Walking through the airport, you suddenly inhale the incredible smell of baking bread mixed with cinnamon and begin to salivate like Pavlov's dog. You involuntarily turn and head toward the Cinnabon stand, even though you've just eaten breakfast. Chumming works much like the Cinnabon scheme: It stimulates fish to feed by dispersing aromatic bits of fish through the water, drawing them to you like a waterborne Pied Piper. It's a powerful technique that can quickly transform a rookie angler into a fish-catching machine.

The Nose Knows

At the heart of a fish's acute sense of smell are two pairs of nostril-like organs called nares, but unlike mammals, they don't lead to the throat but instead to a chamber containing sensors. Because of this, fish can detect concentrations of chemicals in water as low as one part per trillion - that's one drop in a body of water the size of five backyard swimming pools. As the water flows through the nares, the dissolved materials trigger the olfactory organ, which in turn transmits these signals to the brain. With this unique sensory mechanism, species like salmon can use their incredible sense of smell to locate their birthplace during spawning season, even though it may be hundreds of miles away. It's little wonder, given a fish's sensitive olfactory prowess, that chumming is such a successful method for catching all types of fish.






What's Chum?

Chum comes in different forms, including frozen blocks made from ground-up fish used in conjunction with menhaden (pogy) oil, which is slowly dripped into the water with an IV bag. This delivery system is relatively inexpensive ($5 to $7 per 5-pound block) and lasts about two hours. Dried pellets are more concentrated and usually contain a mix of ground fish meal that's fortified with menhaden oil. Although they're more expensive (a 3-pound bag costs about $15), you'll have more flexibility in the amount of chum you can use. Live bait caught in a cast net is also a highly effective and inexpensive option; however, the time you spend gathering bait may cut into your fishing. Southern Coastal anglers can try using a shrimp boat's by-catch for about $20 for a 50-pound sack.






The Delivery

The most common delivery system is to place frozen blocks in a mesh bag and tie them to a stern cleat. You can also use plastic boxes with slats or perforations, or coated metal cages to hold the blocks, both of which are easier to clean than a porous net, which can absorb all of that chummy goodness. Place the dry chum pellets in a small plastic basket with holes, which will hold a few ounces, or use your hands or a small dip net to fling live bait far from the boat to keep the bait from hiding underneath the hull for cover. Start off by using a healthy amount of chum to trigger a feeding frenzy, followed by occasionally tossing smaller portions to keep the fish coming back. The use of cut-up pieces of fish tossed into the slick is called "chunking" and can be highly effective on offshore weedlines.






Chum It Up

For most chumming to be effective, moving water is essential for dispersing the chum properly, but in the absence of a current, you can also drift your boat. A great place to chum is at the mouths of small rivers or channels with currents flowing into them. If fish are present at these locations, they'll hone in on the higher concentrations of chum close to your boat to see what's on the menu. You can also send a chum bag down deep in the water to attract bottom feeders. Make sure that your bait presentation is as natural as possible, by either free-lining a live bait or cutting a piece of fish at the same pace as the chum, or using a weight to keep it on the bottom. Lastly, make sure to bring plenty of ice on board because you'll need it to preserve your catch.              




Illustrations by Brian Buxton