Attracting a feeding frenzy: team Berley is designed to bring fish to your hooks. (Product Roundup).

In New Zealand it's known as Abbeyville Sauce; in this country it's called Team Berley. Whatever its moniker, this artificial bait has been attracting a lot of attention among U.S. fishermen, ever since the company Fishermen's Concepts started manufacturing the product in Naples, Fla.

Team Berley is used by fishermen chasing pelagic species such as tuna and swordfish. They also use it to attract fish found along reefs and wrecks, such as grouper and flounder.

Actually, the manufacturer of Team Berley doesn't like to refer to its product as bait. An attractant held together with binders, it works by dispersing a combination of proprietary oils into the water.

When fish hit the oils, they secrete a hormone that causes the fish to go into a feeding frenzy, says Michael Monahan, Team Berley's executive vice president. The fish then follow the oil to its source.

Team Berley comes in three basic styles: long life, rapid release, and game formula. As its name suggests, "long life" disperses through the water over a longer period of time and a greater distance over the surface than the other two attractants.