Two University professors worked with Mystic Tackleworks Inc. to produce improved soft fish lures that better attract fish.
The lures, called Attraxx, are now on the market in 42 to 43 small locations, like Superior Bait and Tackle in Baton Rouge, according to James Henry, assistant professor of chemical engineering.
Henry said the new lures are better than similar ones on the market.
“This is the first one to really taste and smell like [real fish],” he said.
Henry and Mystic Tackleworks developed the visible part of the lure.
Henry said the design and movement of the physical lure are natural and appear to fish like real bait.
He said the appearance of the lure is important because the fish not only need to smell something similar to the real thing, but the movement of the lure needs to be similar to a real fish, as well.
“Once they bite it, they can’t let go,” Henry said.
The attraction comes from the solution John Caprio, designated professor of biological sciences, developed to draw fish to the lure. Caprio named the biodegradable solution Sci-X.
Henry said the attractants work on all species of fish and in salt and fresh water.
The chemicals are also engineered to taste good to the fish so they will chew the lure and try to swallow it.
Henry said the lures were a popular catch for fishermen.
“We knew we could make a lure to catch fish. The trick is to make a lure that could catch fishermen,” he said.
Caprio said the development of the chemicals in the fish lures was an offshoot of his actual research, which is studying how fish taste and smell things to determine how humans taste and smell things.
He studies fish senses by conducting experiments on the brains of live catfish.
Catfish were chosen because they have taste buds all over their bodies, so it’s easier to determine their responses to tastes and smells.
Caprio put electrodes onto nerve cells in catfish brains, carrying information to brain cells, which then process the information. He intercepts the information to study the fish’s responses.
He works in a Faraday cage, which has a meshwork of metal surrounding it to block electrical signals from other sources, such as fluorescent lighting. Caprio said his research has been funded by the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation and once by the Office of Naval Research, Commercialization and Development.
He has been researching fish senses for 40 years but has been developing the chemicals for the fish lures for 10 years. Henry said he was paired up with Caprio in January 2010 by Peter Kelleher, associate vice chancellor of the Office of Intellectual Property.
Caprio said he has been interested in fishing and fish his entire life.
Henry, on the other hand, said he had never been involved with fish before. His background is researching biological materials, biotissue and Alzheimer’s disease.
The basis material for the lures came from Henry’s research of bone scaffolds, which he said was a “fun adjustment.” The material is natural and synthetic, and the patent on Attraxx is pending.
Henry said Howard Hammonds, president of Mystic Tackleworks, is working hard to get the product on the market. Attraxx is slated to be sold in Walmart and Academy Sports & Outdoors.
 
—-
Contact Meredith Will at [email protected]