Chum and bait for Catfishing

Chumming is a trick that fishermen have been using to concentrate numbers of fish in an area you intend to fish. If you think catfish baits stink, you have a big surprise when you smell some of the chums. Several folks have requested chum recipes in the recent past and our knowledge in this area is somewhat limited. Send your favorite chum recipe, some tips on using it and what part of the world it works best to jackfish7@aol.com.

Help!! Help!!
We are looking for a recipe for making Blood Bait. The kind with rock salt and brown sugar. We have several recipes but are looking for step by step instructions. The kind I have seen is tough stuff that someone described as having the texture of a Gummi Worm. Help us out and we will post it on this page. We need details and tips for a sure fire method

I use shorts or wheat mids soured in a black trash bag. Spread a liberal amount over the area to be fished four or five hours prior to fishing. Chum is small enough that fish can't fill up but it sure brings them in.

The favorite in North Texas is soured grain. Milo, wheat and corn all work well. Fill a five gallon bucket (w/lid) half full of grain and cover with water. Let it soak overnight and cover with water again. Put the lid on the bucket and let your nose tell you when it is ready. I doesn't take too long in warm weather. Dump a one pound coffee can full in the area you are fishing several hours before fishing and a cup full every ten to twenty minutes while you are fishing.

For folks with a sensitive nose, range cubes are a good choice for chumming. High protein cubes seem to be less likely to float.

Pour 50 pounds of wheat and 50 pounds of barley (corn can be substituted for either) into a metal trashcan. Add two packages of dry yeast and one gallon of milk. Add water to just cover the mixture, seal tightly and place in the sun for at least one month. This chum should be only be handled wearing rubber gloves because the smell will not wash off. Transport in five gallon buckets with lids. Sprinkle the chum over trotlines or in five locations within a fifty yard radius of your boat. Good luck

I have had much luck taking a few cans of dog food (Alpo seems to work best) and poking numerous small holes throughout the can. Throw the cans around the perimeter of your fishing area (try to put them out at least a couple of hours ahead of time). This works well for me, I hope it works for others as well.

I knew a man that fished Ouchita lake near Hot Springs Ar. He used to grind up shad and freeze them in about two or three pound blocks with a sinker in the block. He would take the block of ground, frozen shad out with him and drop it in his favorite spot. As the shad thawed out the little crumbs attracted all kinds of fish, and bait fish too. It worked great for him.

I lived close to Perry Lake around Topeka, Kansas for several years and we used to dump buckets of soy beans in the lake and then fish the next day. This really drew the fish in and kept them there. We used shad for bait.

I have had real good luck with any of these mixes...wheat and water, milo and water, soybeans and water or corn and water. Fill up about half a 5 gallon bucket with wheat (personal favorite) and then finish filling the bucket with water and apply the lid. Let it set in the sun for about a week or so then remove the lid and add more water because of the absorption. Put the lid back on and let it sit in the sun as long as possible (the longer the better). The 5 gallon size makes it easy to load into the boat. When you get to your fishing spot pick out about 4 or 5 trees and sprinkle 4 or 5 soup ladles full around them. Go back and start fishing the first tree you baited. If you don't catch anything in about 10 to 15 minutes after you start fishing then there are evidently no fish in the area so try another tree. You can actually see bubbles coming up at times from fish rooting around on the bottom to get the stuff.

I believe the sour grain stuff works best. I have tried all the grains with much of the same results, however soybeans ripen much faster then wheat, milo or corn. It will be ready in the hot Kansas sun in only 4 days. Other grain takes 5-10 days. I will bait an area first with 3 to 5 gal of this stuff, then when I return, toss out a coffee can full with the lid taped on with duct tape and several small holes drilled around the can. This serves more as an attractant. You will need to rebait the area about once every 2 weeks or so with a couple gallons. "TIP" for sinking in a swift current. Use a cardboard container, I like to use oatmeal containers. Remove the thin layer of painted label, put a small rock for weight and fill with chum. Use masking tape and a thick piece of paper for a lid and sink in your favorite hole and the cardboard will fall apart in a day or so. All the cardboard and paper lid will biodegrade with very minimal pollution. Use the coffee can when you return to fish. Always tie a small rope to the can so it can be removed when through fishing.

2 cups bacon grease, 6 cups oatmeal, 2 cups cornmeal, 1 large can tuna, 1 jar limburger cheese spread, 1 tub chicken livers, 1 cup brown sugar. Mix together and leave in the sun for a week until it gets to smelling nasty. Stir once a day for five days. You can use this for chum or bait. Catfish and carp love it.

I was raised in North East Texas and was raised catching catfish on a bait my dad makes "Uncle Joe's Catfish Bait". While I do not get home as much as I like, there is still nothing like catfishing at Lake Fork or Mill Creek. However, I now live in San Antonio and am stuck with these deep hill country lakes. While I still use my Dad's bait, I have discovered a chum that works well. Being South Texas, deer corn is cheap here. I fill a 5 gal. bucket half full with deer corn, pour in a quart of really cheap beer, and the cover the corn with water. Seal the bucket, sit it in the sun and viola! a week later, chum. I then, using a coffee can, chum the area I intend to fish, watching closely the drift of the chum. The heavier corn really works well in currents and the fish seem to find it much quicker than with some of the commercial chums I've used. I've also filled a mesh bag, panty hose, etc... with chum and simply tied it to the side of my boat and lowered it to the bottom. Both these methods work well for me. However, do not be fooled, use rubber gloves...it may just be corn, but it's hard to get off your hands.

This is good for chumming and bait. Get about 4 pounds of hamburger meat and let set in shade about 4 days in the summer. Get a can of baby formula and pour in, mixing with hands. (a 5 gallon bucket works good) Pour in a box of corn flakes. Mix some more with hands. Add a package of cream cheese. Mix some more with hands. Then you're ready to go . This chum can also used with a treble hook for bait. Make a small ball and push a small treble hook through ball ( mix with oats to make stronger if needed) and cast away . You can kill the catfish with this dough ball on any pay lake.

My family has used this for years. Home made blood bait. Start with 2.5 gal. of blood pour on 4x4 sheet of plywood. Sprinkle real heavy with dark brown sugar let it dry real good. Turn blood bait over, with fork punch holes all in the clotted blood. Pour one pint of Griffins imitation vanilla flavoring all over the blood and sprinkle real heavy again with brown sugar. Let it dry real good. When it has dried hard crusty, turn back over. Let this side dry more if needed. Cut in 3/4 chunks and hold on to your rod & reel .Great for jug & trout lines.

I use shad guts with a drop of anise extract, one teaspoon of brown sugar and one clove of garlic per pint jar. Also have good luck with "Fresh"!!! chicken livers with the same ingredients. Let the mix set in the fridge for several days and it's ready.

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Chumming, Chum and Bait Recipes