Where do you get the Chum??

[saxatilis]

When I was down in Cape Lookout 2 years ago people were getting behind the shrimp boats and chumming the albies. Were they getting the chum from the shrimp boats? If so what is the procedure? These guys should be paid, but how much???

Thanks in advance,

Rick

[Knotdun]

Rick,
Normally the albies are congregated behind the shrimp boat after they pull their nets and are culling the catch. They are tossing by-catch over the side. Thus the collection of gulls and hopefully, Albies. When you have chum of your own, you don't need to follow the shrimp boat. Some folks follow the shrimpers while they are pulling the nets as it provides a higher probability than very slow fishing. But would be poor fishing elsewhere to do this.

You can buy blocks of frozen glass minnows (chum) at the bait shops. This is the chum of choice. If the fishing has been any where near slow, I would carry a block with me.

[saxatilis]

Sorry to be ignorant, but if the fishing is slow and I have to chum, it is done out by the shrimp boats or some place else, like the hook or Beaufort Inlet? It is better to anchor to set up a slick or is it better to drift??

I guess I was confused about the shrimp boat and chum because last time I was there I saw people following the shrimp boats a casting hooking up or not, and then continuing to drift away and then try to keep the fish close with chum from a laundry basket (the chum looked like shrimp boat bycatch). It that the way it should be done?

[Tuna]

I only fished down there once (last fall for 2 days, not the best season the area has to offer from what I understand). After lean albie times at Montauk last fall, I was ready for anything (including chumming).

We tried chumming once, using glass minnows as stated in an earlier reply. We were way outside of Beafort Inlet (half mile?), no shrimp boats in sight. The guide (Gordon Churchill, hope you are well) had my brother and I put out our fly lines and drift them in the chum line.

Took a remarkably short time before hits came. Nice fat albies compared to teenies I had been catching at Montauk that fall.

Wish I could get down there this fall (Montauk was pretty good this year, and I sense NC is gonna have a killer albie run, already started). Bet ya if we had put the chum out outside of Beaufort inlet 10 minutes ago, we'd both be hooked up now.

Not sure, but I sense if you chum almost anywhere in the area you'll scare up some fat alberts.

Hmm, how many months until the albies return to Montauk in force?