Using frozen chum to attract game

[Hawkeye31]

As a relative greenhorn to spearfishing, i am not sure where the boundaries lie between catching fish for sport, and chuming water to attract fish that would not ordinarily be seen. Ive heard of people smashing urchins to attract fish, and I dont believe this to be an ethically sound practice, but someone else might feel different. I was considering going to a fish market and buying/freezing squid to attract game in the kelp beds in the Los Angeles area. I know this would take away from the simplicity of a hunt and a dive, but the possibilities are intriguing. Any advice or thoughts are appreciated.
Adam

 

[Jay Styron]

CHUMMING

Like spearfishing in general, its gotta be a personal call. For me I believe chumming is OK. If you read any of the spearfishing mags you'll see that quite a few people use this technique. Your method of chumming could be achieved many ways. You could use premade chum blocks that line fishermen use, save the carcasses from previously caught fish for use the next time, or shoot smaller nongame fish(whatever is legal) to be used for that dive. I believe using flashers and chumming is a very effective technique for attracting wary game that may not otherwise be approachable. Hope this helps.
Jay

 

[Abriapnea]

IMHO whatever works for you ,as long as its non-destructive , is OK . Two techniques that work for me :
Put some sardines ect. in a nylon (ladies') stocking with something to weigh it down ,drop in a likely spot , - prevents bait dispersing too fast ;
Attatch a reflective fish (garfish , scad ect. ) below flasher - this REALLY works though you might get some unwanted attention
Happy hunting !

 

[Hawkeye31]

Thanks for the opinions. Considering the amount of fish that I have seen recently, I could use all the help I can get. Before I try this out I think I will get a partner to dive with. By the way, what is a flasher?
Thanks in advance.
Adam

 

[Abriapnea]

Hi Hawkeye ,
Flashers are strips of reflective material suspended on a line to attract fish , mainly pelagics .
You will find more info on them in our forum using the handy search feature

 

[icarus pacific]

chummy

Hawk-
Though I'm not a big fan of chumming, I agree that if it's kosher with the Fed's and your head... What fish are you targeting? If it's White Seabass, forget the chum, they're way to wary to go for the free meal. Just trust me on this one... :head

sven

 

[Hawkeye31]

I had considered white sea bass a possible target. Considering their personalities and the previous advice youve given, I'll not not attempt this technique. Ive never seen any other divers in my area chum for wsb, so I should have known.
What about yellowtail? Does chuming work for them? Thanks in advance
Adam

 

[icarus pacific]

Naww, hey, if you can get a WSB to come strolling up the chum line to see you, more power to you. My experience trying this just ended up in being introduced to a lot of open water blue sharks which pretty much pushed everything out of the way to see what was making all the free meals available.

Yellowtail-wise, I don't see why chumming wouldn't work though most of the yellowtails I've seen have been just cruising the up current perimeters of the kelp beds, like whites and looking for their sardines or some sun. It'd be interesing to hear what happens. Check Terry Maas' book, Freedive Hunting about yellows.

sven