COMPANIES FIND PLENTY OF DOUGH IN BAIT TROUT ANGLERS BENEFIT WITH INCREASING CHOICES.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Choosing the best bait has always been an angler's most difficult dilemma and biggest headache.

But when it comes to West Coast trout fishing, there has been little debate about the choice of dough baits. It's either been Power Bait or Sierra Gold. Berkley, the Iowa-based fishing-industry powerhouse, is introducing Turbo Dough. Sierra Gold, which has its roots in La Canada, hasn't announced a new product, but the Mount Lassen Trout Hatchery in Red Bluff is introducing its own dough bait, Crave.

The dough-bait wars have apparently begun.

Berkley's Turbo says it is 42 percent stronger than its regular Power Bait. Crave developer Phil Mackey says his bait uses a better light spectrum visible to trout.

``We have different scents, different attractants,'' Mackey said. ``Our product is distinctive. Fish will recognize it as a food and that means a lot more catches for anglers.''

Berkley began designing Power Bait in 1985. Crave began three years ago. But Mackey says 30 years of animal husbandry, running his hatcheries, which includes a 23.76-pound trout eventually caught at Santa Ana River Lakes last year, does not make him a novice when it comes to trout food. And he now jokes, ``I guess I've never been an angler until now.

``I guess you can say I've had a lifetime of research. Very few people know how to make a fish bait. I've had training under a different discipline, but I'm not inexperienced to this. My primary business, however, is still (growing) trout.''

The difference is, he says, that the colors of Crave are better matched to the ultraviolet rays that fish can see. Colors are randomly dispersed in the rainbow-colored bait, but he says, other products have globs of colors in their rainbow patterns. His product is also different, he says, in that it is 100 percent food-based. Other companies use wood fiber products as part of their bait.

``Fish can see our bait from a distance,'' he said. ``It makes it a long- range attractant.''

Both Berkley and Crave say they tested their product in both the laboratory and in the field. Berkley said that for every 100 trout caught with Power Bait, it caught 142 fish with Turbo Dough.

Mackey said he took studies from other fields to determine the best choices for his bait and then field-tested it against other baits with better-than-satisfactory results.

``We're confident it will work very well,'' Mackey said.

By going with an initial limited amount of colors, he says, it makes it easier for novice anglers. It will be easier for anglers to differentiate between clear and murky water conditions and the choice of baits. Plus, fishing tips are on the jars of bait, which feel more doughy than Power Bait and Sierra Gold.

``We think more novice anglers will use it,'' he said.

Crave is more expensive than Power Bait, but Mackey said one aspect of his new product is that outdoor stores have quickly begun stocking it.

``Marketing has been better than I hoped, especially for a start-up business,'' he said. ``It's been phenomenal.''