Chumming up to Channel Catfish

Chumming helps me catch more catfish, especially in the fall of the year.

- Jerry Burch

The key is understanding how chum works and knowing when and where it works best.

Catfish have internal organs that detect smells and tastes, same as we do. But they also have taste buds on their skin and barbels (whiskers), and with these, a channel catfish can detect a drop of blood in a thousand gallons of water.

The key to chumming is to put something in the water that these external organs detect as food, and that triggers an active hunting/feeding response in the catfish. It is not rocket science, but you do need to use the right chum.

Tackle shops are filled with stinky prepared baits made to entice bites—from fishermen. We may detect smells in the air, but catfish detect them underwater, and scents that dissipate in the air don’t necessarily do the same in water.

Organic things like cheese, blood, and cut-up shad are packed with amino acids that do readily dissolve and then disperse in water. When a catfish detects these “food” molecules in the water, it triggers a search response. When the source is found, the catfish picks it up in its mouth, tastes it,and that determines whether it is something the catfish actually wants to eat.

The goal with chumming is to trigger a search response where the catfish may find and pick up your baited hook. Then the bait on the hook triggers the actual eating response. Most of the catfish I catch when chumming are 1- to 5-pound channel cats, notorious for pecking at a bait. I want those fish to take the bait, not just search and peck, so I only use chum and bait I know catfish will eat.