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When it comes to perch fishing, particularly in challenging conditions like coloured water, having that extra edge can make all the difference. Enter HookSure Bait Attractants, designed to boost your lures with enticing scents and flavours that could just be the difference between a blank day and a productive session. Among the range of attractants available (and what this review mainly focusses on), the Shrimp, Liquorice & Garlic flavour stands out as a unique blend that aims to trigger both the predatory and opportunistic feeding instincts of perch.
Flavour Profiles and Science Behind Them
The Shrimp, Liquorice & Garlic combination may sound unusual, but there’s a method to the madness. Shrimp is a natural prey item for many predators, and its scent is proven to stimulate feeding. Garlic, a staple in carp and predator bait for years, has a strong, pungent aroma that cuts through murky water, making it ideal for coloured or turbid conditions. Liquorice, while less common, is thought to provide a sweet undertone that contrasts the sharper notes of garlic, creating a multi-layered scent profile that appeals to a fish’s senses.
What HookSure Bait Attractants flavours are available?
Each HookSure Bait Attractant (HBA) has been meticulously developed with specific predatory species in mind. This review focuses on the attractants most likely to appeal to predator fish. Those looking to explore the full range of HBAs can find them here. Below is a breakdown of the key flavour profiles and their intended target predator species:
- Sardine, Squid, Garlic & Salmon – Ideal for predatory species such as Pike, Perch, Zander, Cod, Bass, Pollock, Dogfish, Smoothhound and Whiting. This combination delivers a powerful, fishy scent enhanced by garlic for maximum appeal across multiple predator species.
- Shrimp, Liquorice & Garlic – Ideal for predatory species such as Trout, Salmon, Perch and Zander. This blend combines natural prey scents with garlic’s sharpness and a touch of liquorice sweetness for a multi-layered attraction.
- Cheese, Garlic & Halibut – Ideal for Chub, Catfish, Pike, Zander, Cod, Dogfish and Whiting. This unique mix combines cheese and halibut’s oily richness with garlic’s proven effectiveness to draw in large, scent-oriented predators.
- Mussel, Vanilla & Black Pepper – Ideal for predatory species such as Perch, Cod, Mackeral and Catfish. This blends the flavour of mussels with subtle vanilla sweetness and a hint of peppery spice, providing a sophisticated scent trail.
This carefully curated range caters to a variety of fishing scenarios, allowing you to select the attractant that best matches your target species and water conditions. Whether you’re chasing perch in coloured water or targeting pike in clear lakes, there’s a HookSure attractant designed to give you an edge.
What Exactly is Hooksure Bait Attractant?
The HookSure Bait Attractant comes in a convenient twist-up tube, similar to a lip balm, making it easy to use and incredibly practical for lure anglers. The attractant itself is a soft, waxy formula packed with powerful scents and flavours, designed to be applied directly to your hook or lure.
Unlike liquid attractants, HookSure’s wax-based formula is far less messy, offering a clean and efficient way to enhance your lures. Its pocket-sized design makes it easy to carry on the bank, and the gradual release of flavour—not just odour—ensures long-lasting effectiveness.
Say goodbye to those freezing mornings where applying liquid attractants leaves you with sticky hands, drenched lures, and stained clothes. With HookSure, you get a mess-free, reliable application every time—perfect for anglers who value simplicity and performance.
The Benefits of Lure Attractants
Lure attractants like HookSure aren’t just about masking human scents or adding a touch of appeal—they’re about creating confidence. When fishing in less-than-ideal conditions, such as murky water or during slow bite windows, adding a proven scent to your lure could tip the odds in your favour. The attractant effectively transforms otherwise scentless lures into sensory triggers, amplifying their appeal to predatory fish like perch.
Scientific studies support the idea that fish respond to chemical cues in the water. Predators often rely on a mix of sight, vibration, and scent to locate prey, especially in poor visibility. Adding an attractant can help lure fish closer, giving you more opportunities to provoke a strike.
My Experience with HookSure Bait Attractants
I’ve primarily used the Shrimp, Liquorice & Garlic attractant, but the Sardine, Squid & Garlic & Salmon tube has also seen its fair share of action. Both flavours, in my opinion, are particularly well-suited to targeting perch. My journey with these attractants began during a period when my local river was running relatively clear with a steady flow. More recently, however, consistent rainfall has caused water levels to rise, leaving the river at its murkiest. In these challenging conditions, I’ve found bait attractants to be more useful than ever.
It’s important to note that, in both scenarios, the greatest benefit of the attractant has been the confidence it provides me. In clear water, where sight and vibration play a dominant role, the attractant adds an extra dimension by introducing taste and scent into the mix. In murky conditions, it feels even more essential, as it offers a new layer of attraction that can help a hungry perch locate the lure and commit to a bite.
While it’s nearly impossible to quantify the exact impact these attractants have on the fish without side-by-side testing, the effect on my mindset is undeniable. Knowing my lures are enhanced with scent and flavour allows me to fish with greater belief in my presentation—and that confidence alone is worth its weight in gold.
Did it Catch any More Fish?
The honest answer is, I don’t know. And when you really think about it, it’s nearly impossible to determine—even in a controlled, scientific setting—whether a single perch is more attracted to your lure with or without HookSure applied. You can’t catch a fish, release it, and then re-catch it but this time with an attractant applied. It’s simply not feasible.
That said, I’ve used HookSure during some tough sessions where a blank felt inevitable but finally caught when HookSure has been applied. On other occasions, when I’ve been catching perch consistently, I haven’t seen any noticeable increase in catch rate when HookSure has been applied. There are far too many variables to say for certain, and I think it’s only fair to be transparent with you and the manufacturers of HookSure.
As I mentioned earlier, the real benefit of an attractant is that it gives you an added edge—one that can be difficult to gain in most lure fishing situations. The simple act of adding a flavour and scent profile to your lure is, at the very least, a confidence booster. And as any experienced angler knows, when confidence is high, you tend to fish better, and often, that translates into more bites and better results. For that reason alone, I’d recommend trying an attractant on your lures.
Another standout feature of HookSure is its unique twist-up tube design. Unlike many liquid attractants, this format means less mess, quicker application, and less hassle—particularly when you’re fishing in cold conditions. This convenience, in itself, makes it a real asset and one I’ll continue to keep using.
Conclusion of HookSure Bait Attractants
While we may never truly know how much of a perch’s decision to bite is influenced by scent alone, the confidence that HookSure Bait Attractants instil in your fishing makes them well worth a try. For the price of a couple of cheap lures, you get the peace of mind that your setup is giving you the best chance of success. If you’re game for upping your percentages, particularly in tough conditions, HookSure is a no-brainer. After all, in angling, every little edge counts.
