Appetizers before the main course

Jumpstart the action by offering a round of samples that appeal to a fish's nose and tummy.

A for effort? Okay, it’s a nice thought, but fishing is not a participation trophy kinda sport. You either make it happen or you don’t.

To that point, we have to embrace the truth that fish worth catching will rarely make it easy on us, despite our best, well, you know — effort.

Even perfectly rigged baits, precise presentations and top-shelf tackle mean very little if the fish are unaware of your offerings. Flashy colors and noisy rattles help with artificials, but when you’re using natural baits, a little scent appeal and the ever-popular freebies provide a major boost. 

It’s called “chumming,” the strategy of putting scent and edible samples into the area you’re fishing. No self-respecting fish will turn down the prospect of an easy meal, so when they follow the appealing trail to your boat, or land-bound position, you have a better chance of tempting them.

In addition to attracting fish from afar, chumming can also jump start the action with fish already present. Along with that thought, certain chum strategies also provide visual clues as to fish location and aggression.

Find ‘Em

Starting with the localized efforts, snook, redfish, and shallow water grouper typically respond aggressively to live sardines or threadfin herring tossed into their habitat zone. For predators used to chasing down and ambushing daily meals, the sudden appearance of disoriented baitfish is too good to resist.

Slinging a handful of chummers works, but for better distance and accuracy, along with less shoulder fatigue, load your live baitfish into a “chum bat” — basically a plastic ball bat with the end cut off — and sling them toward mangrove shorelines, shallow rock reef or seagrass drop-offs.

Violent frothy explosions will let you know the locals are ready for dinner, while painting a big “cast here” sign on the water. Send your hooked baits toward to point of the attack and get ready for a tug.

Similarly, I do a lot of jetty fishing and, while the bigger snapper, snook, and parrotfish typically roam in the open, lots of cool species — including smaller snappers, grunts, wrasses and damselfish — often hide under and between larger jetty rocks. Chumming coaxes these fish to poke their heads out where they’re more easily targeted.

Small chunks of cut shrimp or frozen sardines tossed into jetty rocks will bring forth a diverse array of species, but a frozen chum block offers the simplest option. Tuck this brick made from ground fish and concentrated fish oils into a mesh bag, secure the bag’s long cord to a PVC pipe wedged into a rock crevice and watch the melting bits and drifting oils whip the fish into a feeding frenzy.

Getting Fresh: The chum location strategy also works in freshwater, as bluegill and other sunfish readily gobble bread tossed into lakes and ponds. Bluegill are especially ferocious for their size and if they’re anywhere near a handful of baked freebies — literally anything from sliced bread to the remains of your donut or breakfast bagel — their characteristic surface “smack” clearly indicates catchable fish.

Usually, you won’t have much trouble getting hungry bluegill to rise topside, but if bright, clear conditions have them a little wary, wad a fingernail sized piece of bread into a tight ball and toss it into the likely area. Density makes the bread sink to where shy sunfish are more likely to attack. 

Watch the bread ball descend and if it suddenly disappears, you’re in business. For a slower fall, flatten the chum bread into little discs.

The Gatherings

In the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean’s vast waters, chumming helps draw fish to the area you’re fishing. Whether it’s distance or depth, a fish needs a reason to swim to a certain point and the promise of food usually does the trick.

For example, Florida Keys anglers have perfected their tactics for chumming tasty yellowtail snapper into a frenzy right behind the boat, where these typically wary fish often fall for the subtle drift of a small baited hook. Chum bags and cut bait work, but Keys pros often employ a “chum bomb” — a tight mixture of sand, fish oil and chum bits that disperse high in the water column.

Mangrove snapper and a mix of bottom fish on Gulf reefs, as well as cobia and mackerel around piers, rock piles and shallow reefs are less picky, so the chum bag and cut bait chunks usually suffice.

Here’s a couple more examples.

On the Move: Primarily a king mackerel (“kingfish”) strategy, slow trolling a 4- to 6-line spread of live baitfish strategically covers large swaths of water for pelagic species. Targeting deep water reefs, wrecks, ledges and rock piles, the spread of surface and deeper baits gives the appearance of isolated and vulnerable baitfish, but hanging a chum bag from a stern cleat creates a scent trail that brings the fish close enough to spot your spread.

The Big Guys: Northern Gulf anglers targeting blackfin and yellowfin tuna often chum with chunks of menhaden, mullet, bluefish, or sardines and slip a hooked bait into the chum trail (similar to the Keys yellowtail routine). For whopper yellowfin tuna, slinging a couple of large blue runners (one at a time) off the stern helps draw pelagic attention toward the your hooked live baits.

Know When to Say No

Those who express an aversion to offshore chumming will blame sharks for their negative sentiment. In certain areas, from the Northern Gulf drilling rigs, so southeast Florida, chumming is not only unnecessary, but ill-advised.

Once the scent trail disperses, ever-present bull sharks, tigers, duskies, etc. swarm the active area and make short work of hooked kingfish, cobia, etc. Not only do you risk the loss of table fare, but most tournaments disqualify fish that do not arrive in full form. 

Sometimes sharks bite bowling ball size chunks from their victims, other times, they take only the tail. Either way, sharks leave costly marks.

I’ve personally seen tournament anglers bring in severed kingfish carcasses that weighed more than the winning fish. 

Tactical Tips

Chumming, while certainly impactful, offers no magic want. You still have to get the other details of positioning, proper tackle and effective rigging right.

Also, consider a few points that’ll guide your chumming effort.

Target Your Chum: Remember, the scents and freebies are intended stimulate local fish or bring others to the party. Carefully monitor tides and current and don’t let your chum drift too far, or the departing appetizers will pull the fish off your site and out of reach. (This is particularly important when you’re fishing from shore.)

Waste Nothing: Whether you’re cutting mullet chunks for bait, or loading a chum bag from the cardboard container, scrape all blood, slime and scales into the water and rinse your items at boat/waterside to take advantage of all that smelly goodness. 

Advice: Make sure none of that smelly goodness ends up in the family vehicle; and heaven help you if it ends up in your spouse’s vehicle. Not saying I have done this; not saying I have not done this. Just take my word for it.

Don’t Overdo It: Dumping a 5-gallon bucket of smelly, oily, chum chunks might create an exciting feeding frenzy close enough to witness; but the excess might leave the fish disinterested in your hooked offerings.

Remember, you want them fired up, not filled up. Everything in its due measure.