By Sheila Dassatt
Most of us are all focused on setting traps and trying to second guess when the new shells are going to appear. This is all true, but we also have one more focus to be concerned about, and that is our bait supply and what to use for bait. I hope this isn’t going to be a boring article. I’m going to try to enlighten all of the best theories and gimmicks that are out there and it could prove interesting or even amusing if at all possible.
First and foremost, the State of Maine will not allow just anything to come into the state to be used for bait. It has to be approved so it is safe for the lobster and safe for our environment. There are certain baits that may not be good for the lobster to digest or for human consumption after they eat the lobster. But I will go into some of the things that people have turned to in the past and present.
Going back in time, the most common and popular bait has always been herring. Back in the day, herring was a lot more plentiful and the fishermen had access to them for the perfect lobster bait. Now the fishery has limits on how much herring that can be caught for bait or even for the canneries. Yes, when you eat sardines, they are consisting of the same fish! The Maine canneries are a thing of the past and most of the canning of sardines is overseas or in Canada.
There was quite a process for the perfect herring bait. Some do it now but it was primarily done in the past. You’ve seen the big wooden barrels around the docks or in the museums. This was used for storing herring and doing what they called “turning it over.” The process was to layer them with salt and let them sit for a little while, then turn them over and salt again. They would create a golden oil and actually preserve the herring as a gourmet meal for the lobsters. They didn’t really spoil unless they weren’t treated enough with the salt and turning them over properly.
At one time, not so long ago when our sardine processing plants were up and going, all of the “chum” which was the heads and tails of the fish would travel down a pulley and go down a shoot into big fish containers. Most of us could go there and shovel out what we needed for our bait and just purchase bags of salt from the cannery, the bait was free. So when the canneries started closing, this made a big difference on the price of the bait that we now had to purchase. Suddenly it became very costly for our overhead.
Since that time, we’ve had to go to other types of fish for bait, which may not be as good as the herring recipe. Primarily the next choice is the menhaden or pogies. Alewives is another version of the menhaden style of bait, but the access to alewives is very limited and seasonal. So now the offering may be red fish, which is another old style bait, frozen red heads, tuna heads, haddock racks and mackerel. Now in my travels, I have been told to be careful using mackerel because it runs through the lobster like a laxative. It is not as good to use as a primary bait for lobsters.
Alternative baits are kind of interesting, such as salted cow or pig hides, which are in a brine of fish oil and salt. I have discovered that people have used chicken pieces such as legs and thighs. Processing plants would donate the carcasses of the chickens to be used for bait as well. Pheasants were even on the list! I don’t know where you’d find enough pheasant to bait a trap, but it’s there. Mike and I have tried and researched a bait called Bruneaux Bait which is made of corn meal and gelatin base with pogie oils and probably a few secret ingredients. It looks just like a loaf of ginger bread and they offer a big cutting cleaver to cut it into bait bag size pieces. We recommend this one as an added bait for the colder weather when you need a bait that will last. We put a piece in with the herring or pogies and when the fish bait is gone, the Bruneaux bait stays on and doesn’t dissipate for at least two weeks. It actually works great!
Another development is a product where they make a slurry of by product such as the head, guts, skin, and bone of fish, sometimes local haddock racks as well as whole fish, plus a binder to make the bait last longer in the water than pure fish, and is dumped into a metal funnel. It comes out the other side as sausages, which are packed 21 to a box.
Tests showed that they lured a similar number of lobsters as the traditional bait. It is probably best to use this as an additional alternative bait to make the traditional bait last longer.
Some have actually used a can of sardines with holes punched into them. They claim the silver of the can and the oil of the sardines works great. It has got to be very costly to use this method but it is being done! We have also seen the use of empty aluminum soda cans being hung next to the bait bags with the shiny side showing. They will cut the can and turn it open to do this.
With all of this being said, all of these gimmicks and alternative baits are because there is becoming a bait shortage as the herring stock is being regulated down every year.
We need to be prepared for the future even with what we use for effective bait, not to just worry about our lobster stock. We have a lot to think about these days!
