After watching first hand how effective chum was in keeping vast numbers of fish below the boat for 4 hours in the Keys, I have to wonder if I should be trying it up here at certain times. While I hate to troll, anchoring up is even worse to me, but there are times when conditions are just too rough for my kind of fishing with the electric trolling motor. When it gets too rough and the trolling motor prop is constantly popping out of the water, I will anchor up and throw chunks. Now are those same conditions too rough to effectively use chum? Will those rougher seas, spread out the chum slick too far or actually be to my advantage?

I've never tried it and would love to get some feedback on how, what to use and when to use it. Since those days of gill netting all the large poggies I could use in a season are long gone, the only real viable bait as I see it, is mackeral. When the mackeral are running in the spring, I usually freeze maybe 15-20 bags of 3 mackeral each for chunking when needed. Should I consider freezing more for chumming or is this bait not the best?

How does one make up a suitable chum? Is this a meat grinder type deal, with just mackeral, or should other ingredients be added. Is it made up and frozen in containers that can be slipped over the side to slowly thaw and do their thing? Or is it best to bring hole mackeral out and slowly chum the waters with small pieces over a period of time and then fish those same small pieces with smaller circle hooks in the slick.

Just curious if anyone is using chum and would appreciate any feedback on the tactic. Thanks and tight lines.

Hey Got Stripers, glad to hear you had a successful and fun trip to the sunny state, I just got back from a little deer hunting trip in PA with my fanily, was nice to be home, and was also very successful.

As for chumming, chumming is a very productive way to bring fish to you, couple of things to remember, you need moving water so that the slick covers some ground. Last year we bought a new type of ground up chum I think it was herring, came in a plastic bag, and was finley ground, I froze it so it would last longer, we put it in a ham net and hung it from the cleet in the back of the boat. It worked really good, wether we were chunking or livelining makcerel or pogies. IF you want to make your own chum, you need to grind it, as you don't want the chunks to be too big, otherwise all you are doing is feeding the fish.

Last year we actually could see the smaller stripers coming up behind the boat and grabbing the little pieces we were cutting up for chum and eating well. SO my advise is to grind it. You will sometimes see guys with the grinder actually attached to the back of the baot and every 10 to 15 min. they will give the handle a couple of cranks. With the bags that we got last year, they lasted for several hours, and all you are trying to do is get the sent in the water to help draw the fish to your bait. This worked very well for us at Hardings Ledge last year, because you can only get so close to that structure, so if there were bigger fish holding to the rocks this would bring them out. It was also great if you are out there trying to jig up mackerel or pollock or pogies as they are also aatracted to the sent. We would just leave the bag hang over the endge of the boat and give it a squeeze ever 5 or 10 min.

When you 1st anchor up to a spot no matter were you are fishing, if you are going to use chum, you should start chumming 1st, for about 10 min, then rig up your rods and put them out. Whether livelining or chunkin. It doesn't always work, but if you are sitting on structure let that sent run to the structure and get ready!!!! As for were to get a grinder I would check places like building 19 or walmart, or kmart, in the kitchen section. They are very inexpensive and most people use the grinder for canning tomotoes and stuff, so they are not hard to find. Hope this helps.

GOT STRIPERS, IVE USED CHUM FOR THE PAST 35 YEARS, BUT ONLY WHEN WE REALLY WANTED TO CATCH FISH,MOST OF THE TIME I HAVE USED IT IN THE BAY OR RIVERS,BUT HAVE USED IT WITH SUCCESS OFF NEWPORT JAMETOWN,THE ONLY FISH I CAN THINK OF THAT I HAVE NOT USED CHUM IS THE SUMMER FLOUNDER///I HAVE USED CHUM BOTH FROM BOAT AND SHORE,WINTER FLOUNDER,MACKERAL,SCUP,SEA BASS,BLUEFISH HAVE ALL HAD THEIR TASTE OF THIS KIND OF FISHING,BUT TAUTOG,WHITE PERCH,AND SCHOOL STRIPERS HAVE BEEN SLAMMED BY THIS DEADLY METHOD,METHODS ARE DIFFERENT FOR EACH SPECIES,CONDITIONS ,LOCATIONS AND WHAT YOU USE FOR CHUM// WHEN CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT THIS METHOD CAN BE SO DEADLY THAT AT TIMES IWISH IT WERE ILLEGAL, IAM GLAD SOME OF THE FISHERMAN THAT HAVE NO REGUARD FOR SIZE AND QUANTIES OF FISH DONT KNOW HOW TO USE THIS METHOD// YOUR WECOME TO E-MAIL ME IF YOU DONT GET WHAT YOU NEED FROM THE REST OF THE FISHER PEOPLE ON THIS SITE

Where do you buy your chum, if I don't want the hastle of making it up? If I do want to try making some up, is mackeral a good choice? Obviously, that would be my first choice since large schools of big poggies are almost non-existant anymore and I could probably get the mackeral I need for chum and chunking in two days.

Someone on SOL mentioned a chum made by Double Stink Bait Co. in Maine, but no information on where and I can't find them on any search engines. Have you ever heard of them or tried their product?

I'm hoping this weather holds, or at least we get some more warmups in January, so I can get down to the Thames River and give it a try.

Tight lines.

I DONT GRIND UP CHUM NORMALLY, WE SOMETIMES CRUSH SOME KINDS, CUT IN PIECES OTHERS,AND CHUM LIVE/// DEPENDING ON SPECIES AND CONDITIONS///

GS - you are more likely to see pre-packaged chum at shops down in CT but ther must be a handfull up here... I think Fore River in Quincy carries the chum logs but I have not seen anyone up here with the large, 15+ pound, sealed (Thank God!) chum drums... MAybe a local shop that caters alot to the boating crowd as I don't think you would find it at 'Old Salt Outfitters :P

Chumming can be very effective form the shore too. The two places that jump into my mind are Castle Hill/Brenton Reef area in Newport on the outgoing and an area east of the Sagamore Bridge on the cape side on the east current. The big Clam bricks John mentioned are nice. Herring and pogies make good chum. the herring you can get youself in the spring. Mike T at M+D's in Wareham sells nice fresh pogies in season and some of them chopped up saving all the juices works well. I think its important to prepare your chum such that all the juice gets captured in the bucket while you chop it up. Use the guts and everything. Some people chum and then chunk the bottom with bait and sinker (at Castle Hill for instance) and some people chum then drift unweighted chunks out into the chum slick ( common at the canal). I seldom chum per say but we will often chop up and throw out used dead herring in the spring. I do like jigging down current from the guys chumming and bait fishing. You can be pretty far away from the actual spot that was chummed and still get fish way down current. be careful wading near someone who is chumming. Chum brings in other species besides stripers and blues. :)

Ok, let's face it "fresh bait" is only available at certain times of the year. Herring during the runs, mackeral in the spring and "maybe" poggies if you can find them later in the year. I've got almost no extra time to try to go get herring for chum and poggies are a crap shot, so that leaves mackeral as the only real source of chum for me. Now since I chunk with mackeral when I do chunk, seems like a logical choice, yet most of you seem to talk about either the herring or poggies.

Is there a reason for that? Is mackeral an acceptable choice? My thinking is grinding up the mackeral and freezing the ground up fish and juice in gallon milk jugs. Less mess that way, they have a handle to tie to, and come time to chum I could puncture the jug with a filet knife as many times as needed to allow the chum to work. Might also increase the size of some of my 3 fish frozen bundles of mackeral I normally throw in the boat if the weather looks questionable for my style of fishing. Maybe freeze up to maybe 6 fish, to allow a couple extra for adding some small pieces to the chum slick to train the fish to eat the small chunks before running out the same size piece on a small circle hook.

Does that sound like a plan? Thanks for the advise and tight lines.

ps: If we set out a really big chum slick now, think it might bring back some fish, lol.

Sure sounds like a plan GS. Mackeral are an oily fish also so they should work fine . One suggestion I have is use 1/2 gallon jugs instead of 1 gal. they also will store better in the freezer.

GS Yes mackerel will work, the reason they usually grind up herring and pogies to the best of my knowledge is that they softer to grind and are a little more oily then mackerel, the choice is really up to you, you are right in the fact that if you would be livelining mackerel andand chunking and chumming mackerel, you would be doing the right thing, the chum slick is a sence to the fish that a feeding has been going on some place and they are getting the drift of the scent so they go looking for the food chain. So it is really your choice, the jugs are a good idea, just make sure the chum doens't get stuck in the holes.

Yummmmm, I'm getting hungry...

What's wrong with you people, this is disgusting. John, you need a little icon of a happy face throwing up.

Didn't you people ever see JAWS?

Seriously, everyone have safe and happy holidays!

Too bad we'll all be thinking of grinding and mashing week old pogies at Christmas dinner... please pass the stuffing!

GS - the areas that I've chummed most effectively have been down in CT. They don't have resident mackeral... Did you believe how long the mackeral were around during the summer??

But if you get 'em, grind 'em!! Hopefully the mackeral will hang around next year for a while. It is a shame that we don't get much menhaden up in Boston waters. What little shows up gets it by the bait guys :'(

Grinding and freezing is a mess I don't think my wife would appreciate me using the food processer for that. I usually use whole fish cut into very small chunks. If you get friendly with some of the local lobstermen the sea herring they use is good also. I have also bought or were given old bait that the shops were going to throw out. I always chum when bait fishing in the canal and usually chum for a few minutes before I fish. You will know if it is working as I have had keepers looking at me waiting to take a chunk! One tip if the smaller fish is taking your bait try the heads as the schoolies seem to hit it less, this usually results in bigger fish. Good luck