Few species can resist the hors d’oeuvres that signal a free lunch. By putting a constant trail of natural food in the water, you can not only attract fish but stimulate their desire to feed. Chumming causes competition among fish, making them more aggressive as they race each other for all the tidbits.
Areas, where fish are concentrated, provide the best places to chum. Reefs, wrecks, structures such as towers or oil rigs, groupings of coral heads, humps and any other type of structure that usually holds fish. Chumming can also be effective in diverting passing fish or simply holding a school near the boat.
Flowing water such as a tide or current holds the key to successful chumming. The boat must be carefully positioned upcurrent from the structure where you think the fish are holding. The force of the flow dictates how far above the structure you need to anchor so that the chum sinks enough to reach the fish. If there is a dropoff, you want the chum to travel from shallow to deep. And, the slick must be continuous. Any break in it, even while fighting a fish, and the school disperses.
Serious chummers start with a basic menu that contains ground up fish (either fresh or frozen) usually placed in a net bag. Then, they sweeten the offering with a variety of other baits either whole or cut up. You can also chum with live bait for some species. If you do, cast the hooked bait a distance from the boat. It will try to swim toward the hull for protection and that’s when it will get eaten.
Nothing is more important when fishing a dead bait in a chum slick than to keep it swimming constantly with the chum. As chum is ladled over the side or is released from a net bag, it floats away and begins to sink toward the bottom on an inclined plane. The slope of that plane is created by the force of the current.
Free-floating a bait is easy if you become a line watcher. As you put your bait in the water, strip off three or four rod lengths of line and let it fall in the water. Before that line becomes tight, strip off more line on the surface. Any pause and your bait will rise above the path of the chum.
By watching the line, you can also tell when you have a strike. The line will move off much faster than the tide is carrying it, and that’s your clue. Engage the reel, point the rod at the spot where the line is entering the water, wait for the line to come totally tight so you can feel the pull of the fish, and then lift the rod to the fighting position. That’s all it takes, but remember to keep the chum flowing during the battle.
Whenever possible, supplement the basic chum with choice tidbits and goodies. In some cases, the chum will attract baitfish or smaller denizens. It pays to be ready with a larger bait in case a husky critter suddenly appears. Successful chumming takes practice, but it is well worth the effort. Action in a chum slick can be fast and furious, and that’s what it’s all about.