{{Short description|Fishing with chunks of meat}} [[File:Chuming the water.jpg|thumb|Chumming the water for great white sharks at Guadalupe Island]] '''Chumming''' (American English from Powhatan)<ref name=Siebert1975/> is the blue water fishing practice of throwing meat-based groundbait called "'''chum'''" into the water in order to lure various marine animals (usually large game fish) to a designated fishing ground, so the target animals are more easily caught by hooking or spearing. Chums typically consist of fresh chunks of fish meat with bone and blood, the scent of which attracts predatory fish, particularly sharks, billfishes, tunas and groupers.<ref name=Rudow2012/><ref name=Stearns2001/><ref name=Peschak2014/> In the past, the chum contents have also been made from "offal", the otherwise rejected or unwanted parts of slaughtered animals such as internal organs.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.americagofishing.com/fish-chum/fish-chum-and-chumming.html|title=Fish Chum and Chumming - America Go Fishing|website=www.americagofishing.com}}</ref>
== Terminology == In Australia and New Zealand, chum is referred to as ''burley'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.landcare.org.nz/files/file/997/Pest%20Fish%20Lake%20Ngaroto%20Report%202013.pdf|title=Pest Fish Removal and Uses in Lake Ngaroto|last=Nardene Berry|first=Melinda Dresser|date=2012|website=NZ Landcare Trust|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414111316/http://www.landcare.org.nz/files/file/997/Pest%20Fish%20Lake%20Ngaroto%20Report%202013.pdf|archive-date=2017-04-14|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''berley'' or ''berleying''.<ref name=Bishop/> In the United Kingdom, it is also known as ''rubby dubby'' (West Country and Yorkshire).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-03-28 |title=Shark Fishing - Whitby Sea Fishing |url=http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/shark-fishing-baits.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805055144/http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/shark-fishing |archive-date= 2017-08-05|access-date=2022-08-12 |website=Whitby Sea Fishing |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Methods == Chumming is a common practice seen as effective by fishermen all over the world, typically in open oceans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trails.com/how_30320_chum-bait-freshwater-fish.html|title=How to Chum and Bait Freshwater Fish|last=Starr|first=Joyce|website=Trails.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-02}}</ref> Multiple forms of chum are available and used by anglers. Bunker consists of fish parts with a fish-enticing aroma. Stink bait contains oily fish parts and blood that releases the scent of dead fish into the water.<ref name="auto"/> Sour grain is a commonly used form of chum bait when fishing for catfish in inland waters of the Southern United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-10 |title=Chumming for Catfish: It's All About the Smell! {{!}} Wild Hydro |url=https://wildhydro.com/chumming-for-catfish/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |language=en-US |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713012819/https://wildhydro.com/chumming-for-catfish/ |archive-date=2024-07-13 }}</ref>
Native Americans{{vague|reason=Natives aren't a monolith. What tribe(s)?|date=February 2023}} used two methods of chumming. First, they would lie alongside a grasshopper and encourage it to jump into a flowing stream where the fish would consume the grasshopper. The Native Americans would then bait their hook with a grasshopper and hence catch the fish. Additionally, indigenous people would tie a dead animal from a tree above a stream encouraging flies to lay eggs. After weeks, the eggs became maggots and fell into the water, bringing a concentration of fish into the area.<ref name="Schultz">{{cite book |last1=Schultz |first1=Ken |title=Ken Schultz's fishing encyclopedia: worldwide angling guide |date=2000 |publisher=IDG Books Worldwide |location=Foster City, CA |isbn=0-02-862057-7 |page=394 |edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/kenschultzsfishi00schu_0/page/n7/mode/2up |access-date=27 June 2025}}</ref>
== Legality == Chumming is illegal in some parts of the world (such as in the U.S. state of Alabama)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rainer|first=David|url=http://www.outdooralabama.com/oaonline/sharkbait08.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120152129/http://www.outdooralabama.com/oaonline/sharkbait08.cfm|title=Shark Baiting Regulation in Effect|work=Outdoor Alabama Weekly|publisher=Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources|archive-date=November 20, 2008}}</ref> because of the danger it can pose by conditioning sharks to associate feeding with human presence. Floridan restrictions for chumming include local laws in saltwater areas. Due to the vast barren sandy bottom structure around most of the state, using chum is a necessity and common practice.<ref name="auto"/> The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved changes to shark fishing regulations, including prohibiting chumming when fishing for any species from the beach. The new ruling went into effect July 1, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://myfwc.com/news/all-news/shark-fishing-1/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330120430/https://myfwc.com/news/all-news/shark-fishing-1/ |archive-date=2019-03-30 |title=FWC Commission addresses shore-based shark fishing concerns with new regulations/educational component {{!}} Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission}}</ref>
==See also== *Chum box, a form of internet advertising whose name is derived from the term. *Groundbait, a means of "appetizer" baiting used in freshwater or coarse fishing.
==References== <references> <ref name=Siebert1975>{{citation | last1=Siebert | first1=Frank | year=1975 | title=Resurrecting Virginia Algonquian from the dead: The reconstituted and historical phonology of Powhatan | work=Studies in Southeastern Indian Languages | editor1-first=James | editor1-last=Crawford | page=290 | publication-place=Athens, GA, USA | publisher=University of Georgia Press | postscript=. }}</ref>
<ref name=Rudow2012>{{citation | title=Rudow's Guide to Fishing the Mid Atlantic | first1=Lenny | last1=Rudow | year=2012 | publisher=Geared Up Publications | isbn=978-0978727802 | chapter=Chapter 30. Inshore Chumming | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jys6JXWYWM0C&pg=PA232 | postscript=. }}</ref> <ref name=Stearns2001>{{citation | last1=Stearns | first1=Bob | title=Get Chummy | journal=Field & Stream | pages=96–97 | date=December 2001 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEbRnHHu5noC&pg=PA96 | postscript=. }}</ref>
<ref name=Peschak2014>{{citation | title=Sharks and People: Exploring Our Relationship with the Most Feared Fish in the Sea | first1=Thomas P. | last1=Peschak | publisher=University of Chicago Press | year=2014 | isbn=978-0226047928 | page=160 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EB_5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 | postscript=. }}</ref>
<ref name=Bishop>{{citation | url=http://www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/salt/berleybasics.htm | title=Berley (ground-baiting) | work=Basics to Increase Catch Rates | last1=Bishop | first1=tony | publisher=www.bishfish.co.nz | access-date=2016-06-01 | postscript=. }}</ref> </references>
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Category:Hunting methods Category:Recreational fishing
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