Bass in Florida and chumming

[seonew33455]

 

I have been Bass fishing in Florida ponds for 40 years or more and I am sure this statement will meet with some resistance

, Chumming with dead shiners works very well. 

 

In small ponds near my home I have landed 12 Bass in 3 days 1.5 - 4.5 LBS easy, the other day it was 101 with the heat index of 126 and yet the Bass were in shallow waters after dead shinners and small amounts of dog food were put in the water.

 

You will see small bluegill come near the shore and why because the small minnows are there as the bluegills come in to grab them, lures are great I am sure. The only issue people fish these ponds for hours and never seem to get a hit yet me and my kids catch one after the other.

 

Chumming works, my little girl caught a 4 pounder in 12 inches of water 2 feet from shore, we catch gar, catfish, snakeheads, 2-pound bluegill and more.

 

It works and after all its about catching the fish right ? not on what you catch them one.

 

Fish On ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

No different than baiting deer or bears. Feed them and they will come. 

[Fishingmickey]

I'm not rising to the "bait".

FM

[TnRiver46]

Works like magic around here too 

[geo g]

The fun of the game is figuring out how to catch them with artificial baits on that day, that hour.  Chumming waters and sitting there waiting for them to come to you,would be like watching paint dry.  I would rather sit home and watch TV.  If that's what excites you, then go for it.  For me it's just not exciting enough, and the sense of accomplishment just would not be there.  If it came to that, I would give up fishing, and take up shuffleboard.

[J.Vincent]

Many Bass Anglers (including myself) consider Fishing a sport or even an art; and most don’t find chumming for Bass to be very sporting. And if it’s really only about catching Bass and not how they are caught, then why not consider dynamite or electroshock equipment. because you will have your limit in no time. 

[JustJames]

I'm not sure if this rule applied, but I believe chumming is illegal in California.

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, J.Vincent said:

Many Bass Anglers (including myself) consider Fishing a sport or even an art; and most don’t find chumming for Bass to be very sporting. And if it’s really only about catching Bass and not how they are caught, then why not consider dynamite or electroshock equipment. because you will have your limit in no time. 

Well dynamite is illegal and electro shocking is only for sampling and is illegal for the public. I have volunteered on shock boats and have worked for the Fed electrofishing streams with a backpack generator and it is very fun. Catch and release too! If you really want to make bass fishing “sporting,” then why not fish with only Fly gear?

[Troy85]

I say to each his own, as long as its legal.  If you wanna chum and catch them that way, go for it.  I prefer to use artificial baits only, but plenty of people I know fish with live bait.  Nothing wrong with it, its just their preference vs mine.  

 

For me personally, I'd say its 75% 25%.  75% of my enjoyment is figuring out how/where to the catch the fish at a particular time/day, and 25% is the actual catching.  

[davecon]

Nothing new here.

 

Guys have been chumming for snook on the flats of west central Florida for years.

 

Captain Ray Van Horn, aka The Gypsy Angler, used to chum for bass in Lake Tarpon using live shad. It’s a lot of work but it gets results.

 

Not for me but whatever floats your boat !

[fishballer06]

8 hours ago, JustJames said:

I'm not sure if this rule applied, but I believe chumming is illegal in California.

I'm pretty sure everything is illegal in California, including plastic straws. So....

[Darren.]

People chum for catfish, too. No big deal, IMO. Some use scent to

attract...which is part of the chumming experience, creating a multi

level attraction for the bass.

[Bankbeater]

Around here it tends to draw in a lot of turtles.

[Big Rick]

5 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

Around here it tends to draw in a lot of turtles.

On my lake there's a dock owner that has installed a fish feeder with a timer. Every time it goes off there are lots of turtles waiting to scoop the feed. I have NEVER caught a fish around that feeder and I believe it's because of the elevated turtle population. I've also never seen a fish actually eat the feed. It's all turtles. 

 

On a side note, if I'm relatively close to the darn feeder when it goes off I about un-climb the boat!! That thing makes the most awful racket that really dynamites the stillness of the morning!!

[N Florida Mike]

I chum for bream, and when they congregate the bass will show up. Then hook on a little bream or shiner and your in business. I enjoy fishing this way as much as using artificials, but I dont do it near as much.

[Topwaterdude]

On 9/25/2018 at 5:49 PM, seonew33455 said:

 

I have been Bass fishing in Florida ponds for 40 years or more and I am sure this statement will meet with some resistance

, Chumming with dead shiners works very well. 

 

In small ponds near my home I have landed 12 Bass in 3 days 1.5 - 4.5 LBS easy, the other day it was 101 with the heat index of 126 and yet the Bass were in shallow waters after dead shinners and small amounts of dog food were put in the water.

 

You will see small bluegill come near the shore and why because the small minnows are there as the bluegills come in to grab them, lures are great I am sure. The only issue people fish these ponds for hours and never seem to get a hit yet me and my kids catch one after the other.

 

Chumming works, my little girl caught a 4 pounder in 12 inches of water 2 feet from shore, we catch gar, catfish, snakeheads, 2-pound bluegill and more.

 

It works and after all its about catching the fish right ? not on what you catch them one.

 

Fish On ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome!!!!Very cool your daughter caught some fish!!Heat is just an excuse for fishermen to go home and get in the ac?

[WRB]

On September 25, 2018 at 11:08 PM, JustJames said:

I'm not sure if this rule applied, but I believe chumming is illegal in California.

It is and it isn't. Salt water chumming is legal, fresh water chumming depends on what is being used for chum. For example it's illegal  to chum with corn in most lakes and not others, legal to chum with cut fresh or frozen fish Delta with stripe bass populations and illegal in lakes.

Since chumming is illegal for fresh water black bass fishing in California, with the exceptions stated in the regs, anglers secretly release chum into the water, usually pretending to wash their hands, some use baskets to lower and release live crawdads or cut bait, etc.

Tom

[seonew33455]

I am not rich, lures and live bait are not cheap, losing a 10.00 lure, not in my wheelhouse, live bait is sold to bait stores by the pound and 1.00 each to me. 

 

I use frozen cubes of instant mash potatoes to lure in small bluegill and try to catch the smaller ones to use as live bait. 

 

I have tried using sabiki rigs to catch small bluegill no real luck when you have kids its not easy to get them to stand around for hours and throw lures. 

 

I have all the respect in the world for say a Bill Dance and Roland Martin both who I have met since they are in Orlando most of the time now. 

 

I get you guys have expensive gear and can afford the box full of lures and 500.00 reels and rods not everyone can but hey we catch and release. My Mom just passed away and left me a small home in a gated community, Florida law states I can fish and chum without a license on private property. I live in a small redneck town so you better to know the law, they are on everyone all the time.  

 

Here is a couple from yesterday ... 

 

 

[NHBull]

Not going to judge as long as it’s legal, it’s just not for me

[geo g]

As long as it's legal, knock yourself out, it's not for me and never will be.  As for expensive gear, you don't need expensive rods and reels to be a good freshwater fisherman.  What does a bag of knock-off senkos cost, a bag of zoom trick worms, and some U-Vibes.  They will catch a load of bass of all size, you just have to work out a pattern for that day, that hour.  Money is not a factor!