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Lure Review


It's a Top Secret... the AminoGel Trout attractant has arrived from Europe
 

Date: 11/24/02
Tackle type: Lure
Manufacturer: Top Secret
Reviewer: JIP






Total Score: 6.83

Introduction: A new fish attractant makes its way to North America. It does not come in a spray can or in a dough or paste, instead the Top Secret AminoGel Trout fishing scent comes in a powder form that is designed to stick onto any damp surface.  But just as with many fish attractants out in the market, there is still great debate on whether they work or not. TackleTour takes this unique powder attractant into the field for further understanding of it's performance.

 

Top Secret AminoGel Trout Specifications

Attractant Base 7 available
Type Powder
Package Jar
Weight 1.4 oz.
MSRP $5.99


About Top Secret: The company is led by Top Secret's President Willi Baumeister, and is headquartered in Germany, they have been in the non-living fishing bait business for over 20 years. Highly popular throughout Europe with approximately 800 different products, Top Secret is now being introduced in North America with two unique attractants called AminoGel and Diamonds.  

  

Impressions: Have you ever took a sniff of any fish attractant?  Well, it's not recommended.  They are made for fish, not for Anglers. But our editors were curious to see how they smelled. While unpacking the AminoGel Trout scents the scent was robust, it's fish attractant all right.  It smelled like... gosh, I can't even explain it.  Maybe something a fish would be attracted to, but not to a human being.

  

Top Secret's AminoGel Trout powder is packaged into a jar with a double lid to prevent any accidental spills or escape of odor

  

Top Secret produces 7 unique AminoGel Trout fishing scents that all come in powder form.  AminoGel is formulated from a combination of minerals, protein, amino acids, and the main active ingredients of milt and roe.  Nicely packed in jars, the types of Trout scents come in different colors and contains glitter particles.  The AminoGel Trout scents come in these flavors: Liver, Salmon Egg, Herring, Cheese, Trout, Maggot, and Garnele Luminos.

  

The AminoGel Trout Salmon Egg scent is brightly colored.  Also notice the glitter that's mixed with the powder

  
Field Tests: Most of the attractants you buy nowadays have been through many hours of research and lab tests by the manufacturer.  But even with the study that has been conducted by the maker of the scent, there are still a lot of controversy among Anglers of all level.  Do fish attractants really work?  Does it entice more strikes when fishing with it?  That's what we will try to find out with Top Secret's AminoGel Trout used on lure hooks while fishing for different types of trout.

  

Simply dampen your lure hook, dip the hook into the powder, and take it out.  This is how it would look like after the first application of the AminoGel powder

 
How to Use: Using the AminoGel Trout attractant is quite simple.  There are instructions on Top Secret's site and on the jar, but this is the best way to apply the powder onto the hooks, bait, and even flies. Just dampen where you want the AminoGel to stick to, then dip it into the jar.  After the initial application, stick the hook with the AminoGel back into the water before casting.  This will ensure that the powder on the outside becomes properly gelatinized.  If you desire more on your bait or hook, repeat the process.

  

Notice the dry powder on the surface has not gelatinized yet [left].  After a dip into the water it's ready to go [right]

  
Does it Stick?: Maybe the question should be how well does the AminoGel Trout stick onto your hook and bait. One of the best features about the Top Secret powder scent is that it will bond to anything....I mean everything, after it is properly dampened in liquid.

  

After many casts and catching this trout there was still plenty of AminoGel on the hook for your next fish

  

When applied correctly, the AminoGel Trout attractant remains on the hook cast after cast, and even after you have landed a trout or two.  Over ten casts and two hookups, the AminoGel was still present on the hook.  Some of it did fall off, but there was still enough to fish again.  If you desire more, just simply reapply.

  
How well did  the AminoGel Trout work?: As Anglers we have those really good days, and we have those days where we catch one fish or none at all.  On good days you can catch trout on almost anything you throw at it.  One of those good days while fishing with Panther Martin lures in a river for trout was very productive with and without the Top Secret AminoGel Trout.  But here's the difference that was noted.  As we all know, when a lure is scented, fish tend to hold onto the lure longer before it figures out that it's not food and spit it out. (i.e.: scented plastics used for Bass fishing)

    

While retrieving the inline spinner many trout chased it taking small nips at the end of the lure.  When stopped and allowed to fall to the bottom they would just look at it or turn around and dart away. There was an instance where a trout did nibble at the lure when moved slightly, this was without the Top Secret attractant.  The same experiment was conducted in the same situation, but this time the AminoGel Trout in the Maggot scent was applied to the hook.  This time a trout picked up the lure from the bottom of the river and the fish was hooked.  It could be due to the AminoGel, or it could be that this trout was hungrier than the previous one which didn't take the lure.  During the same outing the amount of fish caught were about the same with or without the Top Secret.

  

This Brookie was caught on a Panther Martin spinner with Top Secret's AminoGel Trout applied on the hook

  

The AminoGel Trout can also be used to fish for Steelheads and works well with the Glo-Bug Eggs. The Salmon Egg flavor is preferred here and apply the powder the same was as explained above.  The weight of the AminoGel actually helps the egg stay near the bottom of the river where you want the fly to be.  Steelies will spit the fly out faster than you can get a good hook set.  With the AminoGel Trout Salmon Egg flavor, this might help the success rate in landing more Steelheads since the fact that the fish will hold onto a scented bait longer.

  

The Top Secret fish attractant doesn't only create a scent to lure fish in, but it also targets the trout's sight by the glitter particles mixed in with the bright color of the powder. The glitter does help get the fish's attention, just like the flashes produced by gold and silver spinning blades.

  
Ratings:

AminoGel Trout Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality A mixture of natural ingredients to form a scent to attract fish.  The addition of glitter and the brightly colored powder adds to the overall quality  8
Performance Performance is still debatable.  The same amount of fish were caught, but in some specific instances the lure with the AminoGel Trout was able to entice the fish to strike 5
Price Priced higher than other fish attractants, but it's something new from Europe 5
Features The addition of glitter particles targets the fish's sight as a visual attractant 7.5
Design (Ergonomics) Brightly colored and a strong natural scent is crucial in this form as a fish attractant 7.5
Application Versatile.  The AminoGel Trout powder can be used for all types of trout, including Steelheads.  The ability to be able to stick to anything after it's dampened is a big plus 8

Total Score

6.83


Pluses and Minuses:

                 Plus                                    Minus

J Sticks to anything L Performance not 100% conclusive
J A fish attractant that targets multiple senses  
J Simple to use  


Conclusion: Some people are true believers of fishing scents while others think they are just a joke.  Many hours of research and tests in the lab by manufacturers have brought them to produce natural scents that actually attract fish, and are designed to spur aggressiveness in fish causing more strikes; at least in the lab tanks.  We at TackleTour always like to run thorough tests and never rush to any conclusions unless we have hard evidence.  After many days of experiments using the Top Secret AminoGel Trout fish attractants, the number of fish caught with and without the AminoGel was about the same, but in some specific test the trout did take the lure with the fish attractant applied.  Further experiments will be required before we can draw an absolute conclusion. What we do know is that the Top Secret won't hurt your chances of catching fish, and it does add another visual element to lure presentation that fish seem to be partial to. When you do have those tough days on the water applying some Top Secret may improve the odds in landing something depending on the conditions. We will keep you updated as we conduct more long term tests on various species.


 

   

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