[5ofakind]

I was just wondering. I plan on starting my flounder fishing at the end of march, begining of April. Does anyone get mussles during the winter and make their own chum blocks for the spring? Is it worth it? Am I wasteing my time? Thanks for the "Professional" feed back.

 

[629660]

Freezer storage

If you have the room,not a bad idea.I allways get fresh mussles before we start in the morning.5 gallon bucket 2 chum pots & lots of mussles,allways adding fresh to the pots.The more chum in the beginning is key,then slow down a bit,you don't wanna fill em up with chum.

 

[jamesa]

How much do you "mash up" the mussels?
(Wife would vastly prefer I did that on the boat of course!)

 

[LAZYBONES]

Chum

I use a small Chinese soup containers.

I also use a 5 gal pail to collect. I shuck all the mussells and put them in the containers mixing a small amount of Kosher salt into the mix. Do not use too much salt. It causes the block to melt too fast.If you don't have a deep freezer, make sure you freeze the container for at least two days.

When you are ready to use the chum, take the top of the container and put the whole container in your chum pot. Crush up about 10 fresh mussels and put them in shell & all. Maker sure to use the heavest pot you can. You want to keep the pot as close to your lines as possible. The heavy pot will also churn up the bottom as you work it.
I usually bounce the pot ten times and let it sit for about 5 minuts. Then repeat. There are many methods used with chum pots, but this is mine and I found it to be successful on L.I., NY Bight & Jersey. Goods luck & tight lines.

Russ

 

[5ofakind]

Where to get the chum..

Only because this is really the first season I will be flounder fishing, but do the b/t shops sell 5 gallon pails of fresh mussles? How much do they go for? Thanks

 

[SummerBrz]

Chum Recipe

2.5 gal pail of clam bellies, purchaced from bait and tackle shop.

2 cans of corn in water, drain water.

1 gallon of crushed muscels. Baseball bat works good.

Left over white rice from chinese food or 1 lbs box of cooked rice.

a couple of cups of clean sawdust (optional)

Defrost clam bellies and run them through a meat grinder if possible. Mix all ingredients together in a 5 gallon bucket and ladle into 1 qt. food containers. Add or subtract ingredients according to taste. Freeze and use as needed.

PS. don't let your wife see you do this, she will think you got some screws loose.

 

[LAZYBONES]

chum

Saw dust, rice & corn??? PLEASE!!! You may catch fish but you'll kill alot more. REGARDLESS WHAT THE OLD SALTS SAY, CORN AND RICE WILL KILL FLOUNDER BY CLOGGING THEIR INTESTINES. SAW DUST, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM IF YOU ATE WOOD? SHAME ON YOU.

 

[SummerBrz]

Flounder Chum

Lets think about this for a minute.

Think about what a flounder eats, piss clam pissers with sand on them(worse than sawdust), shrimp that have shells soft but not much different than a corn kernal skin, and worms (cooked rice left soaking turns to mush wich probally breaks down faster than a worm).

I don't think that these ingredients bother flounder one bit. When chum is disbursed into the water it is quickly swept away by currents not leaving much behind for flounder gourge anyway.

 

[Guest]

SummerBrz,
I've cleaned a ton of flounders with those piss clam pissers in their stomachs. How the **** do they bite them off? Thats has to be some tussle.

Frank

 

[Fishing Friend]

Lazybones, your concern for the well being of the flatfish is noble. Summerbrz, it's nice of you to share your receipe with others. Can't side with or correct either one of you because I'm not aware of any studies to prove who is right. I know that corn works like a charm as their bellies get packed with them. Although, they must be painful for them to pass them if it's not digested far enough.

 

[LAZYBONES]

Summer,

I understand all you are saying. However, The things Flounder eat in their natural environment have been eaten for eons. Their system has adapted to these food supplies. Although we all know clams have shells, I have never heard of a flounder breaking a shell to get at the meat.

As for the pissers, the digestive system of the Flounder has adapted to this and other natural food sources. e.g clam necks, small invertibrea such as grass shrimp, etc.

As for corn, rice and saw dust, they all have a different chemical and protien make up them what the flounder has avaliable to them naturally. Simply said, their systems are not capable of digesting, corn kernel husks, rice or saw dust. These are alien to the fish and pose a potential lethal diet.

I'm sure these chum ideas kill far less fish them the draggers, but they do kill.You just don't see it.

 

[SummerBrz]

Flounder Chum

Lazybones,

I have been searching for some real fact about this subject. From what I have found there is no proven fact that rice and corn kill flounder. I think with all of us out there flouder fishing especially after a flouder derby, I think someone would have seen some evidence of a kill off caused by corn. When a fish dies it is most likely eaten by bottom dwellers. But when many fish die at once some will not be eaten and float to the surface after a couple of days. I for one have never seen a dead flounder floating.
In Jamaica bay during the flounder derby's there can be at least 20 boat's in a half mile erea chumming away all day and with the amount of corn and rice chummers we would see some kind of die off.

I am not trying to say that I am right and you are wrong, I may very well be wrong but until this is proven fact, we are each entitled to our own way of chumming.

 

[623628]

chum ummm ummm good

Just to put my 2 cents in I chum like the rest of u but one tip that has been extremly helpfull form me is I use a tecnique called seeding. I have two 5 gallon buckets deep froze with clams mussels corn even quid . I drop them in the water 100 yard apart I then go home. I come back the next day and they are stacked up!!
:Hint this must be done in a habor,back bay or a area with not much of a rip.

 

[Fishing Friend]

Captbush, I've heard of seeding but it's something to hear that someone is actually doing it!! Great if you have the time. People who do their homework and put in their time have the best catches on a consistent basis in the fishing game.

 

[Fishing Friend]

Sorry guys for the double post. Burlap sacks are better for the environment if buckets are abandoned. Buy at gardening nurseries.

 

[Fishing Friend]

Sorry guys for the double post. Burlap sacks are better for the environment if buckets are abandoned. Buy at gardening nurseries.

 

[Fishing Friend]

Burlap sacks bought are better for the environment. But I'm sure you retrieve the plastic buckets.

 

[621029]

Sawdust?

Just a quick question - What puppose does the saw dust have in the Flounder Chum?

 

[SummerBrz]

Sawdust

Carries all those good juices further down current attracting more fish to your chum pot.

 

[Mad Mahi]

Visuals or Scent...

The added ingredients like corn, rice and even sawdust are doing one of 2 things. They are providing visual stimulus to the curious flounder or they are bringing a scent down current that will, hopefully, cause it to seek out the source.

That is exactly what the bits of ground up or mashed mussel and clam are doing.

But being somewhat dense, they don't float or drift all that far. Thus, the corn (bright yellow attractant), rice (white and also absorbs scent of the meat) and saw dust (carries the scent), are all added.

As has been mentioned, there are 2 thoughts as to how it affects the flounder. One is that it harms them, the other is that it doesn't. Neither side has been proven right or wrong.

I use instant oatmeal and rabbit (hamster) feed pellets. The oatmeal aborbs a lot of scent and being fairly light colored, gives a visual impact. The feed pellets also absorb a lot of scent but are not as visual. However, IMO, they are both very soft and easy to digest in seconds after being immersed in water. And they also carry further in the current than calm or mussel bits.

Just don't forget the tabasco!