How to Make Fish Chum

Making fish chum at home is less expensive than buying it at retail. A serious fisherman uses a great deal of chum during a full day on the water. Fish chum requires hard work to make and has the potential to create a mess. Preparing fish chum in small lots and freezing it in advance of longer fishing trips makes the project simpler.

Items Needed:

• Netted bag


• Cooler chest


• Sturdy table


• Thick, heavy cutting board


• Sharp, heavy meat cleaver


• Plastic bags


• Soap


• Chlorine bleach


• Meat grinder


• Coarse blade


• Soap


• Chlorine bleach


• Wood chipper


• Push paddle


• Plastic tub

Chopped Chum

1. While fishing, collect fish that you would otherwise throw back and the remains of fish that you clean and fillet.


2. Store the fish in a netted bag and hang it in the water while in the boat. Place the fish on ice in a cooler chest during transport home.


3. Set up a sturdy table outside after arriving home and position a thick, heavy cutting board on top.


4. Remove a small portion of fish from the chest at one time and place it on the cutting board.


5. Chop it into pieces 3 to 4 inches square using a large sharp meat cleaver.


6. Place the amount of chopped fish that you will use at one chumming in plastic bags. Fill the bag halfway, tie it off and put it in an empty cooler chest. Continue the process until all the fish is made into chum.


7. Lay one plastic bag at a time on a freezer shelf. Use your hands to arrange the pieces of fish from outside the bag so the pieces lay flat without touching each other. This method is used to prevent the pieces from freezing together and becoming difficult to separate.


8. Put another bag on top and repeat the process.


9. Clean the table, cutting board and all utensils by washing in a solution of soap and water. Rinse in a solution of one part chlorine bleach to nine parts tap water and allow them to air dry.

Ground Chum

1. Collect unwanted fish and fish remains and store them on ice until arriving home.


2. Fill a plastic bag halfway, tie it off and put it in an empty cooler chest.


3. Set the fish on a shelf in the freezer. Use your hands to arrange the fish from outside the bag so they lay flat without touching each other. Freeze the fish until firm but not hard.


4. Set a meat grinder, equipped with a coarse-grind blade, on a sturdy table.


5. Place an empty bag over the grinder head and grind the fish. Fill the bag with the amount of fish you will use at one chumming.


6. Freeze the bag of chum for later use.


7. Clean the table, cutting board and all utensils by washing in a solution of soap and water. Rinse everything in a solution of one part chlorine bleach to nine parts tap water and allow to air dry.

Chipped Chum

1. Arrange the fish and fish remains in a plastic bag so it is not in contact with each other. Lay the bag on a shelf in the freezer. Continue the process until all the fish is hard frozen.


2. Set up the meat grinder outside with the outflow spout pointing down into a plastic tub.


3. Use a push paddle, designed for the wood chipper, to feed frozen fish into the chipper.


4. Fill plastic bags from the plastic tub with the amount of chipped fish that you will use for one chumming.


5. Clean the table, cutting board and all utensils by washing in a solution of soap and water. Rinse in a solution of one part chlorine bleach to nine parts tap water and allow them to air dry.