Oil of Rhodium

[John Milford]

I came across a picture of an old vial of this preparation and it reminded me of a little bottle of the stuff that was in amongst an assortment of old tackle I once picked up.

I dismissed it at the time as the odd sort of item that sometimes randomly finds it's way into such old collections (rather like a fascinating, decorative little multi-tool that turned out to be a manicure set* and nothing to do with fishing at all!).

However, in the case of Rhodium oil, I have since found out that it was once a popular bait additive - either added to paste or brushed onto other baits and even flies.

Apparently is has a floral, minty smell/flavour, which may have been attractive in itself, or perhaps equally helpful to mask the taint of tobacco on an angler's fingers.

Has anyone ever come across any references to it's use in old angling books - or perhaps even tried it?



PS: The suffix 'Factitious' on the label is that old ruse of using a pseudo-scientific word outside of common usage to disguise the maker declaring that the oil is synthetic or artificial!

PPS: * Perhaps this was carried by a fastidious angler who disliked the idea of dirty fingernails while fishing? (Maybe I just might put it in my tackle box, for use after I mix up groundbait! ).

[Kev D]

I don't think the Rhodium oil is for making the angler smell nice . It would certainly take a bigger vial of the stuff to have any effect on the rustic aroma of my grubby little personage .
It's actually still used as an ingredient in some scent lures for squirrel trapping .
Who knows it it really works on fish?

[Rod Fisher]

Has anyone ever come across any references to it's use in old angling books - or perhaps even tried it?

"A friend... told me a little while ago that when he lived at Stratford-on-Avon, there was an angler there who could catch quantities of roach with his scented paste ; he said he told him how to make it, and it was nothing but " oil of rhodium " that was mixed among the bread. My friend says he has been to and worked in several counties since then, and he could never do anything with it in any other river than the Avon ; in short, I don't believe in scented pastes, and I will leave the experiment of trying them to those who have more time on their hands than I have. Plain bread paste is good enough for me, when I feel inclined for a bit of paste fishing." - J. W. Martin, Float fishing and spinning in the Nottingham style

"Pastes (Scented) — — Onion, aniseed and oil of rhodium are sometimes used but are of extremely doubtful benefit. To wipe the slime from a caught fish over your paste is, however, effective. Whether this comes into the scented category I leave to the reader, with the assurance that it is much more effective than the three former scents." - E. Marshall-Hardy, Angling Ways

"Oil of rhodium, oil of heron’s foot, oil of worms, and other nostrums, were thought to have almost supernatural powers in the attraction of trout, as valerian has for Thomas cats. In this district we had an old fellow who could always take more fish than any one else during flood time. Some people said he used salmon roe, but there were others who firmly believed a few drops of oil of rhodium placed in the worm bag contributed to his success." - "Sprint", Fishing Gazette 1880

"Hook baits for carp are numerous, but a breadpaste, with a small admixture of boiled potato and sweetened with honey or powdered sugar, will answer the purpose. Let the paste be very well kneaded, doing so by working in a clean piece of linen or cotton, keeping the hands entirely from it for carp have a very keen scent, and experience tells us that a few drops of oil of rhodium is an extra attraction if worked in with the paste. The next best bait for a large carp is a small potato, three parts boiled. If you cannot procure small potatoes about the size of a full-grown Kentish cob-nut, then cut from a large one, trimming your baits with a knife to about that size and shape." - D. G. J., Fishing Gazette, 1906

It may have been an ingredient in the commercial paste baits "Stinking Gladwin" and "King's Natural Bait", both released in 1881.

[John Milford]

Excellent stuff Rod, many thanks for sharing those excerpts!

I was sure I'd seen some references to Oil of Rhodium in old books I'd read, but none I could remember specifically.

Maybe there might just be something, long forgotten, in it?

[Rod Fisher]

Maybe there might just be something, long forgotten, in it?

Baron Tcherkassov, a scientific-minded angler, satisfied himself of the effectiveness of Oil of Rhodium and flavoured pastes by using two paste-baited hooks, one flavoured and one unflavoured, tied to the same line (at the same depth) at the same time, and recording which hook fish fell to.