Not all inshore chumming is done from a stationary boat. To cover more ground, some anglers prefer to drift-fish while deploying chum for Spanish mackerel, bluefish, striped bass, tarpon and other species. But you have to pay close attention to the speed and direction of your drift. Wind can push your boat faster than the current carries your chum, so you’re not getting the full benefit of your efforts. In this case, a sea anchor will slow you down a bit and keep the chumline downtide of you.
Barnacle and oyster scrapings are prime chum for wily, bait-stealing sheepshead.
It’s a good rule to use fresh chum whenever possible, and something “native” to the water you’re fishing. Also, something that is natural forage for the fish you’re after. For bottom feeders such as bones, reds and permit, shrimp and crabs are a natural. These scents would also work for trout, snook, tarpon, mackerel and cobia, but you’d probably do better with a fish-based chum for them. Sometimes frozen blocks of blood chum (available at many bait shops) are all that’s available, and that’s okay. But if you have an option, catch your own “chum” with a cast net, or buy it fresh from a shrimp trawler or bait shop.
To be most effective, it’s important not to “over chum.” You want to attract fish, not feed them. Many veteran anglers prefer to cut baitfish, shrimp, clams, eels and other baits into very small pieces. Grinding such baits also is good, since this produces an oily, stinky residue that fish smell and are attracted to, but can’t gorge on.
Chum delivery systems are numerous and ingenious. Simply tossing over handfuls of small fish or cutbait pieces is easy and productive. Hanging a mesh bag full of cutbait over a boat transom works well, too, especially in shallow water. However, for bottom feeders, like drum, sheepshead, flounder, and even bonefish and permit in relatively deep water, it makes more sense to sink a chum bag to the bottom. Tying a chum bag to an anchor is effective, but I’ve lost more than one anchor to aggressive sharks that cut the line while getting at my chum. A brick tied to a line, or put inside a closed chum bag is better. If you’re chumming in deep inshore waters, such as channels, inlets, passes, the Intracoastal Waterway or just off a beach, downriggers do a great job of getting chum down. Use cable on the downrigger (remember, sharks), tie a chum bag to a cannonball, and lower to desired depth.
Chum containers are easily made from plastic buckets with secured lids, or large-diameter PVC pipe with drilled holes, and capped at both ends. And there are numerous commercially made chumming products that make things easier.
The Chum King (www.chum-king.com) is a perforated container that’s filled with chum, and can be taken to any depth where the contents are released slowly, or all at once. The Chum Churn (www.chumchurn.com) is an ingenious device that cuts baitfish into small pieces by pumping a handle that chops with internal blades. Specialized fish grinders are produced by ChumMaster (www.chummaster.com) and Fish-Ng Accessories (www.fish-ng.com). SWA
DRINK CAN TRICK
One easy way to chum a shallow spot from long range is with a 12-ounce soda drink can. Simply make holes in a can with an ice pick, screwdriver or knife, place chum (shrimp, baitfish or cutbait) inside the can, push a fairly heavy jig hook into the can and cast the whole works to a desired chumming spot. The can sinks quickly, and can be repositioned or re-baited by reeling in, without relocating your boat. Use a bright-colored can that’s easy to spot. That will be especially helpful to inexperienced anglers who may not be able to see those ghostly bonefish or snook that come to the chum. The only drawback to this method is that you have a fishing line out there in the water between your spare rod’s tip and the chum can, but if you keep the line taut, you’ll know where it is, and odds are a hooked fish won’t run in your direction and foul it.
