'll see the line twitch but never feel a thing.
That takes some determination though

 

[Loosearrow]

Years ago I treated a diamond fly with thompsons water seal. Brought it inside the house to dry. Stunk up the place had to move it outdoors. Made it heavy but has worked for years now.