# Catfish Chum



## TexasCowboy (Jul 7, 2011)

I got lucky last weekend with some soured chicken scratch that had been brewing since August. I started three more 3 gallon buckets last Tuesday. It already has swollen and has a very distinct odor. Not as powerful as the original, but still has a smell.

How long should I allow this to ferment, obviously the longer the better? I would like to use some on Sunday. Does anybody know of any dangers to the fish after such short "cooking"? I only soaked in water.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

A little bit from the first bucket will get it cooking good.
I have used enough over the years for some Nebraska farm to send his kid to college on my business alone.
I don't like that gag a buzzard off a gut wagon smell. If it is musty with a slight sour smell it should be good to go.
In the summer heat a half cup of sugar and a big spoon full of bread yeast will have a bucket working well enough in five days.
A cat fish sense of smell in millions of time greater than a blood hound. It does not take much to attract them.


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## TexasCowboy (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks Sunbeam


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## rayray (Feb 12, 2008)

Thanks for tip, gonna start me a "home brew"


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## romo (Mar 29, 2012)

To a five gallon bucket I like to add 15 or 20 range cubes.


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## kim e cooper (Feb 18, 2006)

Always fast rising yeast it helps.


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## obiewan57 (Sep 14, 2005)

I do not use the range cubes, they work, in fact they probably add enough more smell to get cats from other lakes coming to your lake. I have buckets 6 months old or older, keep it brewing all the time, just keep the water lever just above the grain for long term brewing.


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## DEERHUNTER280 (Jul 8, 2006)

Does the chicken scratch attract blues or mainly channel cats?


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## TexasCowboy (Jul 7, 2011)

It attracts everything, including grass carp.


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

Out of curiosity....

About how much do you guys scoop out and toss in one particular hole? Assuming you go out and bait say 3-5 holes early one morning moving from spot to spot searching for the fish.

Do you all scoop out more if you are trying a new spot that you've never chummed before?


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

The old fashion measure..."bout a half a coffee can"....
Re-baiting a spot is the same as a new spot. I can assure you those small dinks will clean up every grain in just a few hours. Now if you put the chum in some thing they can't get into it might last a day or two.
But then you are not chumming but "baiting". I read through the regs and did not find "fish baiting" mentioned. But be careful in Texoma because it is illegal in Oklahoma.


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## titleist9 (Jun 14, 2011)

I typicaly throw out 1-2 cups at a spot. I use punch bait 90% of the time and use larger portions when 1st starting a spot then dwindle down to hardly any on the hook once the bite gets steady . The punch bait is chumming for you as well while fishing it.Be careful to not over do it as the fish will fill up on chum if you let them.Also use some type of scoop (like a hollow wiffle ball bat or large ice scoop) as it will be alot easier to broadcast


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## TexasCowboy (Jul 7, 2011)

I agree with Mr. Sunbeam and Mr. Titleist. A couple of cups here and there usually work well. If the fish are there, they will come to the bait. Sometimes, I might put out a gallon or so, if I am not fishing until the next day, especially in a new area. Most fish you catch will be gorged with the grain. They will stay in the area for the most part. The more you chum, the more carp you get also.


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

I buy my punch bait by the pint and use an empty cup to scoop it out. I usually do 2 scoops but only about 1/2-2/3 full each. When I sling it out I'm usually able to make about a 3-5' line but I I'll have 2 lines.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Can I tell a short story.
I fished Foss Lake in western Oklahoma two to three times a week for about five years.
I used soured wheat from the bottom of my feed silo. Just soak it in water enough so it would sink since it was already plenty "odorous"
After cleaning a mess of nice channel that were full of stinking wheat I got to thinking. What if I just used the water from the bucket instead of the grain.
So the next trip I took three 2 liter drink bottles full of the wheat water along with the grain bucket.
I rigged a 1/4" nylon rope with a brick on the end. I tied a bottle to the rope just above the brick.
I picked a spot where I had caught cats before but had not bait in over a month.
I tied off to a tree top in 12 feet of water. After removing the bottle cap I lowered the brick and bottle to the bottom. I gave it a few hard jerks then tied it off about three feet off bottom. I was hoping that the jerks would cause some of the wheat water to be expelled.
I always fished with Danny King punch bait on two rods. That evening I never got to put the second rod in the water. I caught a limit in about an hour.
I tied the rope off to the tree top and left it there. I had never dropped a grain of wheat on the site.
I told a friend and he tried the spot the next morning. The fish were still biting.
He brought the bottle up to return to me. His son was careless and spilled about half of the water in his jon boat. It stunk to high heaven until he took it to the car wash.
A workable idea that cuts down on the amount of grain needed in the bucket at home and no gobs of stinking grain an the cleaning table.
The bad part is having that rope with the brick hanging in the middle of the fishing hole. I did have a lot of wrap ups that took time to untangle.
The other problem was Gary Roper, the most gung-ho GW in Oklahoma, who said in response to a "theoretical question over coffee, that in his opinion that I was "baiting fish," i.e using a mechanical device to hold bait that the fish could not freely eat. That is illegal in Oklahoma.
I wonder if a judge would agree that a bottle of water was food. Since the fine included losing my license I decided to not test the law.


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## TexasCowboy (Jul 7, 2011)

Thats a great story, Mr. Sunbeam. I have noticed the cloudy water poured out smells just as bad as the grain. It reminds me of the shock which I put in my pool. Your idea of putting in a bottle is genius. Oh, by the way, any story you want to write is just fine with me.


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