Chumming

[sunnyslope]

This is always a trigger subject it seems. I have never found anywhere that says it’s illegal however that’s not to say it’s not in the regs somewhere. Has anyone found it and if not has anyone ever done it? In Hawaii I seen them mix a loaf of bread and some fish guts in a 5 gallon bucket and ladle it into the water as they fished. It seemed to work for fish similar to fish like perch. I have heard stories of dumping a canna corn or broken shrimp into a hole for trout? Just curious if there was any thought on it?

[Hooked up]

If it is not written in your state fishing regulations it is not illegal. The regulations would be a very long read if they wrote in everything you couldn't do. It always best to call the fish & wildlife office if you are still unsure. It is possible you could get some misinformation from the internet.

[RuralMT]

I've never felt the need to do it for perch; when they're biting, they're biting, and I don't usually have a problem finding them.  And while I can't attest to trout, as I rarely target them specifically, I can unabashedly say I chum for kokanee, as does everyone that fishes the salmon grounds up here on Dickey Lake.  We use oatmeal or Zoom, as well as the scales collected from a previous cleaning if I remembered not to trash them.  All of the above work great and I have no moral qualms about doing it.

Someone with more experience will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall reading that corn can expand in a fish's stomach and cause unpleasant outcomes.  If that is true, obviously I'd recommend against using corn!  Anyone tried oatmeal for trout or noticed trout hanging out under their holes when you're targeting kokanee? 

[sunnyslope]

I have a call into fish and game to try and get a more solid answer. I again read fishing regs tonight and still don’t see anywhere it’s says it’s illegal. In fact I did find where it is legal to disgaurd entrails in there water so to me that reads as “chumming”. We will see what officials say but I believe it sounds like a great idea

[missoulafish]

Most things expand when they get wet. Corns already wet so I don't see how it could expand. Fish can digest exoskeleton and shells... Not sure how corn could be a challenge?

[RuralMT]

I knew I had read it somewhere and it turns out it was on here.  However, I didn't stay up to date with the post; A fellah from Idaho (FG Steve) posted a study that debunked it. 

https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=348601.0

Perhaps it's a an old wive's tale that keeps being perpetuated by the likes of...me (sorry!)  There's multiple references to digestive difficulties and corn on the web, but it seems like they're all on forums.  I now wish I hadn't posted that, haha.

[BloodShotP]

Could maybe try to pop you for littering. Good ol’ govt.

[RuralMT]

Thank you for posting this sunnyslope.  While I know your intent wasn't to dive into the use of corn for chum, I hadn't filled my daily quota of learning something and this fit the bill!  This video here tackles the myth of corn killing fish as well.  I have no problem being wrong, but I refuse to be ignorant.  Thanks again for prompting this impromptu bit of research!

[sunnyslope]

I was actually watching videos that you can actually get bulk fish food that works great. I can’t be the first guy to think of this, but maybe I am the one of the few that will admit  I am interested. It just seems like you could create a feeding frenzy

[Noon]

I have heard from so many different folks that if you get into a perch bite, it is best to keep dropping jigs/lures down to keep them active and feeding. I would imagine that dropping a bunch of chum might help trigger the instinct to feed and get the school going. I would think the same might happen for trout, but I would want to use a very "light" chum because I can only imagine trout eating enough of the chum that they dont want anything to do with the bait on my hook. Also, except at certain times of the season, when I am ice fishing for trout I find they are not stacked up feeding but are more often roaming. So I am curious to find out if they would congregate over a feeding frenzy on a chum slick.

[Wenger]

About 30 years ago we used to crush shell on  boiled eggs and drop them down the hole at Devils Lake.  Pretty soon the bottom would be swarming with scuds and then perch and pike.  This was in the spring when the perch were in like 6-12 feet of water. The egg shells really improved visibility in the hole as well. Another thing that worked was scaling a perch into the hole so that the scales fluttered down, a salt water trick for snappers.  Never tried it on CF or Peck.

When you pulled a pike through the hole they would puke up dozens of scuds.  Tiny protein pills.

[RuralMT]

When you pulled a pike through the hole they would puke up dozens of scuds.  Tiny protein pills.

This intrigues me.  How big of pike are you referring to there?  They tend to get painted as a voracious meat eater that decimates other fish populations.  Most of the pike I've cleaned tend to have smaller fish in their bellies, seemingly validating their reputation, but opting for scuds when perch are present sounds more opportunistic than piscivorous to me.

[Wenger]

12 pounds or bigger.

Scuds feed everything there. Pike still chase perch and white bass there too. We found a dead one with a white bass stuck in its gill cover. In the mouth and out the gills.

You are right about opportunistic feeding. Easy and protein pills by the billions. If you wade fish the shallows there in the spring your waders get coated with scuds. We used to run nymph rigs when fly fishing with two scuds below an indicator below the bridges where there was good current and catch walleye, white bass, some perch and northern. Most of the pike bit off though.