Bluegill chum

[jacob wilson]

I make bluegill chum for fishin in ponds or lakes. it works pretty well for me. maybe you could try it out if you like and catch some fish. i use stail bread, egg shells, a can of corn, crackers, grits, tony chacheres, pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, vanillia flavoring, coffee, flour, anise seeds, and a little water. just mix all of them together and add only enough water to get it to stay together. after you do that put in a gallon sized zip lock bag and freeze it. the amount of ingredients depends on how much chum you want to make. you can also use this for catfish too!! hope you like it!! if you have any suggestions on adding or making it better i would like to hear them!!

[John C Watson]

My buddy and I have been trying to use chum as we are bank fishermen and have to attract the bluegill to us rather than go to them like boat fishermen.  We have used various combinations of dog food, fish food from the pet store, and other stuff with limited success. 

 

I will try your recipe and see if it helps us do better than we have been.

 

thanks

 

John

[John Sheehan]

What are tony chacheres? I like your idea but do you really think all those ingredients are necessary ?Nothing simpler works better? I dont know but want to chum gills also but this seems extreme!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Tony Chacere's (pronounced Cha-sher-ay) is a Louisiana style seasoning salt.

 

I agree that some of the ingredients seem kinda like "kitchen sink" additions - but I've tried doing the same, so I can't say too much about that. :-)

I'd also like to know the proportions, Jacob. Could you share how much of each ingredients you use?

Overall, though, you seem to be on the right path. If it works, well - who knows?

[jacob wilson]

it does sound a little unnecessary but it works!! i fish from the bank cause i dont have a boat so i just throw it near the bank in the water and they eat it up lol.

ingredients:

half loaf of stail bread

1 can of corn

1 cup of grits

a handfull of crackers

tablespoon of salt

tablespoon of tony's

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

tablespoon of coffee

1/2 tablespoon of vanillia flavoring

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

5 or 6 egg shells crunched up

1 teaspoon of anise seed

1/2 cup of flour add more if too wet

water, just add enough until it gets like

the consistency you like it

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Thanks for the "recipe," Jason. I've struggled with just the right ingredients to excite the fish, and so this may have to be tried. Considering the items are all very common, it practically begs to be tried!

 

What do you think of carrying it as a dry mix and mixing the water in at the fishing spot?

[jacob wilson]

well that might work lol i just add the water when im makin it and then freeze it so it starts meltin in the water then watch em come in. i use this when im bass fishin to attract the small fish.

[Keith Owen]

Hey... If the fish ain't biting you can mix in some rice and sausage and call it Jambalya!

 

Sounds like a chum (or dough bait) a catfish would love. I have never tried chumming (putting something in the water to get them to/keep them biting) but I have baited holes to keep fish in an area. We used either Creep Feed or Alfalfa Cubes. I think it works more as an attractant to the small stuff on the food chain (which attracts bigger stuff) than actually as a feeding stimulant. Works good though.

 

Keith

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

You have it right.. The notion of chum is an attractant, to get them to come to a specific area. Second it's intent is to hold them in the vicinity. Third, it is designed to stimulate the feeding instincts, but not give them enough to actually fill them up and prevent them from biting.

In all of this, the smaller fish are started feeding first. This creates a commotion that attracts the bigger ones. In coarse fishing as practiced in the UK and Europe, the angler actually does feed the fish. Once he has a feeding working, he slips his bait in among the feed.

[jacob wilson]

Can you make creep feed or alfalfa cubes?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I dont know about making them,  but the cost is not high to buy them. Cattle cubes, for example, are about $15/50 lbs at feed suppliers. One bag will last long, long time.

[Cedric Gregory]

I HAVE TOYED WITH THE IDEA OF CHUMMING FOR GILLS BUT NEVER TRIED IT. WHEN YOU THROW OUT YOUR CHUM HOW LONG DO YOU WAIT BEFORE YOU START FISHING OVER THE AREA?

 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

That depends, Cedric. If you want to catch little bait stealers, you can start right away.

If you want the big ones to take notice of the commotion caused by the little ones, however, it can take longer.

Something around 30-60 minutes is about right.

 

And the theory also goes that the big ones will generally hang around the edges, to the deeper side of the chummed area (called a "swim"). So your goal really is to feed the little ones, first. This is because bigger fish don't congregate with the small fry, and vice versa. They hang in deep water, near to structure, which should tell you WHERE to set up your feed swim.

 

Something else that is pretty important is to mix in a small portion of the hook bait you will be using with the chum. The chum itself is fed in small amounts, just enough to keep them busy, but not really fed. Then every now and then toss in a small teaser of your hook bait, once they are actively feeding. When you finally introduce your baited hook, they won't think twice about pouncing on it.

 

And it should be noted that chumming works best in still waters - ponds, lakes etc. I've tried it in the river and unless you do it in the right sort of back eddy or calm side pool, the feed is whisked away to fast to do much good.

 

There is an old saying here in the South that goes, "The best place to catch a fish is under a piece of bread."

You may want to start with that, just to see if they will be interested at all.