28 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



fish flesh, causing it to " hang on " and fish longer, rather 

 than because the oil was so attractive. 



There is no evidence that shorts prefer a different bait 

 than do larger lobsters. This statement is based on the 

 records of LobLure, which listed the number of each size 

 caught with each bait. 



Any bait that is too decayed becomes " sour " and * * 

 will not fish at all. Similarly, a netted bait bag will be- 

 come " sour " after several fishings, and must be scrub- 

 bed out and sunned. It will not fish even if loaded with 

 fresh bait. 



Most lobstermen believe that a storm will affect a 

 a lobster's feeding habits. They note that even during 

 summer lobsters' appetites seem to fail at times, but 

 that after a storm they will again come into pots. It is 

 thought that the agitation of storm waves shakes them 

 out of their lethargy. 



Lobsters need a change in diet. When fishing is poor, 

 a change in the kind of bait will often correct the trouble. 



A moderate amount of salt in any bait does not affect 

 its attractiveness. 



Fish heads are good bait. And most of the blood of a 

 fish is in its head. Is this significant? 



Lobsters need lime from which to build their shells. 

 It is reported by Herrick that a newly molted lobster will 

 eat its own cast, or gorge on shell fragments to replenish 

 this lime. Phosphorus exists in large quantities in lobsters. 

 In hot weather, when a dead lobster ceases to be fresh, it 

 exhibits a highly phosphorescent appearance similar to that 

 of a glowworm. It is probably caused by the chemical 

 changes in the lobster flesh and is a slow combustion by oxy- 

 gen. Goode reports (Fisheries and Fishing Industries of the 

 United States): " The presence of phosphorus in a lobster 

 is of great importance to the consumers of these sea lux- 

 uries; there is no substance which conveys phosphorus so 

 readily into the human system in an agreeable form, and 

 which the system so readily and quickly assimilates, as the 

 flesh of lobsters." 



