Chum 101

[jasmillo]

I don’t have to add to what’s said above. I’ve found it’s worth the walk back to shore versus trying to unhook chum in water. I have not used a net but worth a shot. A big net and be careful lifting the fish to get the head in. Chum like to make short, very powerful runs that are no bueno for rod tips. A fishing partner netting for you would be the best option.

I do use an intermediate line as well as a floater. Unweighted flies for sure and slow stripping gets you lots of strikes and reduces foul hooking significant.

Chum get a bad rap in my book. Find them outside of the usual shit show spots (or early in those spots) and they can be a ton of fun. They are big, they eat flies and they fight hard. What’s not to like!

Going to have to try that indicator method…

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Chum get a bad name in my book. Find them outside of the usual shit show spots (or early in those spots) and they can be a ton of fun. They are big, they eat flies and they fight hard. What’s not to like!

I never understood it either. Personally, I think they are a pretty damn cool looking fish. Maybe it's the name? We could start calling them something cooler - maybe it would catch on?

Oh, what about 'tiger salmon'?

 

[skyrise]

Yes. Works like a champ. I’ve also used the same rig in a slow moving river for coho.

Yup fished for many years using float & jig (spinning rod) no reason it wouldn’t work with the fly rod. Just have to weight the fly to get down. Just started trying that with my fly rod here on our NS rivers when the game department gave all our chum to commercial fishing years ago.

 

[Divad]

Anybody ever get a chrome chum down near Oly on the sound? I still have yet to catch one around the area and the markings on a fresh one are so cool.

Going to try tomorrow.

 

[Chinook Angler]

I never understood it either. Personally, I think they are a pretty damn cool looking fish. Maybe it's the name? We could start calling them something cooler - maybe it would catch on?

Oh, what about 'tiger salmon'?

They are sold at Safeway as "silverbright" salmon.

 

[Stonedfish]

It’s actually Silverbrite.

We used to catch “bright” with very light, faint bars in Grays Harbor tribs and on the Green. They were usually smaller hens.
The best and brightest chum though were the winter chums out of the Nisqually. Nice fish in December into January.
Sad to see that run in the dumpster.
SF

 

[Divad]

They are sold at Safeway as "silverbright" salmon.

Haha, smart move Safeway. They taste actually quite good when you can find a silver bright one.

They must deteriorate faster than other salmon (?) interesting for such a resilient salmonid. The fry leave fresh earliest too I wonder if that is connected with my assumption on deterioration.

Caught a bunch of bright ones in the Grays system, last year included.

 

[Vandelay Industries]

Rubber nets are fantastic. No tangles, no hook getting snagged, etc.

Yes, they work quite well.

Here's a picture of a Chum that @Steve_S caught, which I netted a couple of years back.

No tangles, no hook getting snagged.

 

[BriGuy]

Yes, they work quite well.

Here's a picture of a Chum that @Steve_S caught, which I netted a couple of years back.

No tangles, no hook getting snagged.

View attachment 38578

Wow, look at the propeller on the back of that fish.

 

[Vandelay Industries]

Wow, look at the propeller on the back of that fish.

Yes, it took a while to land on the 5 wt.

 

[mtskibum16]

Chum get a bad rap in my book. Find them outside of the usual shit show spots (or early in those spots) and they can be a ton of fun. They are big, they eat flies and they fight hard. What’s not to like!

I agree. I think it's mainly two things: they aren't good eating salmon so the majority of fisherman in this area want nothing to do with them, and the fact that most of the famous chum fisheries are such a knuckle-dragging-bottom-of-the-gene-pool shit show as you point out. Chum fisheries really do seem to bring out the worst among us! They are a hell of a good time if you hit it right though!

 

[Stonedfish]

I agree. I think it's mainly two things: they aren't good eating salmon so the majority of fisherman in this area want nothing to do with them, and the fact that most of the famous humpy fisheries are such a knuckle-dragging-bottom-of-the-gene-pool shit show as you point out. Humpy fisheries really do seem to bring out the worst among us! They are a hell of a good time if you hit it right though!

Fixed it for you.
SF

 

[mtskibum16]

Fixed it for you.
SF

Equally true! ha

 

[Chinook Angler]

Equally true! ha

I was also picturing the Skokomish kings fishery in the years past

 

[Mtnwkr]

As I was knee deep in icy water being battered by the wind yesterday at a small chum hole near my house waiting for them to "turn on" I was pondering why we consider other estuary salmon to be "assholes" not worthy of the stress caused by chasing them but will gladly target the most inedible of salmonids under the same circumstances. Is it that Chum tend to turn on more often? The sheer number of them? Or that they are fun as heck when you get one on? I guess all of the above are the correct answer.

 

[Otter]

I've never targetted chum, but have caught a few in rivers, and learned a couple of helpful things there, which might also be useful for the salt.
Step down to 8 lb. Maxima tippet, for when you need to break one off that's foul hooked or just too powerful. Remember, Maxima has a higher breaking point than rated.
Use circle hooks to reduce foul hooking significantly, and learn how to "not set" them.

 

[mtskibum16]

As I was knee deep in icy water being battered by the wind yesterday at a small chum hole near my house waiting for them to "turn on" I was pondering why we consider other estuary salmon to be "assholes" not worthy of the stress caused by chasing them but will gladly target the most inedible of salmonids under the same circumstances. Is it that Chum tend to turn on more often? The sheer number of them? Or that they are fun as heck when you get one on? I guess all of the above are the correct answer.

I think mainly the numbers and that they turn on a bit more frequently. But really the last few times I fished chum were pretty slow which is probably part of the reason I stopped targeting them as much. Plus I have a run very close to home so it's convenient.

 

[mtskibum16]

I've never targetted chum, but have caught a few in rivers, and learned a couple of helpful things there, which might also be useful for the salt.
Step down to 8 lb. Maxima tippet, for when you need to break one off that's foul hooked or just too powerful. Remember, Maxima has a higher breaking point than rated.
Use circle hooks to reduce foul hooking significantly, and learn how to "not set" them.

You have just reminded me why I have a couple packs of circle hooks in my tying supplies! I was going through hooks a while back and couldn't remember why I bought them thinking maybe it was a mistake, but now I remember some discussion about that in the past.

 

[Stonedfish]

I used to target chum a ton in the salt, but like others haven’t done much lately.
There used to be very few people where I used to fish. Then more folks started showing up, fly shops started having seminars there, multiple SUPs fishing etc.
I was there recently checking it out. Some folks already fishing and four others guys pulled up and piled out of a rig on their search for Big Chum. Had a Purdy vibe to it….
I’d rather go cutt fishing in solitude then deal with that.
SF

 

[jasmillo]

Fished chum today. Incredibly slow from 8am until about 11:30 AM and the the light switch turned on and wham, it was on. Not sure what drove the difference. I was getting my fly in front of small medium sized pods in the AM with no love. About mid outgoing, HUGE pods appeared and the bite became much more consistent. I assume more fish = more biters. It might just be simple math.

I fished from 8-3 today. I never left the water, not even to take a pisharoo. Hooked a number of fish, probably 8-9 all day. Landed 4 fair hooked fish (mouth) and a couple of foul hookedfish. Lost a few more that based on the fight seemed legit. Fun day. It felt like a slow day considering the numbers of fish I was casting too all day. If you think of it in coho numbers though, 8-10 fish hooked is a banner day. Some days it’s better. Some days worse. Estuary salmon fishing .

Biggest of the day….



Don’t forget your stripping guards/tape….



More importantly; I saw a LOT of chum this afternoon. More than I’ve seen at this spot the last couple of years. I hope this signals a positive trend for these fish.