I’m not much on new technology – I believe in doing things the old-fashioned way, even when it’s wrong. But a breakthrough on the fishing front made even this crusty curmudgeon take notice.

We’re talking about artificial bloodworms, called Fish Bites, which look like strips of pink bubble gum and are said to contain enzymes that attract fish the way the genuine article does.

Anybody who comes up with a sanitary replacement for the gruesome bloodworm deserves at least a trial run. Bloodworms are exasperating baits.

They cost a fortune, up to $10 a dozen for good ones. They are shockingly short-lived and hard to work with. They’ll nip you if you’re not careful. They must be kept cool, they squirm like crazy when you cut them, and they stink up the refrigerator if kept too long.

Bloodworms, which live on the mud flats of coastal Maine, get the name because they bleed profusely when cut in small bits to thread onto hooks. Most anglers think the blood is what makes the bloodworms so effective when dropped to the bottom and held there on a moving tide.

For ages, bloodworms have been the favored bait of bottom-fishermen in the Chesapeake, tidal Potomac and other brackish waters of the mid-Atlantic. They’re so valuable, they are shipped south by air freight daily during the high summer months.

Now the mighty engine of American commerce has developed an alternative. The buzz around the Chesapeake this summer is all about Fish Bites, which some people say work just as well as bloodworms on this year’s abundant population of white perch. Well, there’s one way to find out, isn’t there?

Gene Miller and I stopped in last week at Angler’s Sport Center, where Fish Bites come in five flavors and four shapes: crab, shrimp, clam, squid and bloodworm in strips, chunks, worms or sheets.

Owner Charlie Ebersberger said the big seller is pink bloodworms in the bag o’ worms packet, so we grabbed a pack for $7.99 and headed out.

We drew our fake worms out of the bag and cut them into half-inch bits without any protests from the worms or guilt about pain inflicted. It didn’t take long before we were catching nice white perch and jumbo Norfolk spot, sometimes two at a time.

The Fish Bites were less durable than I expected. The strips are a pink, rubbery substance attached to a thin strip of cheesecloth.

The pink stuff turns blood red in the water but gets gooey after a while, and you generally can only catch two or three fish before the bait must be changed.

If I were going to fish any length of time, I’d get at least two $8 packs.