Chum can be angler's friend

A little bait helps attract fish to lures

SWANSBORO -- Stan Jarusinski navigated his 23-foot center-console boat out of Bogue Inlet, the bow rising and falling with the rhythm of sea swells magnified by the inlet's flow.

Though catching bait by jigging at the military buoys found at intervals several miles offshore would provide live cigar minnows and sardines for king mackerel bait, those were not the only attractant he needed for success.

Like many wise anglers, Jarusinski also takes advantage of his quarry's keen sense of smell by using chum -- which can be chopped, ground or liquid -- to draw fish to his baits.

After he had used a Sabiki rig -- a series of tiny feather-dressed jigs -- to capture several live fish, Jarusinski set out four of the baits on his lines. Once he was trolling slowly around the same buoy where he caught the baits, he unscrewed a cap topping a piece of 4-inch-diameter PVC pipe mounted in the motor well at the back of the boat and poured in a gooey concoction that looked like a cross between honey and molasses.

"I like to put some scent in the water when I'm slow-trolling for king mackerel," the Stella resident said. "Chum can draw in fish from long distances and keep them in a biting mood."

The 4-inch PVC had a reducer to a half-inch PVC at the bottom. A valve was glued in the smaller pipe and a length of half-inch clear plastic tubing clamped to the half-inch PVC, allowing a semiliquid dribble over the boat's stern.

"I use a product called Menhaden Milk," said Jarusinski, 69, who is an insurance industry retiree and a part-time guide. "Unlike straight menhaden oil, it mixes with water so it stays at whatever depth you disperse it into the water column."

Saltwater fish have highly developed senses of smell. Most people are aware of the ability of sharks to detect minute concentrations of blood in water, but other predators, including game fish, also are adept at finding food by scent.

Choices abound

Chum takes on many forms depending upon where it is used and the species of fish targeted.

Commercially prepared chum can be bought in bait and tackle shops. It can be packaged in plastic tubes or bags or can be frozen. It even can be found in the pet-food section of a grocery -- cat and dog foods are made with many of ingredients fish are used to eating, including fish oil and meal.

Many fishermen make their own chum by catching extra menhaden they won't need for live baits; by buying spots and croakers; or by making friends with a shrimp trawl crew who will save finfish bycatch.

The fish can be ground with an electric or hand grinder or a 12-volt blender. Some anglers dispense with grinding, preferring to hand-scatter chunks of baitfish.

"When I want to scent below the surface, I fill a 16-ounce Dr Pepper bottle with Purina Dog Chow and Menhaden Milk," Jarusinski said. "I put an eyebolt through the cap and poke holes in the bottle. I tie the bottle to my downrigger ball and set it at the same depth I see fish on my depth-finder. It lasts half a day."

He uses another method, too.

"Sometimes I tie a mesh bag filled with chum to the stern of the boat," Jarusinski said. "The chum creates a 'slick' on the water."

Jarusinski caught several king mackerel from his slick that morning.

He also credited chum for attracting his 40-pound king mackerel that won the 2005 Southern Kingfish Association Championship in the 23-foot boat class.

And he told of a cobia that was lured by his dispenser, demonstrating that chum works for species other than sharks and kings.

"A 90-pound cobia came right up to the back of the boat," he said. "It looked like he was drinking the Menhaden Milk. I turned the valve off, and he left. I turned it on, and he came back, right between my twin motors.