82 ABOUT LOBSTERS 



The use of ground fish as a part of LobLure was based 

 on the fact that fish in bulk, such as the carcass of a filleted 

 fish, presents only part of its surface to the sea water. When 

 this same carcass is ground up, the areas presented to the 

 sea water are greatly increased. LobLure found that two 

 ounces of ground fish could be as attractive to lobsters as 

 several pounds of unground fish. As always, LobLure 

 fetched up against a new problem, namely that the ground 

 fish would become compacted so hard that water could not 

 enter to dissolve the bait. They had to have an open bait or 

 a bait whose binder would dissolve and let the water in. 

 That meant a bait needing careful protection and control. 

 The control was an important feature, and actually meant 

 that LobLure had to sell a method of fishing rather than 

 just a bait. 



The amount of the catch was not dependable. Some- 

 times the bait was twice as good as redfish, but more often 

 the catch would be only 60 per cent as good. Several of the 

 fishermen would not believe that two lots of bait were the 

 same formula. They were the same, and were very carefully 

 watched to prevent any variation. That they did not fish 

 equally was due to the many uncontrollable factors in- 

 volved. For instance, the water content as well as the chem- 

 ical nature of fish scrap would vary with its age, and it was 

 not possible to buy this scrap at a definite number of hours 

 old. Then again, the oiliness of the scrap would vary de- 

 pending on the kind of fish being filleted. In addition, the 

 use of fresh fish scrap increased the cost. LobLure was ac- 

 tually trending back towards the selling of brim as a manu- 

 factured bait. 



Many other chemicals were tried, covering a wide 

 range such as butyric acid, propionic acid, amino com- 

 pounds, and tri-methylamine of awful odor, but with no 

 spectacular results. 



LobLure ended up convinced that any successful bait 

 must be on the acid side. This conclusion eliminated the use 

 of salt-water soap as a dissolving binder, as any soap would 

 be an alkaline. 



