Chum Balling for Snapper
If you chum, they will come!
Want to have some fun catching snapper on light tackle over near shore public numbers? They have been doing this for years in the keys patch reef fishing but with all the near shore snapper reefs the county has built in depths under 80ft it works great! This can also work for Mahi in summer and Blackfin Tuna in spring and fall! Yeah these get hit hard but there are still quality fish to catch if you're stealthy. The technique works best with a light spinning rod with 30-50lb braid, 10ft of 30lb fluorocarbon leader, and a 2/0 or 3/0 Owner Mutu Light hook.
Step 1.
The night before you're going to thaw a box of chum in a 5 gallon bucket.
Step 2.
Add 1 to 2 cans of oatmeal as well as a little sand to the bucket with the chum. Mix well. This needs to be a sticky substance you can make into balls. It also need to be mixed before leaving the dock so the oats absorb the liquid from the chum.
Step 3.
For bait we are going to use cut ballyhoo. They hold up much better when cut into chunks but cigar minnows work well also. Use scissors to cut into 1in pieces for bait.
Step 4.
You will need to anchor or better yet use a trolling motor to stay on the spot. Start cutting up some herring and tossing over to attract the red and black snapper to the surface.
Step 5.
Take a piece of the ballyhoo and hook it on. Make a ball out of the chum. Then make a depression into the chum for the ballyhoo chunk and mold the chum around it. Take the leader and wrap all 10ft around the chum ball in all different directions and use all 10ft.
Step 6.
Open the bail on the reel and ease the chum ball over letting line out. As the chum ball sinks and dissipates it attracts snapper and you should get a bite pretty soon.
Extra Tips and Tricks
For a little extra make a floating chum basket and insert a box of chum into a chum bag. Place it on the spot you wish to fish. Works even better if go troll or fly line for an hour. Come back and start your chumming with cut herring! Secure your basket to the bottom with a 5lb buoy weight and 100ft of paracord. Make sure to retrieve the chum basket before heading in for the day. Put the chum in a mesh bag before putting in the basket to make it last longer! Hang another chum bag over hanging off a cleat.
When chum is hard to come by you can always thaw a 5lb box of herring and run them through the food processor to make chum. It takes a bit unless you have an industrial size food processor, but it's worth it.
Lastly you can make some chum balls ahead of time and freeze them for chumming anywhere. The frozen balls will hold together all the way to the bottom to help turn on the bite anywhere! Just toss one or two these over at random times to get the fish going.
