Dough balls make great bait to catch a mess of your favorite fish to serve up for dinner. Catfish are fond of dough; we know of a pizza parlor on a floating dock in this area. The owner throws all her unused dough into water and the catfish come in search of an easy meal. This gives the local fishers a chance to hook an easy meal themselves.They're commercially made, come in a can and are labeled for specific fish, such as trout, pan fish, catfish and carp. Mold the stuff all the way around the hook, including the barb or use it on a treble hook with a bait holder attachment.

Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl.

Take a 1-quart container of water and pour just enough of it into the mixture to make a heavy dough.

Roll the dough into balls about ½-inch to 1-inch in diameter.

Mix the rest of the water with 1 cup of molasses and pour it into a pan.

Add a flavoring agent, such as garlic, licorice, anise or strawberry gelatin.

Put the pan on the stove and bring the molasses, water and flavoring to a boil.

When the mixture is boiling, drop in the dough balls, but don't overcrowd them.

Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Cool before using.

Hey, but it doesn't have to be that hard. Just use the leftovers from your picnic lunch. Carp will bite on almost anything—hot dogs, buns, marshmallows and paper plates. Okay, maybe not the paper plates.

Step 1

In a bowl place two cups of flour and a few teaspoons of caraway seeds. Mix well to distribute seeds.

Step2

Beat an egg and mix into the flour. This acts as a binder for the dough balls and helps them stay on your hook.

Step3

Since all flours have a different absorbency, gradually add water to make flour mixture into a stiff dough.

Step4

Divide your dough into small balls and place in a plastic zipper bag. Keep your zipper bag full of dough balls in the refrigerator until you go fishing.