Chum this and Chum that, but ugliness and taste aside. How do you catch these guys.

I have not reached the upper echelon of salmon fishing, and I still appreciate the act of catching fish.
So how about a thread to help the novice Chum-p fisherman.
I normally have my 4 year old with me, and fishing time is scarce, so don't knock the help request!!

I have hooked two Chums and it was a blast. They were jumping and peeling line like crazy, but they both came undone. I have fished to many days to get lucky those two times.

I would love to hear some tips and tricks to land more fish. I would preferably be fishing near the mouth of a creek (like Chico) from boat or waders.
I've seen the "flossing" method with yarn at the mouth, but is there another way to get these guys?
Do they actually bite anything?

Anyone having success with them yet? or are they going to be like the coho this year?

Thanks,
QC

Jig and bobber or firecracker sized herring under a bobber.

small cerise fur jig with a pea-size chunk of raw shrimp 3-5 feet under a float. hang on.

What kind jig? fur jig? Sorry I'm abit new to this, But it sounds good.

That'd be rabbit fur. Marabou works OK too.

Exactly.. nothing more effective

I mainly use the cerise jig and sometimes cerise & purple. If you can get to them in a boat on the river, they can't resist wrapped quickies. Check with a local tackle shop for the jig & bobber set up.

Now I see what those buggers are used for. Now where is this the preferred method? in the creek, just outside the mouth in the salt? Will it work from the boat?
Are we talking sand shrimp or human consumption type shrimp?

Now has anybody had luck this year yet with these guys?

Thanks guys

Cerise/Chartreuse combo John's Jig with the biggest hook your store offers. Small piece of raw prawn on the hook. Fish the jig under a float. When the float goes down strike hard otherwise your landing/loss ratio will be miserable. When you swing and miss your presentation should go flying past your ear.

Have fun
Beezer

Anything green in the river but they will hit other stuff. Prawn or shrimp for scent helps but isn't necessary. If you drift fish instead of using a float go light on the lead. A chum sit's in the current and just slides out in the path of your offering and opens his mouth. So they can be a real light bite feeling. If fishing the salt from a boat a slow troll is the ticket.

Do you think trolling in shallow water will work? The spot i'm thinking about would be 10 ft max, but that is where the fish are jumping and waiting.
I'd much rather fish away from the crowds on the boat.
Can I do the float thing in the areas they are jumping? Does it need to be moving?

1/4 OR 3/8 OZ LEADHEAD with the strongest hooks you can buy fished under a float.

I use cerise yarn which is fast and simple to tie. A small piece of prawn definitely increases the bite ratio. The jigs don't need to be fancy, stick with cerise for color.

Pink mini-squid work well to but cost much more than using yarn.

If you are really into the fish, lighter wire hooks that will straighten out makes for less stress on the fish and they will come off after a few runs and jumps, but you have the joy of playing them which is the highlight of Chum fishing.

Putting prawn on your jig will increase the hits by about 400%, I'm not kidding...and hitting it with a shot of shrimp oil, too, will amp it up a bit more...

I actually use a chunk of squid meat on the hook, rather than prawn...it works just as well, and stays on the hook a lot better.

Don't fish for the rollers in the frog water...they're the boots that are in there to spawn. Besides not hitting well, they're butt fugly, and are in there trying to spawn.

When you see boots in the shallows, get to the nearest piece of moving water that is over three feet deep, and that's where the fresh ones will be, waiting to ripen up to join the boots in the shallows. Those ones will be brighter, will bite better, and will fight better...but they won't all be rolling and splashing around, so you won't see them as easily.

Fish on...

Todd

im with todd on the sqiud, ive caught alot floating whole sqiud not just a peice. along with putting a peice on the end of my jigs.

I like the purple or cherise jigs. I have been using First Cast Jigs. Buy plenty as they get tore up pretty fast. Web site link below. Good luck!

http://pnwws.com/cgi-bin/firstbitejigs/store/store.pl

Alright! thanks guys. This all sounds good, but it looks like I'll have to be on a decent size creek to apply. I was kind of hoping to target them from boat at the mouth in the salt water.
What is the best method for fishing salt right around a smaller creek? Or when the tide is out.
I'll try some of these out tonight.

A slow trolled cut plug works in deeper water. I've caught kings in real shallow water trolling cut plug, spoons or plugs real fast but I don't know about Chum. I usually get chum out in the deeper water going slow. You may even try jigging Pt Wilson Darts, which are good for just about anything.

in the salt the bobber and jig method works very well. don't be suckered into fishing a corky in the salt, there are so many better methods that won't snag fish.

in rivers i like to drift fish with cured prawn chunks. you may scoff at me for bait but you won't find me in the line of guys throwing 8 foot leaders.

chartreuse daredevles work well too!

Check Salmon University (salmonuniversity.com). I think they have something up on the site on how to catch Chums in the salt.