The Art of Chunking - The Fisherman

The Art of Chunking

There is nothing quite as tempting as a fresh cut bait, however that is not always available. For that reason, freezing bait rubbed (treated) with Kosher salt will allow you to go fishing on a moments notice without having to locate and catch fresh pogies or mackerel. The author prefers fresh cut bait with the head on and sliced at an angle with a portion of stomach entrails attached.

Fish in the water almost caught by net
Like it or not circle hooks will more than likely be mandated by Mass and Rhode Island for all bait fishing in 2020. These will be true circles like the one shown and not those with an offset barb. If they are fished correctly, the fish is permitted to turn and run with the lever engaged until the line comes tight, placing the hook in the corner of the striper’s mouth.

I didn’t find any humor in the situation, but his two sons were having difficulty keeping a straight face. I was hired to tutor this client in the fine art of chunking although his initial request was to be educated in a relaxing method of fishing. I assured him he could anchor up off a plain vanilla beach and work on his tan or chunk and chum, using the tide to his advantage, in proven striper habitat and participate in an exciting method of catching stripers. The boys were amused because after I suggested to dad that it was best to hold the rod so he could feel the slightest pickup or determine if scup or choggies were picking away at his bait. I anchored the boat in a cove just inside a point where the tide was just beginning to let go. I informed them that it might take a half hour or longer for the chum pot to disperse enough fine fragments to lure stripers or blues to our hooked baits. After 20-miuntes the father became thirsty and stuck his rod in a holder and went to the cooler for a drink. He no sooner popped the tab on his Coke when his rod bent, and his drag began to scream. Fish on! It was comical watching him trying to remove his bent rod that was jammed tight against the stern edge of the holder. I reached over and grabbed the top half of the rod, pulling back to release the strain while he finally managed to yank the butt out and take charge. We cleared the other two lines while he fought that fish for a good five minutes before bringing it alongside, at which time I inquired if he wanted me to net it or release it. “Are you kidding me? This is the first legal striper I ever hooked, it’s coming home with me to show all those people who have been mocking me about my lack of success.”

White Minn Kota Riptide Ulterra
Minn Kota Riptide Ulterra helps maintains boat position to stay above the school.

Ten minutes later the boys had a double hookup and were relatively adept at keeping their lines free from tangling. I hauled the chum pot and inserted a new frozen bag of home ground chum. The chum slick pulled those bass from the nearby structure but if we’d allowed it to wash out, those stripers would have moved back into their gnarly habitat. Stripers, bluefish and all types of bottom fish, particularly tautog, scup and cod respond well to chumming. Back in the days of bamboo rods, single action reels and linen line the old timers used crushed mussels, quahogs and sea clams in a mesh bag weighted down with a heavy stone to toll in fish. Those methods brought in tautog and black sea bass and not just a few stripers that swallowed a green crab and gave that prehistoric tackle, and its owners, all they could handle. Years ago, there were many more striper fishermen who employed the chunk and chum method to put quality stripers in their coolers. Their bait of choice was fresh sea clams or cut menhaden and mackerel. They usually matched their hooked chunk baits to the type of chum in their chum bags, and although that was not necessary, it seemed to work a bit better. For example, I have used ground menhaden chum while we chunked with fresh or frozen mackerel and we caught just as well.

Successful chumming is not rocket science but there is a fine line between someone who anchors up and tosses pieces of chum over the side while they stare at their rods placed in stern rod holders, and those who approach this method with a well-developed game plan. The idea of chumming is not to feed the fish with mouth sized pieces but to lure them to the boat with a slurry of chum slick and particles to encourage them up to our baited hooks. My chunk and chum outings begin long before the actual day of our trip. I begin collecting bunker or mackerel and the entrails of the fish I clean at my fillet station and freeze them. When I have accumulated enough bait to make a grinding session worthwhile I set up mom’s old fashioned food grinder on my cutting table and begin to process chum. If I have mussels left over from a flounder or tautog trip I will put them into the mix as the grinder chops them up and spits out those tempting yellow meats and juice that rings the dinner bell for most species of fish. This mixture is frozen in zip lock bags, plastic cups or Tupperware containers until it is deployed in the chum pot. I initiate the thawing process of a few containers in an open bucket on deck before I prepare to trailer the boat out of my driveway. By the time we have launched and arrive at our destination that chum is ready to begin working immediately then I remove additional containers from the big Engel cooler as needed.

The hook baits also require thought and preparation. Many frozen baits, such as menhaden and mackerel have a tendency to become soft upon thawing making them difficult to keep on a hook. For that reason, I keep several large containers of Kosher salt which can be purchased in five pound or larger boxes at most supermarkets and big box stores. Before freezing I rub and thoroughly cover my baits with this salt which not only preserves but toughens them and helps them stay on the hook much longer. The placement of your chum pot also has a great deal to do with your success. Many chummers drop their pots straight down and secure them off a stern cleat. That method might not bring the fish in close enough to find the larger chunks on your hooks. I set my big chum pot way up off the bow encouraging the fish to move up to the chunks on their way to the source of what tempted them to leave the security of their habitat. I tie the chum pot line tightly so the pot will bounce off the bottom with the movement of the boat to continuously disperse the contents. If you don’t use a grapnel with a trip line in the sticky bottom stripers prefer, you just might lose your expensive Danforth. The Minn Kota Ulterra with spot lock has solved that problem for me.

Making chum using an old grinder
Making effective chum is simple and inexpensive. The author uses his mother’s old grinder attached to his fillet table where pieces of bunker, mackerel, squid, mussels and leftover chubs and fish entrails pass through the disc. The byproduct is mixed, put into plastic cups and Tupperware containers then frozen until ready for deployment. I might even add a few drops of commercial scent to the mixture, but some people might consider that cheating.

About midway through most of my chunking forays it’s time to move the anchor and drop back to where your chum slick was actually settling on the bottom. When you do this using a standard anchoring method you seldom if ever drift directly back to where that sweet spot is as tide and wind combine to influence your position. After the initial bite, and after the chum slows down Capt BJ Silvia uses his Minn Kota Ulterra with spot lock to jog back toward that spot while maintaining the same flow and direction. Visualize your chum line like a reverse funnel. The chum comes out the tube and begins to widen and spread in the slick until it eventually falls to the bottom. Remember when a fish picks up your bait they already have the hook in their mouth, so set the hook immediately to insure a fair hook placement in the mouth. I love the feeling of the hook set and the accompanying response, but there is a reason why some conservation minded fishermen use circle hooks for this method of fishing. When the line comes tight, you begin to reel, and the fish is usually hooked in the jaw. In 2020 I believe that Massachusetts will initiate a circle hook only mandate for bait fishing and that Rhode Island will follow with a similar regulation.

Chunk baits differ widely according to angler preference. While most fishermen use or envision a hook bait as a chunk, or bait square, cut from the body, I prefer to use a much larger piece of a fresh pogie or mackerel. When a school of bass has set up under a pod of live pogies they quickly consume their fill and only move up to chase a bait fish when hunger or natural aggression motivates them. This means they have to use energy and calories to pursue a live fish and they do not always succeed in capturing one. That is why I prefer a half bait, slicing the fish at an angle behind the pectoral fins that captures at least half of the blood and guts along with the head. I then hook these “bleeding” baits through the nose where the striper is most likely to capture it. Others hook the baits at or around the dorsal fin. Remember the striper does not have to chase these meals because they are dropped right on their heads. This requires being able to maintain a position over the stripers which requires a quality fish finder to stay over the fish and a very quiet outboard or an electric motor to stay over the school without spooking them. My Hummingbird Helix 12 and the Minn Kota Ulterra suit those tasks to perfection. Anchoring up and hoping to summon fish to your hooks can be a boring experience but setting up in established striper habitat is an exciting and productive method of catching stripers. Stripers are a precious resource, treat them with care and respect. Those who engage in the methods of chunking should employ quick and safe releases. Short runs and quick sets or coming up tight with a circle are essential to preserving the striped bass resource, one fish at a time.

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