I commercially fish for scup here in CT. The fish wholesaler here in Stonington sells a four gallon bucket of clam bellies for $10.00. This is the bread and butter for the commercial fishermen. We simple refer to it as chum and it does have quite a few broken shells mixed in with it. While I do not hold a RI or NY license, many of my commercial associates do. They fish the reefs off the eastern end of Fisher's Island and two guys consistently land hundreds of pounds daily. They brag about how much chum they use and it appears they go through at least a four gallons every time they go out. Probably the only difference between what you describe and what they do is the placing the of chum in a large weighted 1/2" wire mesh box. I do likewise, and the purpose of the box is to keep the scup close to the boat. Not only does this technique work, sometimes it seems that the fishing slacks off for all of the recreational anglers in the area, while you are still pulling them in. Chumming does draw the fish to you and probably away from everyone else.
What I find amusing is that I had no intention of starting a THREAD on taxes, especially in a fishing form, but just look at what I started inadvertently. |