Gelled proteinaceous fish bait and process of preparing same

Abstract

A fish bait and method of production thereof wherein a nonhomogeneous body having a toughened exterior skinlike structure surrounding a gelatinous or fluid body is formed by mixing a gel-forming proteinaceous material and water at a temperature above the sol-gel transition temperature, forming the proteinaceous mass into the desired shape, cooling the shaped mass and treating the exterior surface of the shaped mass with a polymeric tanning agent such as a sulfited melamine formaldehyde resin, resulting in a relatively insoluble skin surrounding a relatively soluble fluid gel center structure. Fluidizing agents reactive with the polymeric tanning agents may be added to alter the gel characteristics, and salmon egg waste material and other fish cannery wastes may be incorporated as part or all of the proteinaceous material to provide the characteristic odor associated with salmon eggs.