ABOUT LOBSTERS 83 



LobLure also found that any bait using a fish oil must 

 not be a cooked bait, since cooking turned the oil into a 

 water impenetrable varnish. 



And then, all its capital gone, LobLure went out of 

 business in 1949. Why? Two opinions are quoted: " We 

 can only surmise that the reason that LobLure does not 

 consistently fish as well, or better than, redfish or other fish 

 bait, is because it is lacking in a concentration of materials 



which are most attractive to lobsters LobLure failed 



because it concentrated on one type of lure. It had several 

 possible paths of development open, but followed one path 

 in great detail without first exploring other paths to learn 

 which was most promising." And the path it chose was not 

 good enough: six years of work, over $30,000 spent, 4,000 

 supervised tests made of some 350 formulas, and no com- 

 mercial results. 



Freon Gas 



Some interesting experiments with artificial bait were 

 made by Dr. Harry Lee, formerly of Stonington, Maine. He 

 used freon gas mixed with fish oil, in a container which lib- 

 erated the gas slowly. 



His idea was based on the fact that freon gas will ab- 

 sorb the oil (and the attendant odor). This gas also dis- 

 solves in sea water so that the oil carried by the gas would 

 be dissipated in the water. Its effect was not to liberate 

 globules of oil (which would immediately rise to the sur- 

 face), but to spread the oil throughout the water. 



Result: " It would catch lobsters, but not so well as 

 any number of baits used around Stonington." 



Light for Lures 



It seemed as though light might attract lobsters. 



Lobstermen claim that they cannot catch lobsters * * 

 during periods of high-course tides. This is when the 

 moon is full and brightest. Some fishermen attribute 

 this to the brightness of the moonlight, but this does 



