Chumming Bull Reds

With bull redfish season in full swing, anglers will be seeking these brutes along various beaches and fish passes along the coast. One of these guys will be fishing just off the beach or in jetty pockets in only 8-10 feet of water, after perfecting a method for attracting those big fish. Mike Spencer of Port Arthur has built a PVC chum pipe that is dragged on the bottom and used to attract greedy reds from near and far. Stuffed with the best of all chum (chopped menhaden) along with an optional mix of “pogey oil” from tackle stores or found on the internet, the pipe emits a powerful odor and impressive slick on the water.

He’s discovered that big reds are fun to catch in only 8-10 feet of water, when hooked close to the boat. Using 40-pound tackle, they don’t play these reds for too long, or wear them out; the fish are released in good shape. I suppose one could be caught with 12-pound line or even lighter tackle, except during a prolonged fight, the cruel “gray-fin express” may be lurking nearby, ready to make mischief. Or collect his dues.

Which is why Spencer’s chum pipe is designed to be pretty much shark-bite proof and weighted with a little lead. They drift the boat and set the pipe out on the upwind or up-current side, then stack 2-3 weighted baits (mullet, menhaden, pinfish) around the pipe and wait. The rods can be held or set in holders. Big circle hooks practically insure those 40-inch reds are lip-hooked and you won’t even have to set the hook. Set your drink down, walk over and wrench that bent rod out of the holder. If you can.

With today’s plentiful coastal sharks, they’ve been lucky so far that a big one hasn’t inhaled the chum pipe and bit off the sturdy rope. Something a big tiger or bull shark would be capable of. Twice, Spencer has had big bull sharks attack his hooked, five-foot blacktip sharks off the beach; they were both hit right at the gills. There’s an old tale that shark heads make other sharks uneasy, and that’s why they won’t eat an entire, smaller shark. If Spencer’s chum tube is ever bitten off, he will probably switch to cable in the future.

They use their chum tube at different venues such as the jetties, under piers or while anchored in salty bayous, as long as there is current. Otherwise, the scent won’t travel and attract gamefish. At the Galveston jetties, he’s had several big trout approach his chum tube on the surface, before darting off. You need calm Gulf water, for a day like that.

(As I write this on June 23, they tell me the wind has been blowing for 43 consecutive days off Port Arthur, before a light north wind calmed things down. Mix that with the complete draining of Dam B into the Neches River, and it’s turned Sabine Lake fresh. With another LNG refinery going up near Sabine Pass, and miles of backed-up plant worker traffic early and late each day, local fishermen have turned to other pursuits until things settle down).

Chumming isn’t new. We used to chum tarpon and reds in Pass Cavallo, usually at night when we camped out in my boat, a 23-foot SeaCraft with a low cabin. (A boat I never should have sold). We must have been mad at the fish back then, staying out there all night instead of heading back to town at sunset for happy hour like everyone else. For a chum bag we used an onion or citrus mesh bag glommed from the local grocery, filling it with slightly-ripe shrimpboat cull and weighed down with a red brick. The sack was held by sturdy 300-pound mono line that the current wouldn’t grab and pull on. There was enough smell down there to call up all sorts of monsters, and one night it happened.

We'd had considerable action with bull reds and a tarpon. It was late, so we stowed the tackle and tried to sleep. Then I heard this groaning sound and the boat seemed to tilt slightly. I got up, tried to grab the line but couldn’t pull it off the gunnel, it was tight as a bow string. I backed away and watched that heavy leader surge this way and that. Finally, pow! Something big really wanted that bag. It may have swallowed it brick and all. (Good luck later on, passing that brick). We slept uneasy the rest of that night, knowing there was only thin fiberglass between us and something huge and loathsome only 20 feet below. Jimmy Crouch’s rustic rental trailer back in POC suddenly seemed a lot nicer place to sleep. After a long night spent out there in calm but chilly October fog, the coffee and breakfast at Josie’s diner was heaven-sent.

One recent challenge with chumming is actually finding pogies for sale. The net boats from Louisiana are mostly gone from Texas waters, which is a good thing but it has a downside. Where to find them? Sabine Pass once had its own pogey plant back in the day, and with a SSW wind we could smell it across the lake in Port Arthur. Fifty-pound wooden boxes of menhaden were cheap, something like $20 even in the 1980s, used for partyboat bait, chumming offshore or crab traps. Thousands of tons were unloaded at the plant in Cameron, La. where I heard they gave away boxes. You could say we were raised on pogies. Today they’re hard to find except off the beach, using a castnet in calm summer weather. They can be used fresh or frozen for future trips; they’re the best of all chum because of their strong smell.

A word of caution when fishing with chum: Be sure to bring fish towels on such a trip. You don’t want to be washing your hands over the side, even for a moment. Earlier this summer a young guy fishing near the remote village of Flamingo in far South Florida did just that, after being warned not to. Washing his hands after catching a snook, his last words were, “Two seconds won’t hurt.” Wham! A six-foot shark came out of the water, grabbed his hand in an instant, yanking him overboard. (The video can be found on YouTube.) It appeared to be a lemon shark with thin needle teeth, instead of a Texas-raised blacktip shark with triangular, chopping teeth.

The angler got back in the boat real quick with the help of his buddies. He even used his shark-bit hand to climb aboard, so the damage may have been fairly light. Although he was life-flighted to the nearest hospital, so there’s that. If you combine shark bite with hedge-fund owned air ambulance service, you’re looking at an expensive day. Including surgery that will hopefully restore full use of that hand. It’s the smallest things that can make a difference on the water, like forgetting a simple fish rag or two.

So, be careful when chumming out there. Don’t stick your feet in the water to cool them off, because almost anything may show up for the party.