Have you tried speed? Sometimes just burning lures in will get you strikes.

Maybe they are trying to get a sence of the taste or useing those sensory pores under their jaw.Just another way the apex predator stays alive.

I call this the Webster syndrome…..Webster Its nothing to get 50 plus follows. But the fish have been pounded 24-7 almost 365 days.

Murray Isnt the size of lake of the woods or vermillion, the limited number of muskies that are in there has seen every muskie lure tossed , and more then likely been recycled three or more times…So even a pea sized muskie brain starts to get a little educated.
Todd

I could change my deodorant…

I've noticed this happening on Ovid, too. And the last few fish I've hooked (they all got off 😡 ) have been tentative on their strikes. I've seen them just nip at the last hook, or take the lure slowly and gently rather than with a quick, hard chomp. They all seem pretty wary of biting down on anything right now.

"Hamilton Reef" said:
hemichemi could cover up his L-serine amino acid with WD40.

I dunno… I'm so backward, I think all my serine is D- !

Here's an interesting tidbit that makes some sense:
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Scientists found that trout and salmon react to the L-serine found on wolf and bear paws and seal skin. Trout and salmon frequently spawn on shallow shoals where wolves and bears may attack them. So these fish species instinctively avoid L-serine. Human skin also produces L-serine that can scare trout and salmon.
As of this writing there is no known scientific study, however, that shows bass react negatively to L-serine or any other chemical produced by humans.

Predators that produce L-serine or other humanlike odors seldom attack bass underwater. Bas may learn to fear human scents only in waters where catch-and-release is frequently practiced, but such avoidance could become instinctive only after many generations of natural selection.

Scents may tempt bass to hold artificial lures a few seconds longer to taste them, or perhaps scents stimulate feeding. But human L-serine isn’t naturally feared by bass and doesn’t need to be masked.

Likely, this pertains to muskies as well as bass.

This is bolstered by this article, which states that Esocids are less scent-aware than many other FW gamefish:

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Fish are a weird bunch. Some have a finely tuned sense of smell, while others seem to have a bad case of sinus congestion. The initial scent of a lure can attract a fish in from a distance, but that all depends on what you are targeting. On a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the most sensitive sense of smell) here are some examples of common gamefish:

9-10– Catfish and Shark
7-8 — Carp
6-7 — Salmon and Trout
5 — Bass and Walleye
1-2 — Pike and Muskie

As you can see, the addition of scent can attract a fish (such as a catfish or carp) to your bait long before they ever see it or sense it's movement. When dealing with pike or muskie, however, scent is only useful when they have already made visual contact and are just about to strike.

In any event, I'm gonna be washing my hands before fishing, and after dousing myself with sunscreen or DEET.