Maine Fisherman's Device Puts A Little 'Life' In Dead Fish

Maine Public | By Associated Press

Published October 23, 2017 at 1:14 PM EDT

PHIPPSBURG, Maine - A Maine fisherman says it was a slow day on the water when he started to wonder if there was a way to bring a little life back to the dead fish he was using as bait.

The result was Zombait - a device that is inserted into the throat of a dead fish to make it wiggle back and forth, simulating the movement of live fish and, hopefully, attracting large fish like tuna, grouper and striped bass.

Phippsburg resident Rink Varian tells the Portland Press Herald he started working with Massachusetts-based electrical engineer Matthew Borowski in 2014 to bring the idea to life.

After selling out an initial run of 1,000 devices, Varian says they're building 3,000 more and hope to expand even more.