About Crave Bait: Crave Fishing Research, the makers of the effective Crave dough bait, is lead by owner Phil Mackey, who also runs the Mt. Lassen Trout Farm in Red Bluff, CA. His trout hatchery produces close to one million fish each year and is where Crave does their research and development that lead to the many Crave products today, including their secret formula, SEXattract.  Today they have been building on their success and continue to introduce other products like Amino Gems, Amino Eggs, and Gravy that are specifically formulated for trout and catfish.

Some Facts about Catfish: Did you know that there are over 2000 species of catfish worldwide? And did you know that catfish have absolutely outstanding sensory abilities? Catfish have a great sense of taste, touch, smell, and hearing that help keep them thriving in many bodies of water all around the world. Their sense of taste is probably the most amazing and important characteristic of catfish. Taste buds cover the entire smooth scale-less skin. Depending on the size of the fish, an adult catfish can have over one million of these tiny taste sensors. These highly developed taste buds even cover the fins and tail, and a major concentration exist in the mouth and gills of these fish. On the outside of the body a catfish's whiskers have the highest concentration of taste buds for such small area. The taste buds in different locations serve two main functions. The outer sensors such as the ones covering the skin and the ones in the gills are used to locate food in the water. Once the food is located the taste buds on the whiskers and in the mouth are used to sample the food before consumption.

The other critical catfish sense is their keen sense of smell. The catfish's nostrils contain sensitive tissue that detects different smells as water flows through the region. Their olfactory pits have two nostrils each for water going in and out. Each time the water is passed through these pits it has to first go through a series of folds that contain sensitive tissue functioning as a filter to determine if food is nearby. Also it's important to note that what humans smell is completely different than what the average catfish smells. A scent to us is airborne while a fish detects chemical substances that are in the water.

Impressions: Understanding what a fish uses to detect food is quite important, especially when fishing for cats. Some attractants are used to mask out human scent and make the fish hold onto the bait or lure longer, but with the Crave Gravy is a whole different story because catfish actually uses taste and smell to locate their food, especially when the water is muddy and visibility is low.

Crave Gravy catfish with SEXattract comes in 2 sizes and 4 different scents to target those taste buds

The Crave catfish Gravy is a bio-safe fish oil scent that is created from a food based mixture along with Crave's SEXattract formula.  Garlic, shrimp, natural, and anchovy are the 4 different flavors of the Crave Gravy and come in either 2 or 6 ounce squeeze bottle sizes

What's SEXattract: SEXattract is a proprietary formula found only in Crave Bait products. With over 30 years of research and experiments at their trout hatchery, Crave has developed a way to stimulate the fish's craving to feed and reproduce. The mixture that forms SEXattract is then combined in their products such as the Crave Gravy for catfish. The SEXattract secret formula is created from an all natural food based product and is one of many reason why fish would be more engrossed by its scent.

    
Field Tests: Winter time fishing for catfish can be very productive in some parts of the world, especially when early rains bring the dried up creeks to flow again. The runoffs into any lake is a location that one shouldn't miss when targeting cats. TackleTour ran through a series of tests on the field with multiple types of bait covered with the Gravy.

Be sure to shake well before use. The attractant is in a gravy form and it does settle after time

  
How to Use: Applying the Crave Gravy onto baits or lures is a simple task. But before doing so, make sure you read the instructions. The most important part to note in the instructions and marked on the cap of the bottle is to shake well before use. The liquid content is gravy like, so that means that it would settle and one should shake the bottle prior to all applications. To assist in mixing when you shake the bottle, ball bearings are placed in the bottle. The Gravy bottles I received didn't have this, but I was told that the bottles that are being sold will have this added. But for a quick test, a few ball bearings were placed in the bottle and it did the trick nicely. If you don't do a good job mixing the gravy your first pour will be watery and will not adhere well to your bait. Basically if it doesn't look like gravy you need to keep shaking.

This is what happens when the Gravy is not mixed well.  You will notice the watery fluid coming out first, and then the thicker gravy

After the Gravy is stirred up it's time to apply it to your favorite catfish bait or lure.  Simply lift the nozzle on the cap and gently squeeze some Crave Gravy onto any catfish jig or bait. Be sure to completely cover the bait for better results. This also insures that you mask out any human scent on the bait that could repel a fish from being attracted to your catfish food.  Putting on the Gravy can be quite messy.  An alternative way to scenting the bait or jig is to pour some Crave into a plastic sandwich bag, and then roll it around in the bag.  Take it out and bait the hook.

Catfish nugget topped with Crave Gravy.  Yummy!

  
Catfishing: Fishing for catfish can be a lot of fun. Understanding their behaviors is a real advantage when you're out there fishing. Out in the field the Crave Gravy enhanced the attraction of the catfish to the bait, especially after the rains and the lake looks like a huge cup of chocolate milk. Even though the bait that was once covered with the liquid scent a few casts later it looked like it had all come off and was no longer visible to the naked eye, yet the smell still remained quite strong on the bait or jig. When this happens, the attractant no longer dissipates its chemical form throughout the water as much as before and another application can be used. This way the catfish can again use its sense of smell and taste to detect the location of the food. Not to say that bait without the Crave Gravy doesn't catch fish, but by adding the scent increases your chances of luring the cats to the right direction resulting in more hookups.

When the Gravy comes out thick, then you know it's mixed well.  Be sure to cover the entire bait to mask out any human scent
 

Many die-hard catfish anglers will swear by their tried and true family recipes. Some of which include exotic ingredients like cheese, cornmeal, and a variety of livers. While these baits undoubtedly work they are different then Crave Catfish Gravy. Crave has designed a product that can be applied to any lure in an instant to appeal to catfish. Anglers on the go often cannot preserve homemade or perishable bait. For these anglers Crave gravy is a real god send as it can be used, capped, tossed in your tackle bag without worry. I remember a trip last year when I went out catfish and carp fishing with a few friends and opened up a pack of prepared chicken livers. After landing a ton of fish we blissfully headed home, and in my excitement forgot to remove and refrigerate the bait. Sure enough 2 weeks later when I finally busted open my pack my senses were assaulted by a stench I still can't forget. Needless to say if I had used Crave Gravy I wouldn't have had to wash my bag 3 times to purge the reek.

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Conclusion: As with any other sport, understanding every aspect of the game is very important. Fishing is no different. Understanding the targeted fish is critical in catching more fish.  With catfish, the two senses that are used the most to locate food are smell and taste. The Crave Bait Gravy was specially formulated to enhance your jig or bait to attract more fish to your targeted area. The effectiveness of the Gravy attractant plays a role in stimulating the catfish's taste buds and other sensitive tissues used to detect food, especially in muddy waters.  While many die hard catfish anglers enjoy making their own catfish lures out of family secret recipes it is good to know that anglers can go out and buy quality attractants like Crave Gravy that not only work but can spare your home from the scent of mixing those pungent cheeses and meals that go into Frankenstein catfish bait recipes. The new Crave Gravy catfish attractant is easy to use, bio-safe, and offers good performance. For catfish lovers, the Gravy catfish comes in two sizes that make it easy for you to store along with all your other tackle.