Chumming

Chumming (American English from Powhatan)^[1] is the practice of luring various animals, usually fish such as sharks, by throwing "chum" into the water. Chum is bait consisting of fish parts, bone and blood, which attract fish, particularly sharks owing to their keen sense of smell.^[2][3][4]

Also known as rubby dubby (West Country and Yorkshire, UK),^[5] shirvey or chirvey (Guernsey, Channel Islands), berley or berleying (Australasia),^[6] and bait balls.

Chumming is illegal in some parts of the world (such as in the state of Alabama in the U.S.,^[7]) because of the danger it can pose by conditioning sharks to associate feeding with the presence of humans.

Chumming is a common practice seen as effective by fishermen all over the world, typically in ocean waters.

Most fishing enthusiasts know the importance of swim feeding and ground baiting, indeed there have been many articles written by experts explaining the benefits of 'scent' in fishing. The ‘scent’ is primarily Chum which is chopped up fish, worms, squid, or any other usual food of predatory fish and has been used for centuries to attract fish. There are numerous chum dispersal containers such as bags tied to boat anchors or piers but these only attract fish to the local area. Fish will feed at the source of the free food so if the fishing hook is not directly at the source of the free food catching fish is hit and miss. This has been known for generations where fishermen have tied an onion sack, or similar bag, to an anchor filled with chum and after fishing for a day catching nothing raise the anchor to find the chum bag shredded by fish. The-Chum.net is a device specifically designed to be attached to a hook and release vast quantities of scent to attract shark or other predatory fish directly to the hook and not just the local vicinity.

References

1. Siebert, Frank (1975), Crawford, James, ed., "Resurrecting Virginia Algonquian from the dead: The reconstituted and historical phonology of Powhatan", Studies in Southeastern Indian Languages, Athens, GA, USA: University of Georgia Press, p. 290.
2. Rudow, Lenny (2012), "Chapter 30. Inshore Chumming", Rudow's Guide to Fishing the Mid Atlantic, Geared Up Publications, ISBN 0978727800.
3. Stearns, Bob (December 2001), "Get Chummy", Field & Stream: 96−97.
4. Peschak, Thomas P. (2014), Sharks and People: Exploring Our Relationship with the Most Feared Fish in the Sea, University of Chicago Press, p. 160, ISBN 022604792X.
5. "Shark Fishing - Whitby Sea Fishing". Whitby Sea Fishing. 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
6. Bishop, tony, "Berley (ground-baiting)", Basics to Increase Catch Rates, www.bishfish.co.nz, retrieved 2016-06-01.
7. Shark Baiting Regulation in Effect