For Todd Munsey, human resource education senior, and his father “Stubby” Steve Munsey, School of Veterinary Medicine alumnus, the fish are biting.The Munseys think they may have figured out what fish want to eat, and the answer seems like common sense — fish food.The two have developed a bait, Stubby Steve’s, that is made to look and smell exactly like the fish pellets fed to fish raised in ponds and lakes.The logic is that many of the freshwater fish in America’s rivers, lakes and ponds were at one time fed fish pellets, so when they see and smell what they think is a fish pellet, they get hungry.”It’s the same sensation you get when you go to [Raising] Cane’s and sit in your car, and you can smell it, and your mouth starts to water, and your senses start to go wild. The same thing happens to fish all the time,” Todd Munsey said.Todd Munsey said fish get the same sensations people get when they smell food from their childhood.”It’s like when you’re a kid and you remember eating that first bowl of spaghetti with meatballs. You remember the way it smells, the way it tastes,” he said.The two have sold more than 3,000 packets of their fish bait throughout the country and are  looking to gain a foothold in a $19 billion per year fishing equipment industry.Every year, Americans make 337 million trips to ponds, lakes and rivers to fish, according to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.Freshwater anglers spent $26.3 billion on freshwater fishing trips and equipment, according to the survey.Todd Munsey said despite tough competition in an enormous industry, his bait has been performing well.”The response is off the charts,” Todd Munsey said. “In the end, what fish want to eat the most is fish food, and Stubby Steve’s smells and looks more like real fish food than any other bait on the market.”The pellets are made of rubber and are 100 percent biodegradable.The Munsey’s secret recipe uses concentrated fish food smells to keep the fish biting.Nate Herman, a Cabella’s lake and ponds service provider in Illinois, said he stocks fish in ponds, removes fish from ponds, sets up habitats in ponds and takes clients on guided fishing.”Even if you feed a fish fish food for the first two weeks of its life, it’s always going to remember that smell and taste,” Herman said. “I’ve been tying fish food wrapped in pantyhose to the end of my line for years. It’s basically the smell. What makes Stubby Steve’s so nice is that it stays on the hook.”Todd Overton, owner of Overton Fisheries, Inc., fish farm and hatchery in Buffalo, Texas, said he has been impressed with the bait and is not surprised by its success.”It emulates a fish pellet. It looks almost exactly like what we’ve been feeding our fish. I guess it tastes like that too,” Overton said. “The fist time I used Stubby Steve’s I caught five different species within thirty minutes.”Overton said he thinks Stubby Steve’s would also be successful for catching wild catfish, even though the catfish had never eaten a fish pellet. Overton said the smell would still be appealing to the fish, and could be used on the same line as other lures.The Munseys agree. They have been selling their product to pond experts like Herman and Overton since January and are poised to make their entrance into the retail market.In January, Steve Munsey began packaging his product in packs of 20 and marketing it to major players in the pond-fishing industry.Steve Munsey owns and operates Town and Country Veterinary Hospital in Tazewell, Va., and makes and sells the bait in his spare time.Steve Munsey, a 1983 graduate of the Vet School, makes all the product himself in a workshop behind his house. Munsey is currently selling Stubby Steve’s through his Web site and in 21 Magic Mart locations in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.Steve Munsey is now looking to spread his business outside his home region, and is using his son Todd’s connections in Baton Rouge to spread the word.Todd Munsey has been visiting bait shops, talking to students and taking people fishing for the past few weeks. He seems excited to be selling a product he genuinely loves.”We’ve had a very positive response from the local community,” Todd Munsey said. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world knowing that your bait might help a 7-year-old catch his first fish.”——Contact Jack Leblanc at [email protected]