How to use Solid Chum?


One of the questions we see most at Feeding Frenzy Chum & Tackle is how to use our revolutionary product.

Most people are familiar with Frozen Chum Blocks, Powdered Chums, and "goop" style chums like Berkeley Gulp.

With our chum being a very hard solid, most people wonder how you use it. The easy answer is you place it where you are going to put your bait or throw your lure.

Water conditions, depth, and species targeted all make a difference in how you deploy Feeding Frenzy Chum and how to get the best production out of it. Let's go over some common fishing tactics and situations to insure you get more fish!!


Flats Fishing

When fishing the flats, most anglers are targeting Redfish, Trout, Snook, and Tarpon. Redfish, Trout, and Tarpon are schooling fish and can act as a team or with loose individuals roaming the flats.

What I like to do when the target species is Schooling is to spot the school, determine their direction, and pole or troll about 100 yards in front of their lane of progress. This takes practice, but is much safer than trying to pole or move in on the school. If they spook, you have lost that opportunity.

In preparation for this type of fishing, I will break a tub of Feeding Frenzy Inshore in half at home using a sturdy surface and a hammer and chisel. Once I am in front of the school and I have not spooked them, I stake out or anchor my boat as securely as possible. I do not want the boat swaying with the wind, or moving much. Try to position your boat so you have as little hull slap and noise as possible. I will throw a "half" of the tub off the front of the boat about 50' from the boat and the other half off the back or "fish side" of the boat. Fish Side is the direction the fish are coming from.

As the school approaches, if you have positioned properly, they will find the chum and stay right on it. This allows me to hold the school right where I want them. Within casting distance of my boat, but not so close to my boat that they may easily spook.

If you are on a truly large school of fish, use whole tubs. You can hold that school there as long as the chum lasts. Instead of catching one or two fish from the school, you can catch as many as you like until they spook or the chum is gone.

With Snook or loose fish that are just roaming, I find a good bottle neck or moving water point and anchor up current about twenty yards from my target fishing area. I throw a tub of Feeding Frenzy Inshore about 15 yards up from where I want to cast. Snook, although largely sight oriented, are very attracted by scent. Trout will also be drawn by scent. I immediately start throwing my lure, or I drift a nice shrimp down through the lane of scent.

This is very effective for loose redfish, tarpon, and mackerel as well. Throw the Inshore Tub out at a good bottleneck and just keep your bait or lure in that zone. Any fish down current or passing through will hold on the chum and give you a better shot at catching more fish. 


Offshore Wreck and Structure Fishing

When fishing offshore for Snapper, Grouper, Amberjack, and other Reef Species, I use Feeding Frenzy Offshore completely differently than most chums. I like to anchor up current of the structure about five to ten yards. Using a chum dispenser or net bag, I will drop Feeding Frenzy Offshore Chum directly off the back of the boat, straight down if possible. My object is to place my chum just off the structure and right where I will be placing my bait or jig.

The key to this is placement. This will draw the fish off the structure just enough to insure you lose less tackle and have a better chance of getting the fish into the boat. If you are not having luck, drift a little closer as you can be too far off and the fish will not feel safe getting that far from the structure.

The scent drifting down over the structure will pull fish off as long as the chum is there and your arms do not give out. 


Offshore Drift/Trolling

When I am targeting Suspended species or slow trolling for surface species, I utilize two techniques that prove very effective depending on the species.

For Striper, Tuna, Amberjack, and other schooling suspended fish, I drift or anchor in a good location with good water movement. Using my depth finder, I find the target depth of my fish. If you do not know, then start deep and move it up as you need to by looking at the depth finder. I use a chum dispenser or net bag and drop a tub of Feeding Frenzy Offshore down about 40' if I am guessing or to my targeted depth. If the fish are scattered across depths and even hanging at the surface, this is very effective. The oils rising off the tub will distribute scent throughout the water column and concentrate the fish near your boat. Use Chunk bait, live bait, or jigs and fill that fish box!!

When I am slow trolling for Dolphin, Kings, Bluefish, or Striper, the technique is similar, but I want to use a dispenser of some type or PVC tube with holes drilled into it to "protect" the chum and make it last longer in the continuous current. A 10" long piece of 6" PVC pipe with threaded caps or keeper pin caps works well to get the most from your chum. Let this out behind the boat to your targeted depth and slow troll your baits behind the chum dispenser. The scent trail is very effective and will have more fish at your baits than any other chumming method out there!!  Use our Strictly Striper Formula for Striper! Green Crab and Clam, with Menhaden Oil is irresistible for striper. 

 
Shark Fishing

I shark fish from shore and from a boat but the technique is similar for both. You have to use a Dispenser when shark fishing. Our Shark Tub is very effective, despite its small size. Due to the small size, if you do not use a dispenser, most sharks over five feet can simply eat the tub and your chum is gone. Use 6" PVC, a milk crate, or five gallon bucket with holes drilled into it.

When I am fishing from shore, I use a 10" length of PVC with several ½" holes drilled into it and tie a piece of chord or ¼" rope to the dispenser. I throw the dispenser out to slightly up current of my target fishing area. Fishing from shore, you can usually bottom fish for shark and have tremendous success. If I am fishing under a balloon, I cast to the chum dispenser location and let it drift in the scent trail and just recast to the same spot each time and let it drift the slick again.

From my boat, I fish a little differently. If I am targeting Mako or other upper water column sharks, I suspend my chum about 30' deep from the back or side of the boat depending on whether I am drifting or slow trolling. I will usually put out two tubs if I am in blue water targeting pelagic species. As I drift, I insure my baits stay within my slick. Our Shark Tub insures an unbroken scent trail that is very powerful and will draw in sharks from miles away!

If I am fishing near shore or in shallow water, I use a dispenser and put the chum right on the bottom if I am anchored. Some people choose to supplement our chum with chunk chum. I do not. It adds nothing to the slick and I want the only edible thing in the water to be my baits. 

I sure hope this helps you understand our products and how they work. We distribute a continuously strong scent over the full life of the product. We are as strong the last minute as we were the first minute in the water. We never get weaker like other scents or chums. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at information@feedingfrenzychum.com
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