Chum for Bass?

[fishizzle]

Has anyone ever used chum to attract baitfish for bass fishing?  Is it legal for bass--they use it for catfishing

someone makes a freshwater chum pellet that attaches to your line

People also use lights at night to attract plankton that draw in baitfish

I assume its illegal in tourneys though

[Oregon]

Doesn't seem very sporty to me.

[FivePoundBluegill]

Only fish I ever chum for is carp. I think chummings kind of useless for bass....

[Dean]

Never heard of chumming for bass, but people do do it for carp.

[Bassn Blvd]

Chumming for certain saltwater species is almost a must.  I chum for shiners but never heard of doing it for bass.   If you want to chum for bass then just use a shiner.    

Lights attract small bait fish which attracts bigger fish.  It casts a shadow which makes for a good ambush site for bigger fish to hide and wait for their prey.

I don't believe the light attracts the plankton.  Plankton is always present.  If there is no plankton around then you have bigger problems and don't plan on catching anything.

[HUNTER19]

never heard of chuming for bass..... it prob isnt legal

[bighed]

Yes I've seen it work.  Sitting on the side of a pond throwing out a handful of minnows every now and then and here come the bass.  Not really chumming for baitfish to attract the bass like you asked though.

[clipper]

Back in the sixties my dad sunk a cake of cottonseed meal in a burlap bag on top of a submerged island.  He had a catfish trotline close by so I think that is why he originally put it out.  That sack of cottonseed meal turned that submerged hump into a real bass hotspot!  I guess it attracted bream or shad or maybe both.  I don't know if it is legal or not, but definetly unethical for tournament fishermen.

[Oscar O.]

I'm not sure if this is true but, if my memory is working for once, aren't some plankton called photoplankton (or something) and they use light so that photosynthesis can occur? These little guys are actually attacted to light and move using cilia or flagellas. There are also others that are not so light friendly. The only reason i say this is because last year in biology, we looked at these things under a microscope. But i'm not sure if they were plankton, although they do live in water. Hope this helps!  

[Guest avid]

Funny thing about chumming for bass.

Everyone knows that the #1 bait for bass, especially big ones is shiners.

Out on the Lakes in Florida the professional shiner fisherman set up bait stations to attract shiners and mark them with a pvc pole stuck in the bottom.  these are often color coded and the shiner guys know who's baited area is whose.

Now it would seem to reason that fishing for bass right next to these pvc poles would be productive right?  I mean that 's where the shiners are right?

Nope, dont work that way.  the shiners are there fer sure, but you can cast all day to these spots and never catch a bass.  

Why you ask?...........................

[dumb_dog11]

Everyone knows that the #1 bait for bass, especially big ones is shiners.

i would have to disagree and say stocked trout for us guys out west. I wonder if they put 100 bass in a tank with a 100 crawfish, bluegill, shad, trout, shiners, minnows, tilapia...etc., which would get eaten first?

[George Welcome]

Why? Because bass do not, I repeat do not, chase their food, or wander about looking for it. They lie waiting for opportunity.

This animal survives because it is an expert in energy conservation in an enviornment where most of its food source is faster than it is. It's dinner bell gets rung by something in its face, not something down the block.

[roadwarrior]

Why? Because bass do not, I repeat do not, chase their food, or wander about looking for it. They lie waiting for opportunity.

This animal survives because it is an expert in energy conservation in an enviornment where most of its food source is faster than it is. It's dinner bell gets rung by something in its face, not something down the block.

George,

I would respectively disagree. In my best pond the bass patrol along a drop that is effectively a ledge created when the pond was dug-out many years ago. I have often observed "packs" of four and five bass hunting together along these ridges, swimming in the deeper water, parallel to the shallower lip. I have observed this same activity associated with seasonal infestation of spirogyra. Additionally, schools of bass "chase" (follow) schools of bait fish around the same impoundment. On several occasions I have caught what I believe to be "the same bass" at opposite ends of this ~11 acre pond.

[ba7ss3in]

chummed for cats not bass, have not seen it around these parts

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Why? Because bass do not, I repeat do not, chase their food, or wander about looking for it. They lie waiting for opportunity.

This animal survives because it is an expert in energy conservation in an enviornment where most of its food source is faster than it is. It's dinner bell gets rung by something in its face, not something down the block.

George,

I would respectively disagree. In my best pond the bass patrol along a drop that is effectively a ledge created when the pond was dug-out many years ago. I have often observed "packs" of four and five bass hunting together along these ridges, swimming in the deeper water, parallel to the shallower lip. I have observed this same activity associated with seasonal infestation of spirogyra. Additionally, schools of bass "chase" (follow) schools of bait fish around the same impoundment. On several occasions I have caught what I believe to be "the same bass" at opposite ends of this ~11 acre pond.

In part it is my understanding and or belief that most of the larger bass are just like George said.The bigger they are the lazier they can become,and will opportunistically lie in wait for the chance of a big easy meal.On the other hand I believe many bass or smaller ones will follow shad or bait along drop offs and at times corner them in coves or other such cover or structure.We've all had those days when it seems the bass are so active that you could throw just about any bait or color and still get very aggressive action,and bass trying to steal the bait before another one can get to it.Most of those fish like that are what between 1-3 lbs? and they are obviously "chasing" their food.

[Del from philly]

sure....i chum all the time.

just a get a bucket, mix in chopped up dead mackeral, stinky old fish remains, fish bones, scraps, and a whole bunch of blood,

now just troll the boat slowly and scoop it out....

after you start to see them coming in, now is the time

Take the Shark cage and drop it in the water SLOWLY...

[surfer]

Chum works. Maybe not all the time. I have seen people who chum routinely at their docks and have created a feisty colony of fish. I have chummed for shiners and seen bass attack those fish. So it can draw in bass.

According to Glen Lau in Bigmouth Forever "there are two types of bass loners who ambush and schoolers who prowl in packs. You can tell them apart by their body shape."

I have noticed

Schooler = longer, skinnier and longer duration of fight

Loners = fatter with better burst energy but less duration of fight

[Sam]

I throw out white bread to attract the bream and bluegills.

Sometimes I can see the bass swimming with and under them as the bluegills and bream feed on the bread.

Other than that, I would have to think long and hard as to what to throw in the water to attract a largemouth bass.

[Tpayneful]

I read a suggestion on here last year to put dry dog food in a burlap bag, tie a brick to the bag and drop in on your favorite bass spot.  The baitfish would be attracted to the dog food and the bass to the baitfish.  I might experiment with it this year.

[Ifish4keeps]

...I chum for shiners but never heard of doing it for bass...

no need to chum for shiners, just use old stale bread, works like a charm!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Garnet]

I refuzed a guide that wanted to throw live minnows to get the bass biting. You can see this guy on the Pro Tarpon Tour.

Also seen it in Tennesse. It just doesn't interest me.

Garnet

[jaymc]

In the latter part of summer smallies on L Ontario move onto the shoals and into bays to gorge on crayfish.  If you drag a heavy weight

over a rocky shoal or hump, (an elevator weight works real well) it stirs up the crayfish and the bass go nuts.  

In weedy lakes saavy flyfishermen us a variation of the carolina rig.  They use a thiry foot section of fly line with a lead core called a shooting head.  You throw that bad boy into the weeds and it crashes right through and takes your weedless fly along with it.  Then you strip the wholle shebang back to you and repeat.  That weighted line really disturbs the weeds and shakes out small critters hiding in them.  That in turn stirs up the bass.